Trouble Starting My Chainsaw

Chain Saw Trouble

I started having trouble starting my chainsaw a few weeks ago. The starter rope seemed very hard to pull. I had several people look at it and no one could figure out what was wrong. I finally got a hold of a guy that really knew what he was doing when I came to small engines. After he carefully went through it he made his recommendation. He said the best he could figure out was that I was just getting old and weak.

Thanks a bunch fella. But he is right I’m getting old and weak.

 

I bought a Stihl MS211 a few years ago for small stuff,,, 18 inch bar ,, it's got that EZ start pull system . You don't snatch on the cord , you slowly pull the cord out and at a certain point , it'll release and spin the motor over . And most of the time starts pretty quick . I don't think it's offered on larger saw's , it wasn't when I bought that one . But it's really hard to get used to , whenever you pick up a chainsaw , the most common reaction is to snatch on the cord , you have to force yourself not to snatch it .
But like BT said , a new carb , or carb rebuild may help immensely . Look on ebay or amazon , they're actually pretty cheap .

 

And, only use non-ethanol gasoline if you want to keep that rebuilt carb clean and operational...

 

Put a hair dryer on it for 5 minutes before starting. Return hair dryer ASAP after starting. Seriously.

 

Never had one get hard to pull through unless it was Loaded up with too much oil in the case, then turning it upside down and turning it through a few pulls would clear it out and usually start first yank! I run Sthil, Husquvarna, and old school HomeLites, not a one has ever been hard to pull through! Mine all get ran HARD and often, and other then the Sthil 490 needing rebuilt recently, it never had issues other then getting low on power!

 

Ditto on the carb rebuild. I did both of mine a couple months ago. Take lots of photos while disassembling. Remember what looks like one gasket might be 3 separate ones stuck together. Hi and low adjustment screws should be set with a tachometer (If I remember right). Google how to do it by ear if you don't have one. Like me. 2 strokes don't handle very lean mixtures to well.

Rebuilt carbs, new plugs and clean airfilter makes a big difference.

 

replace all lines from Ebay sellers 5 years , fuel , intake , and pulse , soak carb in chems H2Cl% is mine
Sloth

 

I have something like a half dozen chain saws. All of them that do work have an issue with heat, gets much over 85 degrees, damned things just don't want to start. Same thing happens to my log splitter.

The pool, now that's when it seems to work just fine for my old bones.

 

If the recoil is getting hard to pull check the spark arrestor and take look into the exhaust port for a scored piston and cylinder. I'm assuming the guy checked the recoil itself for binding.If it's a cheapo saw the crank bearings or bushings may be going.

 

II noticed mine has gotten a lot heavier over the years.

 

Old gas or wrong kind of oil can gum up the cylinder wall .
Pull the spark plug and face it up word so that penetrating oil can be evenly distributed on the piston @ TDC and let it loosen up the rings .

 

I have handsaws. and kids.

 

My guess from my own experience would be a carbon clogged exhaust port or piston wall is gummed up. Some seafoam down the plug hole or even wd40 or PB blaster will loosen things up in the piston wall. Just slowly pull the recoil and work the piston up and down if the gummed wall is the case. LOL if the recoil won't pull just let the cleaning fluid sit and work it loose until you can pull it. Assuming it is the piston wall. Also if you pull the plug and it pulls easy that is a pretty good indicator that it is the exhaust port. Which is also easy to clean the carbon build up out of. And not saying you do or don't but only use the recomended oil in the gas and DO NOT USE ETHANOL gas. If you can't find non bio gas at the pumps, places like Rural King sell cans of real gas. Well worth the price in what it saves you on engine repairs and maint.

 

Do these have the screen between the exhaust and muffler?

 

Many do.Some have it incorporated into the muffler. No one setup seems less prone to plugging than the others.

 

I remember ungumming and freeing stuck pistons with Marvel Mystery oil way back in the bygone days.

I've used Kroil a couple of times since then.

 

^^^^Good products. Both of them. Or as some people say.........”Boaf.” Lol.

 

Also, make ure you use the proper starting technique:

 

Hope he gets it started and gooses it. Already enough stupid in the gene pool.