Stihl ms290 choke issues

[AaronH]

Hey guys. Hopefully someone can help me out. I bought a 290 today really cheap due to it having a couple issues.

The choke will go to full choke. The saw starts but the trigger will not allow it to release from full choke. It just runs wide open. To get it off,I have to manually move it. The lever then slides out of its recess and doesn't want to go back in. It also won't kill itself. I believe that's because it's slipped out and can't make contact.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Sorry to seem like such a noob. I buy alot of equipment to fix and sell and I'm slowly wanting to do more of the work myself.

 

[SEAM]

Remove the air cleaner cover and post a pic of the switch... that will eliminate a lot of guessing.

 

[Johnsobri]

Ck and make sure the spring behind the operation lever/switch is on the top and not underneath.

 

[fearofpavement]

I've encountered this before. A couple of tips. First, when the switch lever is all the way down, that's full choke. After the engine pops, it should be manually moved up one click. This is the high idle position. Some people call this half choke but the choke is fully open in any position except the lowest one. It is important to not manually raise the lever from the high idle position to the run position as this needs to be done by pulling the trigger. Then from run to off is done manually.

All that to say, if the lever has come out of its slot, the spring will have moved to under the lever rod mechanism instead of on top of it. That is why it won't "kill" because that is done by the spring touching the wire.

If you work the lever with the air filter cover off, it will become clear. The prongs that hold the switch rod on its left side may need to be tightened if the rod is coming out of it routinely. (a bit of heat and squeeze it gently, with the rod removed of course)

 

[AaronH]

 

[Rockjock]

Spring is out of position. remove the selector switch and position the spring behind the selector.

 

[AaronH]

I've tried moving the spring, but it still doesn't move as easy as it should and eventually comes loose. Should I bend the spring slightly with pliers to give it more resistance?

 

[Rockjock]

It looks to have the right amount of resistance. I am not near my PC but hopefully someone can post a photo of the correct placement of the selector switch/spring configuration. Ok this is from a MS 250 but you can get an idea of how it should look, you can apply some lithium grease to the spring contact surface and adjust it slightly to make it contact smoother ( not my pic )

 

[grack]

same thing happened to mine about four years ago these guys are right a little heat with rod out and gently press plastic hook in till its tight with the selector in thats all i had to do everything lined up with the kill switch hope this works for you.

 

[AaronH]

I just tore it apart again. It looks like the choke linkage is missing. I took the covers off a 180 and a 250. They both have it but my 290 does not. Is it a different set up or is it
missing?

 

[Rockjock]

No no it is different. I was able to find another pic from the chainsaw collectors site. it is not toally clear but you can see the spring is behind the selector.

 

[k.chandler23]

Can someone tell me what opens the choke plate after it has been shut? My 290's choke lever is working as it should and in the correct position but the choke will not open with the lever to high idle or run positions.

 

[cscltd]

There is a coil spring on the outside of shaft if you look at above pic.
Yours may have broken or came unhooked as you can see the end of spring has a 180* bend in it on flat piece on end of shaft

 

[k.chandler23]

There is a coil spring on the outside of shaft if you look at above pic.
Yours may have broken or came unhooked as you can see the end of spring has a 180* bend in it on flat piece on end of shaft

Mine seems to be fine. I've looked at multiple pictures. Maybe I can tighten it. Does the choke lever actually return it or does something else do it? I'm wondering if my lever has some wear or something that's causing it not to work correctly.

 

[k.chandler23]

There is a coil spring on the outside of shaft if you look at above pic.
Yours may have broken or came unhooked as you can see the end of spring has a 180* bend in it on flat piece on end of shaft

The spring needs to be tightened. Thank you for the reply.

 

[ZeroJunk]

As far as the second photo in post number 5 the ground strap goes on top, not on the bottom where it is in the photo.

 

[k.chandler23]

As far as the second photo in post number 5 the ground strap goes on top, not on the bottom where it is in the photo.

Yes. I actually don't have any issues with lever itself staying in place. The spring on the choke rod was not tight enough to return the choke plate to the open position. It is now fixed and everything is working properly.