The Stihl MS661 C-M recall

[MustangMike]

If you had a recalled saw, and did not know it, I would contact a dealer and see what they say.

 

[andy]

I want to update this post. I've never posted before but am a longtime lurker. About a week ago my 661 did the thing it always does, gets hard to start and forced me to put it down in the middle of sawing wood on the job and go to a smaller saw. I pulled the spark plug and it looked suspect so I ran and got another. The saw ran but still acted up. Saturday I did some big white pine takedowns and the saw started acting up again, except this time it broke. I took off the b&c and starter and tried to turn by hand, its locked up. Started looking on forums , it seems I have the bad cylinder and module. I purchased the saw 6/25/15. I cant find newer posts because apparently these saws were called back and the problem remedied by stihl before a lot got to the public. I dont use the saw every day and not much in winter. 3 years and two months, just out of warranty. I bought the saw after a storm and I believe the shop had sold all of their saws. I asked for a 460 , they said they were out but would give me a 660 at the 460 cost. I put it in the truck and left, not noticing it was a 661 until later, which I did not know existed at the time and certainly did not know were recalled. Has anyone else had one of these saws blow up prematurely? All of my saws are under 5yrs old. All going strong, including the 193 and 201 which see the most use. just looking to get some light shed on this and wondering if I'm screwed or not by stihl and the dealer that sold a saw that was supposed to go back to Germany to be refitted.

You bought it June25'2016 but when was it made?
On the handle will be the epa tag. Look for the DM and then month year.
I had a DM 6- 2013 and it was problematic. A saw I got later was a 09- 2016 saw and was sweet.... really sweet.

One thing might be to search the best dealer in your area. They can run a search of the Serial number and tell you if it falls into a Recall range.

 

[porsche965]

I've had -0- problems since the first Gen into the current Gens. 661 is a very nice chainsaw. I did update the coils this year to the current available at N/C from the Dealer. Boy do they just cut wood.

Should buy a lottery ticket I guess. But I make my own fortunes through endless hard work.

 

[brotherbuck]

I bought it on 6-25-15. I looked and he serial number falls in the range posted here. I have the receipt. Serial number written on it. I took it to my local stihl dealer and they said they'd call the rep on Monday. He also said I should've gotten a notice. I looked at the cylinder and electronics and it's the old part #s.

 

[brotherbuck]

Andy at clover, when u say problematic, how so anx what was the outcome?

 

[Derrick Sawyer]

Good luck with the saw, i thought they had things ironed out by that date of manuf. I rebuilt one from 2013 that had seized, . I needed to put a new crank and piston/cylinder and also updated the intake boot (dealer gave me a great deal), that was in 2015. Runs well when i need it , just had to replace the solenoid once that's it, needs a recalibration once in a while (when it doesn't hold idle long) I'm quite surprised you got a 661 for the price of a 460.

 

[Cody]

If you had a recalled saw, and did not know it, I would contact a dealer and see what they say.

My 661 was out of warranty as well and they still replaced both intake boot and ignition coil no questions asked for no charge, didn't say anything about the muffler being opened up either.

I've had -0- problems since the first Gen into the current Gens. 661 is a very nice chainsaw. I did update the coils this year to the current available at N/C from the Dealer. Boy do they just cut wood.

Should buy a lottery ticket I guess. But I make my own fortunes through endless hard work.

I forget what # coil they put on mine, 4702A maybe? It's posted somewhere on here but either way, noticeable amount of increased power, very happy with how that saw cuts now even though I had no complaints before other than hot starts. Of course when I called the dealer about it I told them it was screaming high rpm, just didn't tell them I was cutting a hollow ash log that was just over 2' diameter.

 

[Derrick Sawyer]

Dang that date of manuf is the same as the blown up one i fixed, Oct 2013. Hope it doesnt have the one i fixed had, the crank needle bearing busted and made it up into cylinder, damaging the top....pretty much what you would refer to as roasted

 

[brotherbuck]

My worry is because its kind of old history now they won't honor it. Either way it's probably not going to happen overnight so Ill most likely end up buying a 441 on Monday. I sure hope the bottom end isnt damaged. I'm not taking it apart til I hear from stihl. Thanks for your responses. Ill update when I know more

 

[brotherbuck]

I took the saw back to the shop under the direction of a stihl rep. He said have them look at it and call him. The rings fell out of the muffler when pulled. No carbon on plug or in muffler just gray-white and bone dry. They said probably bottom end shot too because piston looked like it was slapping. All I know so far. In the meantime, I'm not buying a new saw , waiting for something injected to come along now. Picked up an 046 and 036 for $600 today. Tested 046 at 145 psi.

 

[MustangMike]

Great price for the two, but that is low for an 046. What is the SN of your 046?

 

[brotherbuck]

Where do I find that? Should be like 175psi right. Just has to get me through a lil while, cant be without a large saw. Not quite ready to chunk down the big money again.

 

[Derrick Sawyer]

Dang where did those saws come from? You must be on the Western side of PA since I didn't see those on any website and i troll within an hour from Philly burbs where i am. Luckily I don't have much cutting left for winter and can focus on more important things....like opening day archery for North American Whitetail this Saturday

 

[brotherbuck]

I'm in bucks. Trolled hard trying to get a replacement fast. Facebook. Out of Jersey. Met me over Burlington Bristol. He asked if I was definitely buying cause he was getting hit up so hard and wanted to change the ad to sold. Has an ms200 too.

 

[MustangMike]

Where do I find that

There is a flat spot on the case right above the chain, if you clean it off you should see it. Always 12 #s, will start with a 1. The reason I ask, I think a lot of the D jug saws came from the factory with less compression then the Hemi saws, which generally have 160-175 PSI stock.

If it is a D jug saw, I would definitely check the squish, and likely delete the base gasket.

 

[brotherbuck]

I'll look tomorrow. I read your post on another thread about the car type compression tester and pulling til it stops, which I did and I got 155 cold.

 

[MustangMike]

I think that was someone else's post. 155 is decent.

 

[2 Stroke Pete]

WOW, I was thinking about trading my 461 in for a 661, now am a little hesitant, hmm. Would be a shame to trade in a very reliable machine and possibly receive a unit that has issues. I would have thought any issues would be addressed by now in 2018???

 

[dustinwilt68]

My Stihl dealer discounts 461s to loggers so they don't buy 661s, one logger still buys the 661, always has a few of them at the shop, just loves the power, but hates the reliability. 661s help sell a lot of 395s for husky around here.

 

[Cody]

WOW, I was thinking about trading my 461 in for a 661, now am a little hesitant, hmm. Would be a shame to trade in a very reliable machine and possibly receive a unit that has issues. I would have thought any issues would be addressed by now in 2018???

I would expect them to be sorted out at this point, I would think that if there are issues it would still be with earlier produced saws but wouldn't be the first time I'd be wrong.