Stihl 066 32" Bar Lean Seize Failure - Advice

[Mad Professor]

So I called my Stihl dealer and they said they would charge $37.50 to pressure/vacuum test and diagnose my saw. I don’t think that means they will take the piston out and look at the cylinder or not.

Should I go with them to look at it or spend a little more to purchase the equipment to do the test myself ? The biggest advantage is their guy has more than likely looked at this before and will probably tell me if the cylinder is ok if they take it apart.

It's easy to pull the cylinder off and see what the damage is. It will look real bad until you get the aluminum transfer off and see if the plating is intact. Try to clean off all the crud first and don't get any water inside. Would be good to pull off the clutch and flywheel beforehand too so you can clean and get at seals. Use a piece of rope for a piston stop. Clutch is left hand thread, you need a puller for flywheel but they are cheap and fit a bunch of stihls. Most dealers won't spend time cleaning up a cylinder, but will gladly sell you a new one.

I'd save the $38 and use that to have the dealer install new crank seals when you do the rebuild, OR buy a mighty vac and do the test yourself. Lots of info on that here. The tester would be handy after you have things together too. If you do the rebuild buy the gasket set, it comes with seals, and is cheaper than buying seals separate.

Make sure the prior mech put the correct coil on. You can figure that out from the numbers on the flywheel and coil once apart.

 

[Riles32807]

Check around your local auto parts stores, a lot of them will loan-a-tool. You pay the replacement cost of the tool and they refund it when you bring it back.