Used 261 - carb adjustment screws not lining up with housing. Did I get had?

cornwnc · Monday at 8:21 PM

Edit to add: I did try Googling before I posted here, but not coming up with anything. Probably because my terminology is off.

Picked up a used 261 today for a pretty good deal (hopefully) off FB marketplace to help cleaning up the property after Helene. Fired right up, good compression on a slow pull of the cord, and pulled the spark plug and to my untrained eye, the piston looked clean. Only thing that was off was that the holes to adjust the carb screws are misaligned on the housing. Anyone have any insight as to what's up with that?

Made a quick cut on a 16" oak round when I got home, seemed to get really hot above the muffler (hopefully not another issue), but otherwise ran great. Had to get kids in bed so haven't played with it more than a quick cut.

Anything to do about the carb screw alignment? Also, if anyone's able to interpret the serial number, I'd be curious to know when it was sold. Guy I bought it from said he bought it used to resell, but didn't speak much English. Figured there was a chance I was buying a bad saw, but the price was good enough that I figured I'd be willing to take the risk and wouldn't be losing too much if it was shot.

Cheers!

Tobystihl · Tuesday at 5:19 PM

It's an autotune model with a manual carb top cover, the original cover would not have any holes.

cornwnc · Wednesday at 6:36 AM

Tobystihl said:
It's an autotune model with a manual carb top cover, the original cover would not have any holes.

Thanks for the reply! So this is normal for some of the earlier 261s? My old man and a buddy both have new 261s and don't have these holes. Made me a little concerned I'd gotten one that had been torn down and rebuilt with new plastic or something (I don't even know if that's a thing, but it doesn't look right)

Del_ · Wednesday at 6:59 AM

cornwnc said:
Thanks for the reply! So this is normal for some of the earlier 261s? My old man and a buddy both have new 261s and don't have these holes. Made me a little concerned I'd gotten one that had been torn down and rebuilt with new plastic or something (I don't even know if that's a thing, but it doesn't look right)

Have you taken the air filter cover off to see if your carb even has those screws?

The 261C doesn't.

BeatCJ · Wednesday at 11:10 AM

cornwnc said:
Thanks for the reply! So this is normal for some of the earlier 261s? My old man and a buddy both have new 261s and don't have these holes. Made me a little concerned I'd gotten one that had been torn down and rebuilt with new plastic or something (I don't even know if that's a thing, but it doesn't look right)

I think that's the point of that post. You may not have plastics that match your carb. That doesn't mean you have a bad saw. If someone bought a newer saw with smashed plastics and replaced those to flip, the internals didn't get worse. If the saw runs well, you are good.

As for the really hot above the muffler, I would be concerned about an exhaust leak between the muffler and the cylinder. I don't know if that's a 261 thing or not, but it can be a problem with some saws.