Warranty Work

[Gypo Logger]

Just wondering what % of Stihl, Husky, Jonsereds are returned to the dealer for legitimate failure of the saw.
Of the over 200+ saws I have purchased, I think I have returned only 3 in a 21 year period.
Are some customers just a pain in the a$$ and return a saw because they simply flooded it? I think the manufacturers I mentioned generaly have good quality control and put out a good product.
John

 

[Gypo Logger]

Also, why does it seem that some saw purchasers need to feel like they are joined at the hip with their dealer and the warranty they offer? I guess it is just the casual user syndrome. A dealers time is valuable, and they should brace themselves by charging more to the casual user, in readiness for the inevitable learning curve that they will be subjected to by the Harry Homeowner.
Am I wrong in my thinking, or is it just the cost of doing business?
John

 

[mryb]

John,
I bought an 029 for my dad that had a bad oil pump from the start. Warranty covered it no problem. I heard of a few other 029's with that problem. Thats the only problem that I have heard on the better quality saws. Your problem with the heated handles not working on the 2171, was that from the start ? Or did it develope after you had it awhile? ...Rick/Creep

 

[JimL]

If your talking about returning the saw, for either money back or exchange. I had a guy return a 046 and gave him another one. I had spent alot of time trying to figure out what was wrong, finally did, and sold the saw used.

Had another guy return a MS310, that the wristpin clip fell out. Just gave him another and sent the junker to stihl.



Now and then I get them in that need a fuel line or a carb adjustment when they are pretty new.

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hi Rick, the handles never heated from the get go. It was just a simple connection problem that Doug fixed in seconds flat with his ohmeter. It was just a loose wire.
John

 

[Robert]

Here's another question for you dealers out there. My neighbor bought a new Husky 3120 a little over a year ago mainly for use in an Alaskan mill. After about 3 days of using it (maybe 3 trees at most) the saw stopped running, no compression, piston and cyl. shot. The dealer took about a week to fix it and everything was fine for about a month and the same thing happened again. The dealer fixed it again in about a week and gave it back to him saying they had checked it out thoroughly and that he shouldn't have anymore problems, although they couldn't tell him what had caused the failures. So a couple of months later it happens again. This time they tell him that Husqvarna wants to see the saw so they send it off to where ever. This time it takes about a month for him to get his saw back. After the first couple of weeks the dealer did give him a loaner so he could finish the job. When the saw came back the dealer said Husqvarna would not say what had been wrong with the saw or what they did to fix it but that it was fixed and he wouldn't have any more problems. It did run fine for about a year and a half but a few weeks ago he was out milling and the saw locked up. He took it in and the dealer said it was an air leak caused by a cracked carb spacer. At this point the saw was about one month out of warranty. They did not give him any break at all on the repair - charged full price for the parts and the labor. Does this seem fair? I think they should have at least givin him a price break on the parts (I think he paid around $500 for the repair). What do you think?

 

[Fish]

A year and a half in a commercial application and you still expect
warranty?
Wow!

 

[Gypo Logger]

I think the saw user was more than treated well by the dealer. Chainsaw milling cooks saws, especially stock ones, run at 50: 1.
Milling causes saws to run extremely hot. I think milling should void the warranty, if I was making the rules
John

 

[Robert]

Yeah, I know milling is really hard on saws and you're probably right about it limiting the warranty. But the first three failures were when the saw was almost new, he hadn't milled very much at all. The dealer even said that the first two 3120s they had sold that year (his was the third) had burnt up within the first week. He mills with it maybe once a month. I know they didn't have to do anything, I just thought that considering what he paid ($1,200 to $1,300 if I recall) and the trouble he had right at the start that they could have given him a little something. Could be that I am just biased against them. I don't shop there unless I can't get it anywhere else. Don't know why, just a bad vibe. It's good to here the other side's opinion though.

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hi Robert, since the advent of semi fixed jets, dealers arent getting back to many lean seizures. Even normal use of a saw will boil fuel in the gas tank when the temp is hot and humid.
Another thing, stock saws run severely retarded, thus shortening their life expectancy, due to retained heat.
John

 

[treeclimber165]

John- Many of us run severely retarded, but that's no reason to speak like that.

 

[Gypo Logger]

Brian, I know what your sayin'. As long as I can walk and chew gum at the same time, then I'm still doin' ok.
Since I am my own doctor, my daily physical checkup, from the neckup, consists of holding a modified saw, one handed, held right to the freakin pin.
John

 

[Robert]

stock saws run severely retarded

I know, and in the dealer's defense he's not one to deviate from whatever it says in the owner's manual - Husky oil @50:1, Husky bar oil, and don't touch that muffler! It will void the warranty!
At least now that it's out of warranty I think I've got him convinced to try Maxima 927 @ 32:1. Next I'll see if I can get him to open up that muffler a little. I know all about the retarded new saws though. That's why I mill with an old 090 - it doesn't really need any mods to mill with. And for what I paid for it you could buy three 088s.

 

[bwalker]

Robert,There are much better oil choices for a saw than 927. This is a motor ran on 927. Noticed the nasty deposits on the piston.

 

[Robert]

you could buy three 088s

I meant to say that for the price of a new 088 I could buy three 090s. I think I'll take another percocet and go to bed.

John, you can have your thread back. BTW, you keep running those auctions like that and the Stihl Gestapo is going to be knocking at your door. They're a sensitive little bunch, aren't they?

 

[Tony Snyder]

My experience has been that warranty percentages on nearly new saws are higher than any 2 or 3 percent.
But, with the exception of one Poulan/Jonsered, they all have been very minor issues. For instance I just had one broken chain adjust dog. You know what kind of circumstance can cause that.

 

[oakman]

i think taking a brand new saw and milling with it is a bit risky. unless the logs are small diameter/softwood. to stick a new saw in big hardwood milling is subjecting it to long wide open hotter than hell conditions. then if it is a bit too lean, and/or not enough oil in the mix, and chernobyl occurs. although i am guilty of this myself, i think you need to properly break it in first. i believe that the normal heat up/ cool down cycle, done several times, is what conditions a new motor and will let it run hard and have a long life. the saw gods have been looking out for me, as i haven't yet cooked a saw while milling, but now i will take a new one and maybe run 6 or 8 tanks through just bucking up a few logs, not pushing it too hard, and letting it cool down between tanks, before i mount it up on the mill. i also run my saws richer than you would for general sawing. i set it so it is 4 cycling when wide open no load, but will break into 2cycle in the cut. yea, it will produce a bit of carbon after awhile, but if your milling with your saws, you can expect more maintenance if you want it to last. i'm not saying that is what happened to this 3120, just that this works for me. i have milled over 50,000 bd.ft. mostly hardwoods.

 

[stihltech]

milling

We were just warned about saws on mills at tech school. the longer bar will require a richer setting. I would get the limiters off and set it under load for that application.
In this shop, I would say the warranty percentage is below the 2 percent range. I will gladly warranty any saw that I can prove failed due to a manufacturing flaw.
Case in point, MS180C. Lean seize. Upon teardown, I found a part of the sealant missing on the cylinder pan. Stihl said fix it, no question. Saw was close to a year old and used HARD (Amish).
I am also guilty of fixing the insignificant things for nothing on a saw I sold. That is part of taking care of my customers.

 

[My2cents]

There seems to be a simple principle with seizing of a cylinder.
A tremendous amount of heat causes it. How about a thermo pick up cliped to the head/jug. When it reaches a determined Temp it closes grounding the kill switch. I have seem small Thermo grounding plugs used on other engines. It would be nice to correct the problem before the seize.

 

[bwalker]

How about runnigna egt probe to the ignition so that when it reaches a preset temp it retards the ignition or how about a simular system that adjust the HS jet based on egt.