Stihl MS241 NON-MTRONIC Conversion

[2strokeoil4blood]

Hey Guys, had a Stihl MS241cm given to me from @Bob Hedgecutter a while back. Saw had a hole melted in top of piston.
I pulled it to bits, split case and did new bearings, seals and gaskets, as well as a brand new OEM Stihl piston and cylinder kit. Ran fine in workshop.

Fast forward about a month, I decided to take it out into some wood yesterday. As soon as it was in the cut it lost power and heated up a little. Im guessing it was leaning out under load. Ran the mtronic reset procedure- still the same. Stopped straight away and took it home.
Pulled carb- all looks fine.

Then I got thinking... the MS241 and MS231/251 are very nearly the same in alot of ways, the major difference being the 241s mag case and mtronic.

Anyway, I was a bit bored this morning so I swapped a coil, flywheel, carb
( Walbro WTF 2A ) , choke rod and filterbase/control switch off of a MS251 parts saw I had laying around.

The Result? It runs. It runs very well. I have removed the limiter cap on Carb and have yet to take it out into some wood and tune it. I Will update on how it runs in wood next to my other MS241mtronic saw later today

I couldnt find any info on it being done on a 241 before, so Hopefully this will help anyone looking for a cheap easy fix for their MS241.

 

[lone wolf]

Hey Guys, had a Stihl MS241cm given to me from @Bob Hedgecutter a while back. Saw had a hole melted in top of piston.
I pulled it to bits, split case and did new bearings, seals and gaskets, as well as a brand new OEM Stihl piston and cylinder kit. Ran fine in workshop.

Fast forward about a month, I decided to take it out into some wood yesterday. As soon as it was in the cut it lost power and heated up a little. Im guessing it was leaning out under load. Ran the mtronic reset procedure- still the same. Stopped straight away and took it home.
Pulled carb- all looks fine.

Then I got thinking... the MS241 and MS231/251 are very nearly the same in alot of ways, the major difference being the 241s mag case and mtronic.

Anyway, I was a bit bored this morning so I swapped a coil, flywheel, carb
( Walbro WTF 2A ) , choke rod and filterbase/control switch off of a MS251 parts saw I had laying around.

The Result? It runs. It runs very well. I have removed the limiter cap on Carb and have yet to take it out into some wood and tune it. I Will update on how it runs in wood next to my other MS241mtronic saw later today

I couldnt find any info on it being done on a 241 before, so Hopefully this will help anyone looking for a cheap easy fix for their MS241.

You could be on to something there! Have any more of those parts?

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Hey Guys, had a Stihl MS241cm given to me from @Bob Hedgecutter a while back. Saw had a hole melted in top of piston.
I pulled it to bits, split case and did new bearings, seals and gaskets, as well as a brand new OEM Stihl piston and cylinder kit. Ran fine in workshop.

Fast forward about a month, I decided to take it out into some wood yesterday. As soon as it was in the cut it lost power and heated up a little. Im guessing it was leaning out under load. Ran the mtronic reset procedure- still the same. Stopped straight away and took it home.
Pulled carb- all looks fine.

Then I got thinking... the MS241 and MS231/251 are very nearly the same in alot of ways, the major difference being the 241s mag case and mtronic.

Anyway, I was a bit bored this morning so I swapped a coil, flywheel, carb
( Walbro WTF 2A ) , choke rod and filterbase/control switch off of a MS251 parts saw I had laying around.

The Result? It runs. It runs very well. I have removed the limiter cap on Carb and have yet to take it out into some wood and tune it. I Will update on how it runs in wood next to my other MS241mtronic saw later today

I couldnt find any info on it being done on a 241 before, so Hopefully this will help anyone looking for a cheap easy fix for their MS241.

Should possibly be mentioned we had no history of why the original ended up in the thermo nuclear melt down condition it arrived in- it came in a bulk buy of parts saws from a Stihl shop that changed ownership about six hours drive away. No history on anything- just boxes of joy.

 

[2strokeoil4blood]

You could be on to something there! Have any more of those parts?

Hey yeah ive got enough bits to do another 1 or 2- but im in New Zealand sorry! The parts will be cheap and easy to source used or new though!

 

[lone wolf]

Hey yeah ive got enough bits to do another 1 or 2- but im in New Zealand sorry! The parts will be cheap and easy to source used or new though!

Looks like you are in bussiness.

 

[2strokeoil4blood]

You could be on to something there! Have any more of those parts?

Looks like you are in bussiness.

I tried to upload a video but for some reason arborsite wont let me. Will get some footage of it in wood and get it to you somehow if it works like it should, I will be happy as

 

[lone wolf]

I tried to upload a video but for some reason arborsite wont let me. Will get some footage of it in wood and get it to you somehow if it works like it should, I will be happy as

Can you put it on YouTube, then copy and post here?

 

[2strokeoil4blood]

Yes I will do that. Will upload video after its in wood

Can you put it on YouTube, then copy and post here?

 

[StihlsawuserMS361]

Curious....Did you change out those parts one at a time, or all at once?

 

[Doorfx]

I would have gotten more joy from finding out what was wrong. Lol

 

[huskydave]

Hey Guys, had a Stihl MS241cm given to me from @Bob Hedgecutter a while back. Saw had a hole melted in top of piston.
I pulled it to bits, split case and did new bearings, seals and gaskets, as well as a brand new OEM Stihl piston and cylinder kit. Ran fine in workshop.

Fast forward about a month, I decided to take it out into some wood yesterday. As soon as it was in the cut it lost power and heated up a little. Im guessing it was leaning out under load. Ran the mtronic reset procedure- still the same. Stopped straight away and took it home.
Pulled carb- all looks fine.

Then I got thinking... the MS241 and MS231/251 are very nearly the same in alot of ways, the major difference being the 241s mag case and mtronic.

Anyway, I was a bit bored this morning so I swapped a coil, flywheel, carb
( Walbro WTF 2A ) , choke rod and filterbase/control switch off of a MS251 parts saw I had laying around.

The Result? It runs. It runs very well. I have removed the limiter cap on Carb and have yet to take it out into some wood and tune it. I Will update on how it runs in wood next to my other MS241mtronic saw later today

I couldnt find any info on it being done on a 241 before, so Hopefully this will help anyone looking for a cheap easy fix for their MS241.

I don't see why you couldn't convert it.

 

[2strokeoil4blood]

Hey Guys, had a Stihl MS241cm given to me from @Bob Hedgecutter a while back. Saw had a hole melted in top of piston.
I pulled it to bits, split case and did new bearings, seals and gaskets, as well as a brand new OEM Stihl piston and cylinder kit. Ran fine in workshop.

Fast forward about a month, I decided to take it out into some wood yesterday. As soon as it was in the cut it lost power and heated up a little. Im guessing it was leaning out under load. Ran the mtronic reset procedure- still the same. Stopped straight away and took it home.
Pulled carb- all looks fine.

Then I got thinking... the MS241 and MS231/251 are very nearly the same in alot of ways, the major difference being the 241s mag case and mtronic.

Anyway, I was a bit bored this morning so I swapped a coil, flywheel, carb
( Walbro WTF 2A ) , choke rod and filterbase/control switch off of a MS251 parts saw I had laying around.

The Result? It runs. It runs very well. I have removed the limiter cap on Carb and have yet to take it out into some wood and tune it. I Will update on how it runs in wood next to my other MS241mtronic saw later today

I couldnt find any info on it being done on a 241 before, so Hopefully this will help anyone looking for a cheap easy fix for

I would have gotten more joy from finding out what was wrong. Lol

After Spending what I spent on the rebuild, It wasnt worth it to me to take it to the Stihl shop to have it plugged in to a computer just to find out the solenoid or control units toast. I had the parts saws sitting around, so made sense to me to not over invest in the saw I'll send you all the mtronic parts i took off if you like, and you can work it out
This was also an experiment to see if it could be done aswell, some people dont like mtronic, and now the saw can be manually tuned too

 

[sean donato]

You don't really need a stihl dealer to diagnose the saw. Possibly some spare parts and definatly a multimeter. While I don't condone swapping to a different fuel system for no reason, I also understand not sinking more money into something then it's worth. Added plus you had the parts on hand. Win win situation in your case.

 

[2strokeoil4blood]

You don't really need a stihl dealer to diagnose the saw. Possibly some spare parts and definatly a multimeter. While I don't condone swapping to a different fuel system for no reason, I also understand not sinking more money into something then it's worth. Added plus you had the parts on hand. Win win situation in your case.

My Stihl guy doesnt charge me for plugging in, only parts. I rarely work on mtronic saws so the "Mtronic" part is way above my head

Seeing that people do it all the time on the 261s using parts off the 271/291s, I saw no reason it couldnt be done with a 241 I am Testing in wood this morning, that will be the proof of whether it works properly or not the parts could probably be bought 2nd hand for the price of a solenoid.

 

[2strokeoil4blood]

Curious....Did you change out those parts one at a time, or all at once?

Swapped coil and carb together, saw ran but backfired after a few seconds and died.
Swapped flywheel and that solved it.
I then swapped the filter base/control switch and choke rod as the mtronic base doesnt have the tuning holes in it and obstructed the tuning screws.
Also the mtronic choke rod didnt work with it so the 251 choke rod was needed

 

[sean donato]

My Stihl guy doesnt charge me for plugging in, only parts. I rarely work on mtronic saws so the "Mtronic" part is way above my head

Seeing that people do it all the time on the 261s using parts off the 271/291s, I saw no reason it couldnt be done with a 241 I am Testing in wood this morning, that will be the proof of whether it works properly or not the parts could probably be bought 2nd hand for the price of a solenoid.

Stihl offers plenty of models as both m tronic and regular carb version. I'm sure it will be just fine/run great. I just wouldn't have gone that route. I see your from a different part of the world from me, and around here getting conversion parts gets costly quick. A $30.00 seliniod or a quick wiring repair is cheaper for me.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Stihl offers plenty of models as both m tronic and regular carb version. I'm sure it will be just fine/run great. I just wouldn't have gone that route. I see your from a different part of the world from me, and around here getting conversion parts gets costly quick. A $30.00 seliniod or a quick wiring repair is cheaper for me.

Maybe where you live, you don't get much with STIHL stamped on it for $30 here!
Mind you, totally reversible transaction and OP still has all the original parts to inspect and play with at his leisure- in the meanwhile, he has a running functioning saw.

 

[2strokeoil4blood]

Stihl offers plenty of models as both m tronic and regular carb version. I'm sure it will be just fine/run great. I just wouldn't have gone that route. I see your from a different part of the world from me, and around here getting conversion parts gets costly quick. A $30.00 seliniod or a quick wiring repair is cheaper for me.

Yes a solenoid here in new zealand i think would be equivalent to around $75usd

 

[sean donato]

Maybe where you live, you don't get much with STIHL stamped on it for $30 here!
Mind you, totally reversible transaction and OP still has all the original parts to inspect and play with at his leisure- in the meanwhile, he has a running functioning saw.

Yes, I'm awear of that you guys don't get parts at the same cost we do.
I was in no way demagrading what he did, simply stating I wouldn't have done it if it was mine and it's a simple system to diagnose.

 

[sean donato]

Yes a solenoid here in new zealand i think would be equivalent to around $75usd

That would certainly be a factor. You guys really get bent over on stihl parts over there.