Skinnynnif
New Member
First time poster but I've read a few threads and seen the common questions so below is my novel of what's going on and I've done.
Bought this saw used, don't know much on this history but it was running good last year. I've never owned a big saw so it may have been down on power but it felt like a beast compared to the tiny little echo I had run before. Towards the end of the year it didn't like to idle but the saw is now 800m (2600ft) higher in elevation to where it used to live so i chalked it up to needing some carb tuning. Had the same issue this year so I had a buddy help me dial the carb in and it was running great..... until the next week when it wouldn't start at all. Gave up and brought it to a shop and we checked the compression and it reads 90. Tester has a valve at the bottom and a short hose and we pulled and pulled until the needle stopped climbing.
The threads on the spark plug were looking rough but it did thread and seat really nicely and we were able to get it tight, so it may not have many spark plug changes in it, but I don't suspect it is leaking. It has the decomp delete in it but I cant get a wrench past the plastics to pull it and check the crush washer on the back (that will happen this weekend). Took off the exhaust to check the piston and it looks good to me and the intake side of the cylinder doesn't show anything to my eye either. I can also see the rings move (very slight, not loose) as the piston moves which tells me they aren't seized. (photos below)
I'm not opposed to doing a meteor piston and head, I just want to make sure I'm not spending money for the wrong thing; it would fix the spark plug issue and any eliminate any questions about the head. I could start with just rings as a little diagnosis but it will need a top end at some point anyways.
I'm hoping the knowledge of the people here can help guide me on some other things to check. I cut a few chords of wood for heat in my house plus some fire wood while camping so I don't want to spend a bunch of money chasing issues. I'm also comfortable taking apart small engines and tinkering, but buying a case splitter for 1 seal feels like a stretch. If someone here is in SE BC and wants to help out over a case of beer, I would also be in favor of that!
Plan to check next is:
- decomp delete
- intake boot (although this shouldn't kill compression)
- Head gasket
- piston ring gap (need to find feeler gauges but could be done)
TLDR: Bad compression, piston looks ok, please help.
Thanks!
-Finny
Bought this saw used, don't know much on this history but it was running good last year. I've never owned a big saw so it may have been down on power but it felt like a beast compared to the tiny little echo I had run before. Towards the end of the year it didn't like to idle but the saw is now 800m (2600ft) higher in elevation to where it used to live so i chalked it up to needing some carb tuning. Had the same issue this year so I had a buddy help me dial the carb in and it was running great..... until the next week when it wouldn't start at all. Gave up and brought it to a shop and we checked the compression and it reads 90. Tester has a valve at the bottom and a short hose and we pulled and pulled until the needle stopped climbing.
The threads on the spark plug were looking rough but it did thread and seat really nicely and we were able to get it tight, so it may not have many spark plug changes in it, but I don't suspect it is leaking. It has the decomp delete in it but I cant get a wrench past the plastics to pull it and check the crush washer on the back (that will happen this weekend). Took off the exhaust to check the piston and it looks good to me and the intake side of the cylinder doesn't show anything to my eye either. I can also see the rings move (very slight, not loose) as the piston moves which tells me they aren't seized. (photos below)
I'm not opposed to doing a meteor piston and head, I just want to make sure I'm not spending money for the wrong thing; it would fix the spark plug issue and any eliminate any questions about the head. I could start with just rings as a little diagnosis but it will need a top end at some point anyways.
I'm hoping the knowledge of the people here can help guide me on some other things to check. I cut a few chords of wood for heat in my house plus some fire wood while camping so I don't want to spend a bunch of money chasing issues. I'm also comfortable taking apart small engines and tinkering, but buying a case splitter for 1 seal feels like a stretch. If someone here is in SE BC and wants to help out over a case of beer, I would also be in favor of that!
Plan to check next is:
- decomp delete
- intake boot (although this shouldn't kill compression)
- Head gasket
- piston ring gap (need to find feeler gauges but could be done)
TLDR: Bad compression, piston looks ok, please help.
Thanks!
-Finny