Stihl MS261 coil issues and piston scarring

[matthewmore]

Hello,
My Stihl MS261 wouldn't crank. I couldn't get it to spark, so I took it to the local dealership. They said it was indeed the coil causing the no spark issue, but they noted that the piston has some severe scarring on the exhaust side. They suggested it wouldn't be worth putting the coil on with the engine damaged.

1. Is it worth putting a coil on and running it as is? Just want to get some second opinions before I give up on this very nice piece of equipment.

2. Is the coil difficult to acquire or replace? If it's cheap enough, maybe it's worth my while to just throw one on and see what I find?

 

[pioneerguy600]

We would need to see a pic of the piston to see how badly it is damaged. A scored piston will only get worse very quickly and may seize the engine up tight, sometimes there will be more damage caused also. Just putting a new coil on it and running it as is may get a few hours out of it but eventually it will cause much more damage, imagine two rough surfaces rubbing together at 9-10 thousand RPM.

 

[DND 9000]

If you want to have a working saw in the long run, the cause of the scoring must be found first and eliminated. After that I would go for the new ignition module. Otherwise it makes no sense and is thrown out money.