Stumble off idle

[Max]

Hello,
I have a question about the way my new 357xp comes up off an idle. When you nail it off idle it runs perfect. When you bring it up real slow it stumbles and sometimes stalls. I will be bringing the saw back to the dealer tomorrow for a check up/retune, but I would like to know what the cause could be before going to the dealer. Any help is a greatly appreciated.
PS saw is brand new (3rd tank in saw at this time) and everything is clean.
Thank you!

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

My guess is the carb jet stting needs a little tweaking. Totally normal for a new saw or when the weather changes.

 

[Max]

Thanks Mike. I'm just a bit wound up over the newness and cost of the saw. I will say it rips! A huge improvement over the old 029.

 

[glens]

It's been a few years since I've handled a newer saw which works <i>at all</i> with partial throttle settings.&nbsp; Use it like a light switch and no problems.

Glen

 

[stihltech]

plug

Before I started tweaking the carb, I would change the plug. It has happened to me twice in the last year. New plug cured the stumble.

 

[eric_271]

I had that happen with a new makita/dolmar saw. On mine it turned out to be the little screen in the carb, plugged up.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Re: plug

Originally posted by stihltech
Before I started tweaking the carb, I would change the plug. It has happened to me twice in the last year. New plug cured the stumble.

A new saw should be adjusted after a certain amount of time. If changing the plug solves the problem, there's a chance the plug was fouled by the carb being out of wack. This whole thing with blaming plugs drives me nuts.

 

[stihltech]

fouled

Hmmm, I always thought a nice tan or off white plug was not fouled, silly me

 

[bcorradi]

Hey Mike Look down

Your Signature would really take on a new meaning if you spelled it right ; ). Just thought I'd give ya a hard time.
Take care,
Brad

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Re: fouled

Originally posted by stihltech
Hmmm, I always thought a nice tan or off white plug was not fouled, silly me

The way you responded tot he question made it seem like all you did was change the plug, test it, and send it along with the customer. It almost seemed like you wanted Max to cancel his appointment and just install a new plug.
All I'm saying is that if a new plug fixes a problem, look very closely for other problems.
He should get his new saw in and have his service guy take a look after he's run it for a while. A good service guy can point things out that Max may not know, like he may be running the saw slightly too dull or have filed the wrong angles on the chain, the bar slot might be clogged with crud, the air cleaner might be full, the jets may be out of adjustment, there may be some bolts that have loosened, or whatever.
I understand that charging $18.50 to install a spark plug is your bread and butter, but give a me a break.

Originally posted by bcorradi


Just thought I'd give ya a hard time.

Wow give me a hard time?? Your the first one who ever thought of that.

 

[Crofter]

Re: Re: fouled

Originally posted by Mike Maas
The way you responded tot he question made it seem like all you did was change the plug, test it, and send it along with the customer. It almost seemed like you wanted Max to cancel his appointment and just install a new plug.

I understand that charging $18.50 to install a spark plug is your bread and butter, but give a me a break.

Rocky is your hero eh Mike, but when it comes to sarcasm you're only a wannabe! Lol.

Frank

 

[Max]

I got a new plug and made sure the gap was correct and put it in...same deal with coming off idle. I am stopping by the dealer at lunch time and will post again later tonight when I get home.
Thanks

 

[rmihalek]

An off-idle stumble can be caused by the fuel/air mixture being adjusted too lean on the slow speed needle. Try backing it out 1/4 turn or so and see if the condition improves. I think it's important to have good partial throttle response when limbing. It's so much easier to just blip the throttle to cut through little limbs versus having to run the saw at full throttle to just cut a 1 inch limb.

 

[Crofter]

Rmihalek; I'd agree with that diagnosis if it was faltering on sudden throttle opening, but he says it stumbles when slowly opening throttle! I dunno!

Frank

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Originally posted by Max
I got a new plug and made sure the gap was correct and put it in...same deal with coming off idle.

Could be the new spark plug is bad too, LOL.
Seriously, the odds of the new plug being bad are about the same as the odds of the old plug being bad. So you're stuck in an infinite cycle of changing out the new plug with another new plug, knowing this one could be bad too. One day they'll try to get into the room where you were working on the saw. It'll be hard to get in because of the huge pile of spark plugs and you'll be covered with so many they'll have smothered you to death.
After they dig your body out they'll find a half opened spark plug box. The plug can then be mounted permenently in your headstone with a caption that reads: "This one could be bad too, who knows?"

 

[Crofter]

Mike has this thing about spark plugs, but dont worry it only gives trouble for a little while every few months (but like herpes, it always comes back!). I would note the position of the low speed jet and count the turns to gently closed so you can return to that setting and then start to experiment. If mixture is the problem, a difference should be noted with 1/4 turn or so more or less than where you were. As Glen noted, optimum mid range mixture is often not achievable, but should be better than what you describe. Let us know things are going and maybe we can get to the bottom of it.

Frank

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Originally posted by RockyJSquirrel
The bad plug was made in India, the new plug was made in Japan.

ooops, I forgot to save the plug. I coulda mailed it to Mike and gotten $20 for it!

Uhh..umm...no, wait a minute...I remember, it was for plugs made in The US or Japan only! Yeah, yeah, that's it...Us or Japan, not Indian.
I definetly said No Indian plugs.

I assume the saw was from DD, and he said he had a batch of 50 plugs and about 40 were bad. I'm glad I said no Indian plugs!

 

[Max]

I am back and oh what a trip to the Husky dealer it was!
1. They pulled the muffler due to an exhaust leak. There was a outward burr from a defective casting that was keeping the muffler from sealing against the exhaust plate/metal gasket.
2. They said they spent an hour trying to adjust the carb with the limiter caps off-no dice!
3. They pulled the carb 2 times, disassembled-cleaned-reassembeled-no dice
4. I let the owner know how dissapointed I was with the new saw
(2 weeks old)
Get ready for five!!!
5. Owner was just as disappointed and is prepping my brand new 357xp for me to pick up tomorrow.

Bottom line-the dealer could not figure what was wrong and is giving me a new saw! I hope this one runs correctly.

Could it have been an air leak somewhere? We may never know!

Thanks for all the great advice.

 

[Max]

Oh Yeah...Mail order is great pricing but... I could not be happier with the way this dealer stood behind his sale and treated me with respect. I do not enjoy giving up hard earned cash every day...but my hat goes off to the local dealer!!!!
No mail order for me!

 

[Tony Snyder]

You should have suffered longer until we all learned what was really wrong. This is like buying a book with the last chapter missing.

Hang in there for the local dealer. There are fewer and fewer of you left.