Chainsaw help please...

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Marc Phillips

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2004
Messages
900
Location
Columbus, GA, USA.
Hi all

I am being offered a Stihl MS 180C chainsaw for $30

It has sat unused for a long time, but the guy said it ran fine. I cannot find anything broken or obviously wrong with it, but I cannot get it started either.

I have cleaned the plug, removed the spark arrester screen, and checked all the things I know about... chain brake, and throttle and choke all seem to work fine. I took the plug out and grounded it against the engine and it sparks when the rope is pulled. The rope is pretty stiff to pull... but when the plug is removed it turns over very easily. One part of the manual said something about a compression release button, but I don't see one anywhere...

I have read the manual, but cannot find anything about the cold starting sequence, but have tried all the combination's of choke and throttle I can think of.

I am guessing a repair place will probably charge me quite a bit to do whatever voodoo they do to make these things run.

Your opinion: Is this small chainsaw worth the $30 plus whatever a repair place with probably charge to go through it and make it run?

.... or is there something you can tell me to do that might get it running?

I already have a couple cheaper chainsaws, but was thinking it would be a deal to get a Stihl (did that rhyme?)

Thanks for any and all input...
 
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Marc, for 30 bucks it is probably worth a gamble. You should be able to
get some sort of work estimate for no cost.
The older Stihl's are legendary for long life if cared for.
The basics to check on any non running engines for me have always been:
1.) Fuel
2.) Fire
My guess is carburetor is gummed up, or fuel lines, filter, whatever..FUEL delivery.
Try a bit of starting fluid or several drops of saw gas in the plug hole.
put plug back in and try to start. If it will burp good or run a second,
there you go. No fuel getting there. Carb work usually isn't cheap though.
 
I have a big one( MS 660 STIHL Magnum )with a compression valve. It is on top of the machine.
You have to push it in and put on full choke and pull the starter rope a couple / once until it sounds like it wants to take. Then put it on half choke and fire it up.
It should then start with the first pull.
Now let it run for a couple of seconds and pull the throttle/accelerator so it can go back to idle.

Hope this help.
 
John thinks the same way I do. That is the procedure that I use. I did run into a problem once in which that worked and fuel was getting in. I finally took the muffler off and it ran. Checked the muffler and it was stopped up with a dirt dabber's nest - and that was here in Japan :wink:. Cleaned it out and it worked.

Another trick - with the plug out, cover the carb (or choke it) and pull the cord. Does it appear wet inside the piston area after a pull? It should. If not, probably gummed up.

For $30.00 seems like a good buy - but it depends on how much you need one. I personally always "need" one to have on hand at my stateside home. Knowing you, I think you do! :biggrin:
 
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Depending on how long it sat unfired you probably have a gummed up carberator. Some of the smaller gas engines dont do well with high alchohol content gasolines either. I have had a couple of carberators that the seats for the floats were ate up swollen and rubbery. It would be real easy for the passageways to be gummed up from old gas that had dried out.
 
If the saw has sat unused, my guess is also that the carb is gummed up. I used to take my saws to a local guy who was a wizard with them. A modern small gas engine carb operates by black magic - they often look like a block of aluminum peppered with tiny holes and a diaphram on the side. This guy knew them so well he could blow all the holes clean with compressed air and never once get hit in the face with gas.

His standard first procedure was:
1) dump the gas and replace it with fresh,
2) replace the spark plug with a new Bosch plug, and
3) clean the carb.

Then he'd fire up the engine, attach a tachometer, and adjust it to the right RPMs.

He also taught me how to sharpen chains and adjust chain tension. Too bad he went out of business.

For $30.00, I'd be tempted to buy the saw, give the carb a good cleaning and hope that clears up the problem.

Regards,
Eric
 
penhead said:
I have several Stihl chainsaws...everytime that I have a problem with one of them that I can't figure out, I ask on the following site and someone has always been able to help.
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=65856
Click to expand...

I joined that site and posted my question. I checked back a couple of hours later and had a message from the Administrator that said I was banned for posting porn.

sheesh..... what's up with that?

I am going to guess that this chain saw is jinxed and kick it to the curb.
 
$30.00 is more than a bargain for that saw, it's a steal.
Buy it.
As mentioned, stay away from gasoline with ethanol in it.
My Stihl simply will not perform with ethanol gas, nor will many of my other small engine tools. It is bad stuff.
 
Rifleman1776 said:
$30.00 is more than a bargain for that saw, it's a steal.
Buy it.
As mentioned, stay away from gasoline with ethanol in it.
My Stihl simply will not perform with ethanol gas, nor will many of my other small engine tools. It is bad stuff.
Click to expand...

This really makes me wonder if the fuel has been the problem with all my other 2 strokes....
 
Marc,
Chances are the carb is the problem. Either gummed up or the diaphragm is stiff or has a hole in it. First do the fuel directly in the cylinder thing. You can also shoot some fuel straight through the carb into the cylinder. As mentioned before if it has spark and fuel it should run. A rebuild kit for the carb isn't that expensive. Also does the carb have 2 small screws and one large one on one side? If so the two small ones should be turned all the way in then turned out one turn and that should be a good spot to start from to tune the carb. Stihl's sometimes start best with full choke, full throttle, once it fires go to half choke full throttle and it should start. In my previous life I was a saw mechanic but mostly Huskys. Any more questions just ask.
 
What I found that works with my chain saws--
1) you have spark - you can try a shot of either in it to see if it is bad gas - you did mix up a new batch, right?
2) Pull out the choke - tug 2 - 3 times - push the choke back in and pull for 3 - 6 times.
3) check the gap on the plug -
4) find the online instructions if necessary - and see what other possible fix - but if the gas / oil stuff is over 1 year old without gas stabilizers - try a fresh mix.
5) check the air filter - make sure air can get into the machine.
6) for 30 dollars, on heck of a deal - maybe go ask the local shop(s) on info and or a tune up.
 
I have several Stihls and they are great saws. If it has been sitting for a while, it will need the carb either cleaned or rebuilt. They are easy to do but you will need a kit with the new gaskets and jets. A repair shop can give you an estimate before they fix it and it shouldn't be too expensive.
 
It's a good idea to make sure that the top end ( piston & cylinder ) are not scored,most commonly on the exhaust side of the cylinder.If it's scored up,it's totalled.The easiest way to check is just remove the spark plug and with a good flashlight,look straight in to see the cylinder wall.There should not be any verticle score lines on the cylinder wall.

If the top end is good,and the chassis/components all seem in ok shape,and it indeed has spark,then it's worth it IMO,even if it ends up needing a new carb.

3 years is a long time,and memories fade.Lately,I see lots of units come in that obviously have the old-fuel/carb problems,but that's because the unit stopped working because of another problem,then was set aside and not used.So I hear it a lot,where the owner says it ran ok before it was stored,and then I fix the obvious problem,only to discover something like an erratic ignition condition after it's running again.It's easy to overlook the compression,and that's the most critical.So I thought I'd just point that out.

I repair outdoor power equipment for a living here going on 27 years,and we sell that model.Be sure to do an air leak test on the gas line,we see cracked up lines so often,along with the carb problems from the fuel going bad that everyone here has mentioned.The carb on that one isnt adjustable on the hi-speed,so everything needs to be right inside it to run right,and not wreck the top end from overspeeding/running lean.I've had best results replacing the carb,vs.trying a rebuild kit and the extra labor since it's money wasted if it doesnt fix it so it runs right.

As far as the fuel goes,try to only have a 30-45 day supply in your can,and always use Sta-bil gas stabilizer,or easier yet is to use a top quality,FD rated oil that says on the bottle that it has stabilzer in the oil.Then use premium fuel from a top-tier station like Shell,or Chevron.Avoid the cheap-gas places.

The latest "Marine Grade" Sta-bil is supposed to be the best I have been told,since it contains no alcohal like regular Sta-bil.Like others have said,you want to try to avoid alcohal in the fuel.

I hope some of this info helps.I'm a newbie here,this is my 1st post,sorry that it's so long!

Take care,
Steve
 
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