Stihl questions and answers

[stihltech]

032

These are very good saws. The reason they are deemed hard to work on is due to the one piece top shroud. The 031 would separate and let you work on the saw and run it without it. Other than that, it is basically an 031 super. Good mid range power, although any good 031 will keep up or out cut it. If you have a good one, maintain and enjoy.

 

[palmer4670]

. I affirm Stihl's right to sell "homeowner"
saws. I await the orange and white "wild thing" coming soon
to Lowes.

just to let you know i was in lowes last week and the orange saws they had on special were not stihl or echo.

 

[stihltech]

lowes

I hope not. Stihl just sent us the Chainletter newsletter and said no way. But, time will tell.

 

[Billie]

I remember getting that same letter from Husky a few years ago.

 

[sawracr]

Fish, I am not a big fan of Stihl,in our store we sell both Stihl and Husky and I find it hard to sell a 136 Husky over the 017 Stihl, I have seen the 017 get the crap beat out of them.by tree service guys, and Stihlllll keep running, I don't think the 017 is such a bad saw, especally for the price.

 

[stilh020]

saw will not start

I rebuilted a stihl 020av carburator when it started to sputter. Now, I am having problems starting it. I took it to my friendly chainsaw dealer and they said the crankshaft seals were going and it was sucking air. There is a tube from the cylinder body that connects to the carb that supposely is to operate the pulse pump in the carb. I have talked to other owners and they mentioned that I need to crack the case and fix the tube that goes into the crankcase. I have checked the cylinder walls and they are shiny, smooth and clean. I found there was no scoring at all and the compression is good. It seems the problem is that the fuel is not getting into the engine via the carb. I primed the carb with a few squirts of fuel and it started immediately but only for a few seconds. To replace the crankshaft seals seems to be a bit extravangant. Is there a simplier remedy for this problem? :rockn:

 

[Lakeside53]

I rebuilted a stihl 020av carburator when it started to sputter. Now, I am having problems starting it. I took it to my friendly chainsaw dealer and they said the crankshaft seals were going and it was sucking air. There is a tube from the cylinder body that connects to the carb that supposely is to operate the pulse pump in the carb. I have talked to other owners and they mentioned that I need to crack the case and fix the tube that goes into the crankcase. I have checked the cylinder walls and they are shiny, smooth and clean. I found there was no scoring at all and the compression is good. It seems the problem is that the fuel is not getting into the engine via the carb. I primed the carb with a few squirts of fuel and it started immediately but only for a few seconds. To replace the crankshaft seals seems to be a bit extravangant. Is there a simplier remedy for this problem? :rockn:

Do a full pressure and vacuum test. Only that will tell you where your problem is. Crank seals aren't difficult to do.

 

[cmon4day]

038 crank bearings

I have an old 038 farm boss and the crank bearings are making noise. If I do nothing, what is the eventual outcome with the bearings.

Vic

 

[stihltech]

Let's get ready to rumble

If, and when, the bearing comes apart, the debris will go up through the transfers and onto the sides and top of the piston. Best case, you replace a piston, if it has plastic bearing cages. I highly doubt this. The metal cage will take out the piston and cylinder, maybe more parts.
If you want to keep the saw, replace the bearings. Give it a thorough looking over, check crank and case.

 

[Lakeside53]

I have an old 038 farm boss and the crank bearings are making noise. If I do nothing, what is the eventual outcome with the bearings.

Vic

What noise do you hear? I rarely hear any "noise" from crank bearings (main shaft case bearings) until it's way too late...

 

[cmon4day]

Noisy crank bearings

Lakeside,

I'm not sure if it even is the crank bearings, but when I remove the spark plug and pull on the cord, I hear a noise. It's hard to describe. Maybe "tinny" might work or like if you had bike wheel bearings that were dry. The saw however runs great and still strong.

Stihltech. Thanks for your response. I hope it doesn't come to that. How hard is it to tear an 038 down to the crank bearings?

Vic

 

[trouser chili]

Hey Stihltech, I was wondering if you could pop over to my thread whenever convenient and let me know if I'm on the right track.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=34053

 

[spacemule]

Interesting name there, trouser.

 

[Fish]

stihltech

he only pops over to my thread, big boy!!!!

 

[Lakeside53]

Lakeside,

I'm not sure if it even is the crank bearings, but when I remove the spark plug and pull on the cord, I hear a noise. It's hard to describe. Maybe "tinny" might work or like if you had bike wheel bearings that were dry. The saw however runs great and still strong.

Stihltech. Thanks for your response. I hope it doesn't come to that. How hard is it to tear an 038 down to the crank bearings?

Vic

Probably just mild piston slap from a worn inlet side of the piston, or, clutch shoes banging on the drum. Take off the clutch drum and the rewind. Turn it over by hand using the flywheel. Then tell us what you hear..

Tear down to the crank bearings? 1 hour (thats a "tear down", not a "reassemble") if you have the tools and know what you are doing... A day if you are making your tools as you go.. get a service manual - it explains the process.

 

[yawning_dog]

new guy with question

Hi Stihltech!

New guy here, looking for an answer to a easy (dumb) question. Hope I'm not interrupting your thread here, but I thought this was to trivial to start a new thread. I just picked up a pretty darn new looking 090 the other day from its original owner. He said he hadn't started it in 20 years, so I was a little hesitant to just gas it up and start it up. Anyway, upon visual inspection, a friend noticed that there were two hose nipples (for lack of a better description) below and to the right of the carb. One looks like it comes from the oil resevoir and the other looks like it goes to the crank case. Anyway, there was no tube connecting the two. The owner didn't even know the tube was missing. The IPL that was in the manual said it was a "tube" (or at least I think that's what it said because it was all mildewed together). So do you happen to know what this tube is for? Impulse line of some sort? By the way, after I replaced the tube, I couldn't wait any more and I fired it up. Sweet saw!

In a related question, the saw came with 1/2" chain/sprocket & two-man 48" Grandberg mill. Too much mill for me (anyone interested?), and I would like to change the sprocket to support something smaller (.404" I guess). Is this possible? I've read a lot about doing this here, but it seems like the opinion is often inconclusive.

Anyway, thanks for any help you can give me and thanks to all the knowledgable guys who post here and help doofuses like me! (whew, that first post wasn't too bad... )

 

[Rydaddy]

Beautiful Saw. I would feel bad even putting it in some wood!

 

[yawning_dog]

Thanks! You aren't kidding. I got really lucky to come by one in such great condition. Of course since my house is on less than 1/4 acre and the only trees to speak of are the crabgrass, I don't have much of a chance to get it dirty... I would like to mill with it, but I gotta take care of the chain/bar issue first.

 

[yawning_dog]

Trying again

Just thought I would try again to see if anyone might know about that tube that I wrote about a few posts up...

 

[Lakeside53]

Send a picture... I've fixed a few 090's but I'm not seeing what you have...