Dolmar 5105 scored piston

[exSW]

Seals,gaskets,foam filters and lines do break down if dry over time.Hit them with heat,fuel and temp changes after years of inactivity and **** happens.The earlier Dolmar fuel lines that weren't ethanol compatable are one example.Ask anyone who has a taken a low time or no time vintage(or not so) machine and tried to use it at the rated capacity and they will tell you the same.Been there,done that and fixed the leaks.

As far as I understood, the OT said the production date was over 4 years ago but the saw itself was unused. So if that was the case there shouldn't be any break down what so ever. Because if that is the case I know of a humongous amount of saws sitting in stores with production dates over 5 years old that still haven't been sold. Stihl, Husqvarna and all the others sure are in deep sh!% if they all suffer from your described problems. Because they are all going to die in their first few outings..... But then again they will only say wrong fuel.... But I have never heard of this problem before on these forums that old saws die during their first few outings because of defective "rubber" parts. And I believe that there would be quite some talk here and otherwhere on not buying saws with production dates older than 1 year! Well folks don't get a Stihl 660 because they haven't been produced since 2011! Don't want to invest in a lot of replacement parts before ever using your "new saw".



I might be wrong but as far as I know the max rpm is 13500. And also those were changed quite early during the production cycle of the 5105 predessesor 5100/5000. And that they were running any hoter than any other saw at 14500 is new to me. But this has already been debated here so many times.
http://www.dlg-test.de/pbdocs/4037_05.pdf
And you are correct about the lean setting. Just like so many other manufacturers.

7

When did I say "all"?And if storage degradation wasn't an issue with mechanical devices why are there such extensive measures taken with equipment when it is KNOWN that they will be stored for extended periods of time including brand new items.

 

[hoeyrd2110]

my 94 s10 was in storage alot only 48000 in 15 years found out all the bushings dry rotted tank had sediment from sitting alot all the rubber in the truck was junk. storage and sit time is horrible for any machine from a vaccum to a big rig...period

 

[Andyshine77]

If the saw was shutting off after making cuts, it was likely running lean and hot. If you're car did this would you keep running it thinking nothing is wrong?

 

[OBX Koastie]

If the saw was shutting off after making cuts, it was likely running lean and hot. If you're car did this would you keep running it thinking nothing is wrong?

I didn't think "nothing" was wrong, I just never thought it would be something that would destroy the saw! And that is why I took it to the dealer.

If you had a brand new car that had been just delivered to your house and you had no reason to suspect it was about to throw a rod because the only indication you got was something simple like it shut off when you had been driving it for 15 minutes but then started right back up, would you drive it to a dealer. If that dealer had it in his shop for 30 minutes and gave it back to you saying it was OK, would you demand the engine be torn apart suspecting that maybe a bent rod was causing a piston to hang up?

Brand new cars and brand new chainsaws are not supposed to be delivered in a manner where they cannot be run by the individual receiving it in accordance with the instructions received with it without suffering catastrophic failure. The fact I know a little bit more about saws than most but not as much as some experts does not mean that I should not be able to expect a brand new chainsaw to run more than a couple tanks of gas without a major failure. Several so far have intimated that the damage was done in those fist 2-1/2 tanks of fuel!

I took it to the dealer after running it for less than 45 minutes. In those 45 minutes the saw cut off at most five times with me and once with my son. Within another 45 minutes, after being gone over by a authorized Dolmar Dealer, the saw was history. If people on this site know more than me about diagnosing a brand new saw running lean, I applaud them and wish I had that much knowledge and experience and was willing to void the warranty by taking the limiters off and enriching the mixture. But when the saw is taken to a Dolmar Authorized Service Center and they did not diagnose the problem and inform me at that time that I may have damaged the saw, why should I believe it is "operator error?"

How many brand new saws have the readers on this site returned to the dealers after detecting a problem in the first couple tanks of gas and then after the dealer allegedly corrects the problem the saw is severely damaged and the cause is reported to be lack of lubrication due to improper fuel oil mix. In fact, I am guessing that most of the readers would not have taken it to a dealer until the saw would not start only to be told then that it was their fault.

 

[mountainlake]

A couple of things, don't trust a dealers to set the carb right and learn how to set it yourself . A lot of dealers won't pull the limiter caps as it might be against the law . Steve

 

[computeruser]

I took it to the dealer after running it for less than 45 minutes. In those 45 minutes the saw cut off at most five times with me and once with my son. Within another 45 minutes, after being gone over by a authorized Dolmar Dealer, the saw was history. If people on this site know more than me about diagnosing a brand new saw running lean, I applaud them and wish I had that much knowledge and experience and was willing to void the warranty by taking the limiters off and enriching the mixture. But when the saw is taken to a Dolmar Authorized Service Center and they did not diagnose the problem and inform me at that time that I may have damaged the saw, why should I believe it is "operator error?"

Very good points.

The problem with Dolmar was that they were selling a factory hot-rod product and trying to skirt EPA by leaning the #### out of them, especially the 5100 and early 5105. Hot-rod products are, by their very nature, running with a thinner margin of error, and managing this margin of error correctly demands a lot of the user. It appears that Dolmar, in conjunction with the EPA, has somewhat mitigated this by detuning the 5105 and putting a limited coil in the 7910, which protects most users most of the time. Still, the reality that these earlier versions are hot-rods that require special care and attention is not stated in the owners' manual, which places customers such as yourself in an unfair and impossible position - do you defer to dealers who are setting up saws per regs/EPA in the "authorized" fashion, even if doing so is risky or even outright harmful to the saw, or do you void the warranty on any saw you buy the minute you bring it home? I know which choice I've made over the years and the risks that come with it, but I cannot begrudge you for taking the other route, because you paid for the protection of a warranty and the expertise (sic) of the Dolmar servicing dealer network when you elected to buy a new saw.

So what are you to do? Frankly, I'd suck it up and rebuild the saw. Sure, it sucks and is an unfair expenditure. But count it as tuition in the school of life, and treat putting the saw back into service as a badge of accomplishment when it is back up and running the way it should have run from day 1 had EPA not forced Dolmar to mess with an otherwise sound design.

 

[sugarbush]

when you richened it up (advanced) the high speed, did you turn the jet clock wise?

 

[SawTroll]

.....

I took it to the dealer after running it for less than 45 minutes. In those 45 minutes the saw cut off at most five times with me and once with my son. Within another 45 minutes, after being gone over by a authorized Dolmar Dealer, the saw was history. If people on this site know more than me about diagnosing a brand new saw running lean, I applaud them and wish I had that much knowledge and experience and was willing to void the warranty by taking the limiters off and enriching the mixture. But when the saw is taken to a Dolmar Authorized Service Center and they did not diagnose the problem and inform me at that time that I may have damaged the saw, why should I believe it is "operator error?"

...... .

It is a fact that Dolmars dealer network in the US contains many dubious dealers, and they have failed to educate them properly. Of course there are exceptions, like The Cutting Edge in upstate NY - but that is the general impression!

 

[OBX Koastie]

when you richened it up (advanced) the high speed, did you turn the jet clock wise?

There was only about 1/16th of a turn counterclockwise and I was against the stop. The saw should run anywhere within the factory stops without burning up.

 

[mountainlake]

If you do some reading on here you'll find a lot of new saws need the caps pulled and tuned. Learn how to do it. Steve

 

[SawTroll]

There was only about 1/16th of a turn counterclockwise and I was against the stop. The saw should run anywhere within the factory stops without burning up.

As I already said, the limiters are there for EPA reasons (to keep it lean enough for their regulations), not to tell you what is a "safe" setting.

It is a sad fact that a lot of the 5100S and early 5105s got "burned", because of the lean factory settings that they needed to pass EPA inspections - with some "help" from the cylinder cooling issue, and uninformed and clueless dealers.

 

[166]

PS-5105 production did not start until 2009. The first 5105's we got in were manufactured in June 2009.

PS-5105SC = 14,500 RPM (S) & Catalytic exhaust (C)
PS-5105 = 13,800 RPM, Cat exhaust, and easy start

We had our first and only 5105 go down a few months ago with fuel related issues.

The original poster has a 5100s and not a 5105 with the manufacturer date given (September '08).

 

[exSW]

PS-5105 production did not start until 2009. The first 5105's we got in were manufactured in June 2009.

PS-5105SC = 14,500 RPM (S) & Catalytic exhaust (C)
PS-5105 = 13,800 RPM, Cat exhaust, and easy start

We had our first and only 5105 go down a few months ago with fuel related issues.

The original poster has a 5100s and not a 5105 with the manufacturer date given (September '08).

How many 5105's do you have out there?

 

[ncfarmboy]

There was only about 1/16th of a turn counterclockwise and I was against the stop. The saw should run anywhere within the factory stops without burning up.

Not on this saw. They were set right on the edge @ factory. Others have allready talked about Dealer issues with tuning on these models.
Shep

 

[mountainlake]

Not on any new saw , every one I've had has been tight counterclockwise. Steve

 

[OBX Koastie]

PS-5105 production did not start until 2009. The first 5105's we got in were manufactured in June 2009.

PS-5105SC = 14,500 RPM (S) & Catalytic exhaust (C)
PS-5105 = 13,800 RPM, Cat exhaust, and easy start

We had our first and only 5105 go down a few months ago with fuel related issues.

The original poster has a 5100s and not a 5105 with the manufacturer date given (September '08).

This is the kind of information I was looking for! Is there any way I can document this? I would like to have some backing when the Dolmar zone rep calls.

I paid for a PS-5105. The 5100s were selling for significantly less and I had read of their issues and was not willing to take a chance. A dealer in NC PMd me with his experience that with all the 5105s he has sold he found the saw was almost bullet proof and would take a lot of abuse.

Some people have said they would pay to rebuild and move on. Being an engineer that sort of thinking makes absolutely no sense. I know that it wasn't a bad fuel mix so if I pay to have a new piston and cylinder installed, i would believe that whatever did cause this failure will have the same impact on the new piston and cylinder. So at a minimum I am looking at a new P&C, new carburetor, new intake hose, etc. And then I don't know how much metal got down into my bearings and seals so the case needs to be disassembled, cleaned/replaced, etc. With parts and labor on chainsaws, unless you are willing to do it yourself, it is cheaper buying a new one. And why would I buy a new saw when this one is under warranty?

I also appreciate the comments regarding the saws being set at their edge. As I said, I had about 1/16th of a turn making the saw richer and it obviously did nothing.

If this is in fact a 5100s and I can get documentation, I believe at a minimum, regardless of the condition of the saw either Dolmar or the selling dealer owes me a new saw.

Thanks for all of this most helpful information. Hopefully Dolmar is more knowledgeable about their product than their authorized dealer.

I'll be sure to let you know how I make out.

 

[Stihl-Pioneer]

I paid for a PS-5105.

If this is in fact a 5100s and I can get documentation, I believe at a minimum, regardless of the condition of the saw either Dolmar or the selling dealer owes me a new saw.

It should say which model it is on the starter decal and on the serial number tag. Post pics of the saw and the tag if you can. I personally would like to see them.

 

[OBX Koastie]

It should say which model it is on the starter decal and on the serial number tag. Post pics of the saw and the tag if you can. I personally would like to see them.

Unfortunately the dealer has the saw but I know you can purchase the decals and stick them on any saw. The decal and the label on the hand grip says it is a PS-5105. And after some more research, it appears the Germans may have their year/month versus our month/year in the serial number. Mine starts out "0908." So that is either September 2008 as I originally believed or it may be August 2009 in which case this was one of the first 5105s brought into the country and sat around until I purchased it in December 2012 and first used it in June 2013 cutting some pine and then in August cutting some red oak limbs.

Regardless, I mixed a batch of 50:1 mix and compared it with my 40:1 just to make sure I hadn't messed up. The 40:1 is just slightly darker when held up to the sun in glass jars. This is what I would expect so I am convinced that the failure was not as a result of using an improper gas/oil mix. I also read the Dolmar warranty and as long as I did not mess with the saw and did what it said in the owner's manual it is covered. If they are going to deny the claim because I mixed the gas/oil at 40:1 versus 50:1 I know of ways to address that.

We shall see if they are as good as their warranty.

 

[middleagemutant]

Good luck and I mean that sincerely.

 

[Stihl-Pioneer]

Unfortunately the dealer has the saw but I know you can purchase the decals and stick them on any saw. The decal and the label on the hand grip says it is a PS-5105. And after some more research, it appears the Germans may have their year/month versus our month/year in the serial number. Mine starts out "0908." So that is either September 2008 as I originally believed or it may be August 2009 in which case this was one of the first 5105s brought into the country and sat around until I purchased it in December 2012 and first used it in June 2013 cutting some pine and then in August cutting some red oak limbs.

Regardless, I mixed a batch of 50:1 mix and compared it with my 40:1 just to make sure I hadn't messed up. The 40:1 is just slightly darker when held up to the sun in glass jars. This is what I would expect so I am convinced that the failure was not as a result of using an improper gas/oil mix. I also read the Dolmar warranty and as long as I did not mess with the saw and did what it said in the owner's manual it is covered. If they are going to deny the claim because I mixed the gas/oil at 40:1 versus 50:1 I know of ways to address that.

We shall see if they are as good as their warranty.

It is Aug '09

Good luck with it.