A tale of two Stihl saws...

[dobbslc]

I recently bought two Stihl saws off Ebay in preparation for doing the patio, one would have been enough but I was a bit drunk at the time so two seemed a better idea!
Ones a TS350 the other a TS350 super.

Anyway I finally got round to looking at them, one would start but ran badly the other sounded like the bearings were shot so I started on the "runner"
I had a fettle of the carb but it still wouldn't run properly so bought 2 carb rebuild kits of fleabay for about £4 each.
I stripped the carb again and found a tiny drilling blocked that I missed the first time around
Rebuilt it and had another go at starting it on factory settings. It flooded so I turned the low speed needle valve down a bit and it worked! The engine sounds good and will now start on only a couple of pulls on the cord so I'm happy with that! I've just bought a water dust suppression kit for it as this thing chucks out some serious dust when cutting stone!

 

[dobbslc]

The second saw is another very different story!
It sounded very rattly when turned over and had no compression so I pulled it apart.....

Scored piston, loose rings in their grooves, sloppy mains and little end bearings and a massive ridge in the cylinder at TDC !

The deposit you can see in the head by the plug hole is not carbon build up but brick dust! The inside of the air filter is full of dust and the gasket missing a lump.
Poor little engine!
I'll probably rebuild this as parts are cheap on Ebay.
£38 for a new crank with con rod, £40 for a new cylinder with piston and rings etc.
I'll lovingly run it on some old Castrol 747 racing two stroke oil I have left, mmmm.

 

[ukracer]

The second saw is another very different story!
It sounded very rattly when turned over and had no compression so I pulled it apart.....
View attachment 251542
Scored piston, loose rings in their grooves, sloppy mains and little end bearings and a massive ridge in the cylinder at TDC !
View attachment 251546
The deposit you can see in the head by the plug hole is not carbon build up but brick dust! The inside of the air filter is full of dust and the gasket missing a lump.
Poor little engine!
I'll probably rebuild this as parts are cheap on Ebay.
£38 for a new crank with con rod, £40 for a new cylinder with piston and rings etc.
I'll lovingly run it on some old Castrol 747 racing two stroke oil I have left, mmmm.

Be better with Castrol R.

 

[8ob]

Those saws take some stick, the paper air filters block in minutes and normally get thrown in the skip leaving the little plastic mesh on the carb to deal with the dust

Bob

 

[Chillitt]

They were the best of saws, they were the worst of saws..

 

[chris pruteanu]

I have the newer model than that, shorter and its such a good workhorse, it will start on a couple of pulls and runs beautifully. I also have a brand new makita/dolmar and the stihl its better balanced and its my go to saw everytime ! They are really good...

 

[dobbslc]

Be better with Castrol R.

It would but I have the 747 left over and it smells very similar!

 

[ukracer]

It would but I have the 747 left over and it smells very similar!

Nice to know

 

[Alan Reynolds]

Be better with Castrol R.

 

[julianf]

I've got one of them but in husky version.

Made the mistake of cutting dry once. Blade (and it wasn't a cheap one) died pretty much instantly.

I'm told that if a blade is supposed to be run wet then it can just loose the diamonds quickly if the (I assume?) resin bonding gets too hot?

Anyway, water kit seems a good idea.

The pipes on on mine are stuffed so I just run a hose pipe on what I'm trying to cut.

 

[julianf]

2stroke question -

What's the best protocol for when you stop work with one of these?

I always used to fill the tank right up, but every time, if it had been stood a whole (I don't go cutting concrete every day!) I'd have to empty out the tank and refil.

Then it got that it just wouldn't run.

Because I know nothing about 2 strokes (I mean I know thoery but not practice!) I took it to a local service chap and he suggested at the end of the job idle until it dies.

Obviously my way of filling the tank does not work, so I was just wondering what other people did?

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

2stroke question -

What's the best protocol for when you stop work with one of these?

I always used to fill the tank right up, but every time, if it had been stood a whole (I don't go cutting concrete every day!) I'd have to empty out the tank and refil.

Then it got that it just wouldn't run.

Because I know nothing about 2 strokes (I mean I know thoery but not practice!) I took it to a local service chap and he suggested at the end of the job idle until it dies.

Obviously my way of filling the tank does not work, so I was just wondering what other people did?

It's the ethanol in fuel that causes the carb issues

I used to run bp premium in my trials bikes to avoid the ethenol I assume it's still free of it
Aspen fuels is another option

 

[tom2207]

Be better with Castrol R.

be better with fully synthetic Silkolene

just wont smell the same.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

We used to run the mowers dry at the end of the season, a spot of oil down the bore and you were good to go in the Spring.

 

[dobbslc]

I put a measure of Silkolene Pro FST in the fuel near the end of summer ie now and it seems to work ok in spring. The strimmer, chainsaw and mower all start ok.

 

[dobbslc]

I fitted the dust suppression kit to the good saw.
It fitted well and looks like it'll do the job.

 

[cheb]

2stroke question -

What's the best protocol for when you stop work with one of these?

I always used to fill the tank right up, but every time, if it had been stood a whole (I don't go cutting concrete every day!) I'd have to empty out the tank and refil.

Then it got that it just wouldn't run.

Because I know nothing about 2 strokes (I mean I know thoery but not practice!) I took it to a local service chap and he suggested at the end of the job idle until it dies.

Obviously my way of filling the tank does not work, so I was just wondering what other people did?

I use Aspen premix in various small 2T engines. It's not cheap, £5ish a litre, but for me it's worth the lack of hassle. I also use the their straight fuel in small 4T engines.

 

[armalites]

I use Aspen premix in various small 2T engines. It's not cheap, £5ish a litre, but for me it's worth the lack of hassle. I also use the their straight fuel in small 4T engines.

Check out Stihl Motomix, at my local place it's £16.00 for 5L so it's quite a bit cheaper than Aspen. It smells really nice when running too. Not sure if they do a 4 stroke version

 

[dobbslc]

Does anyone know what size the thread is on the rotor / flywheel so I can get a puller to fit?
I tried the 3 legged puller and some heat but bottled out tightening it up too far!

 

[armalites]

https://www.lsengineers.co.uk/pulle...l-YH9-hlJnlnajuq7dpSYjPmBL6LwIsxoCVtIQAvD_BwE