STIHL MS 290 Farm Boss (Extremely Hard to Start Cold)
- Thread starter thetexasrat
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
bucknfeller
Opportunistic Hooligan
Yeah, sometimes ya just gotta sneak up on that SOB! Surprise attack
thetexasrat
ArboristSite Lurker
Did it start or notor
Well, yes and no.
Let me clarify my answer. First off I followed the following instructions to a "T" except the part about what to do right after it starts because it did not even try to act as if it though to start.
Pull gently to engage starter pawls
Pull briskly and firmly x 3
Click choke lever up ONE setting to high idle (some call it half choke)
Engage pawls...pull briskly, should start then run at high idle...quickly 'blip' the throttle to get the lever to click to 'run'...
Take chainbrake off
Let it warm up a bit and GRADUALLY increase throttle till it catches and runs, then let 'er rip.
OK, so then I started back at step 1 and tried again, to no avail.
Then just to be 100% sure it was not flooding I put it on Full Choke and pulled the rope 30 times as fast as I could and then immediately pulled the spark plug to see if it was wet. Just as I had expected it was dry as a bone!!!
I then poured a thimble of fuel mix in the plug whole and put the plug back in and on full Choke only had to pull the rope five times and it fired for 1 second and abruptly died. Then I poured fuel into the carb and pulled it three times on Full Choke and it fired for a second and abruptly died. Then I poured a thimble of fuel mix down the carb again and set it on High Idle and pulled the rope three times and it fired up and ran for 2 seconds and then abruptly died again. To further establish my point I poured another thimble full of fuel mix down the carb and pulled the rope four or five times on Operation Mode and it fired off and ran 2 seconds and I pulled the trigger and it revved up for one second and once again abruptly died.
I then had to put it down and travel 100 mile down the road to pick up some furniture and turn around and deliver it, so I did not get to do any cutting today so I did not actually do any cutting today (WHAT A BUMMER).
Anyway, as I had suspected the test confirm that it is a lack of fuel, not flooding (unless I am still missing something).
The reason I did not think to run these tests before is because I was going by my understanding as to how it was acting and my first idea was to take it apart and fix it not run tests to find out what I had already reasoned from many a years experience. But being I have been fooled before at times I though to try as y'all encouraged just in case. And I thank y'all for trying to help in this matter. And as also encouraged I ran some test finally for y'all as well as my own curiosity and the test results show that it is starving for fuel!
By the way I had pulled on the saw about 50 times just before leaving the house to go to the dealer for the warranty claim. I have come to the conclusion that I had primed it for them and they just think that I had flooded it. And the first guy did not exactly fire it right up as y'all say it should happen. Even though he did get it to fire it would abrutly die on him over and over until about the fourth time in which he still could not rev it up with out is dying for lack of fuel. Once he got it primed real good and running then it started every time, even 20 minutes later for the next guy. I took it home and ran it that evening just fine, but the next morning after sitting up my trouble started all over again. At the beginning of each day that I ran the saw I had hell getting it started but after much pulling would finally get it going but it was very no responsive to any trigger pull for a minute then would run fine from there.
Again if I would have ran the test that would have help to clear the mystery but I was convinced within myself that my reckoning was correct and needed no testing to actually confirm. So with test ran and my speculations confirmed, I apologize for being too sure of myself and not doing test to help y'all in your speculations before I asked for help. Still I thank every body for trying. And now I will have some ideas to recommend to the Dealer licensed mechanic to focus on (i.e. - leaking inlet line, bad needle seat valve, or problem with the impulse line) when I take it back tomorrow. Surely he will already know these things but just in case his brain snap is as slow as mine now a days it will not hurt to bring these three to his atention.
Again if it was not under warranty I would have simply torn into the carb system to try and find where it was messed up and fix it from there. If I was not so sure then I would have run the tests.
Anyway, once I get it back from the Dealer I will let y'all know which of the three things jughead500 and Mountainlake diagnosed as possibilities it was, if not a combination of them.
In the mean time I will be dreaming of a Muff Mod ~
Last edited:
cutforfun
Addicted to ArboristSite
:msp_thumbdn: well that sucks, take it back to the dealer and have them take a look at it. Watch them start it and see if they are doing anything different than you. I dont worry about talking up any of the slack on a new saw when i pull it over. Just grip it and rip it. On a side note if you keep hanging out around here there is know way the saw will make it 4 years threw a warranty before you do some mods to the saw:msp_sneaky:
thetexasrat
ArboristSite Lurker
I will and I am not going to tell them about the test until they can not get it started.
Any who, once they do fix it I will be an expert on starting it with all the tried and proven techniques of them who have gone before me.
Tell me about it I have been trying to talk myself out of a MUFF MOD all day long.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring.
I might just have to MUFF MOD my old Poulan 42cc to see if it can out cut the new STIHL 56.5cc, the race is on - (period!). And you may very well be right about me doing a Muff Mod to the STIHL, but I will have to get another muffle to hack-up, and hold onto the factory one just in case I need warranty work done. I would simply switch the Muffles and re-adjust the mixture screws to factory settings before taking it in. But if STIHL is as good as they say it should out last the warranty anyway(?).
BluntForgedEdge
ArboristSite Operative
Say thetexasrat! Have you a video camera that you can film of the STIHL MS 290 Farm Boss chainsaw starting? AS folks are keenly interested in seeing videos of chainsaws and all.
As mentioned it could be as simple as the low adjusted too lean or maybe some crud got in the low circuit in the carb or bad impulse line. Steve
bucknfeller
Opportunistic Hooligan
Sounds like a decent idea, problem is, after the MM you need to re-adjust the carb or they usually run lean. I don't think the limiter caps will let you richen it up enough after the mod. So if you go poppin the caps off, you're back to square one as far as warranty goes.
Sounds to me like your saw might have a pinched fuel line, or a problem with the impulse line. Could be just lean on the L screw, but usually you can atleast get it going, or wet the plug. I wouldn't say anything at all about your testing even if they can't get it to start, if they are worth their salts, they will figure it out.
thetexasrat
ArboristSite Lurker
No I do not have a video camera, but I could try and use my sister's cellphone to take pictures one at a time and I go real slow and then people could flip fast through them.
I had though of getting her to take pictures of the trees I had cut down or at least the stumps.
Last edited:
thetexasrat
ArboristSite Lurker
I will not bother telling them that I tested it but I will give them the advise y'all have shared with me just in case they are not as smart as y'all are. Again I am new to STIHL saws myself but you think a factory rep mechanic should be up to par on them.
I did Muff Mod my old Poulan saw today. I think I opened it up to around 50% more than stock specs. It sounds throatier and also most definitely runs a little stronger. I cut a 12 inch limb first with the old muffler and then with the modified muffler, and the modified one cut 3 seconds off the time. Not much but still not bad. I will leave the modified muffler on it as it does run better, but if I can not get but just 3 seconds off a cut I don't think it is worth losing a warranty over on the STIHL, but definitely something to think about after the warranty expires 4 years from now.
On that note, is there anyway to take the limiter caps off and then put them back after taking them off without anyone being able to tell? I had always just ripped them out and throwed them away (never tried to be fragile with them and put 'em back in my way for latter). As I said before, after the dealer gets the STIHL fixed I would MOD the MUFF if I could save the Limiter Caps and put them back on along with the factory muffler just before taking it in for warranty work. And then switch 'em back once they do the necessary repairs.
Last edited:
oldmar
ArboristSite Operative
When the dealer gets it to start and run, have they taken off the fuel cap just prior to starting? I'm thinking the tank vent could be bad, resulting in no fuel to the carb. See if there's a hiss when you open the fuel cap.
2dumb4words
ArboristSite Operative
Over and over in this thread I hear 4 year warranty being tossed around. Stihl advertises 1 year on their website. Double it with a 6 pack of ultra, right? Now were at two yeah? What am I missing?
thetexasrat
ArboristSite Lurker
View attachment 276417
On page 59 0f the STIHL MS 290, 310, 390 Owners manual you will find that STIHL warrants it for 2 years. And being I bought a SIX PACK of their two-cycle engine oil they DOUBLED THE WARRANTY. It was a promotional thing I happened to step into. You should try it, but you best hurry cause it may not last.
To read the Warranty either click on "STIHL MS 290, 310, 390 Owners manual" above, or the Attachment [MS290_310_390_Warranty.pdf] at top of this post.
On page 59 0f the STIHL MS 290, 310, 390 Owners manual you will find that STIHL warrants it for 2 years. And being I bought a SIX PACK of their two-cycle engine oil they DOUBLED THE WARRANTY. It was a promotional thing I happened to step into. You should try it, but you best hurry cause it may not last.
To read the Warranty either click on "STIHL MS 290, 310, 390 Owners manual" above, or the Attachment [MS290_310_390_Warranty.pdf] at top of this post.
Last edited:
bucknfeller
Opportunistic Hooligan
will brinson:
New Member
Well I finally got the saw back from the dealer mechanic. He did say that it was defiantly very hard to start, and he claimed that all he did was remove the limiter caps and richen them up. That is all that he said he did. I decided to take a look and see if he had put limiter caps back and saw that the vent tube had been pinched at some time in the past but was at this time had been removed from what ever place it got pinched and was now able to breath.
I remember some one asking if it spewed when opening the fuel cap- and yes it used to but not anymore. I believe that the unpinching of this line stopped that. I do not know if it had anything to do with the saw being hard to start in the mornings though as once it was start it would start back up easy enough. For that matter even if it was set lean it still started easy after it was start once that day.
Anyway no matter what it was that caused it be hard to start it now starts in 4 pulls (every time) when cold and in 1 pull after it has been warmed up.
I had to violate rule #18 to answer this for y'all, yet I said I would let y'all know after I had gotten it back. Anyway if I do not answer any future questions again it will be due to Rule #18.
May,
YHWH bless thee and keep thee;
YHWH cause His face to shine on thee, and be gracious to thee;
YHWH lift up His face to thee, and give thee shalom.
Your Brother in Yehoshua The Anointed One.
will
cutforfun
Addicted to ArboristSite
Thanks for letting us knowopcorn:
opcorn:
Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
Admitting you're wrong doesn't make it less wrong. Back to banned camp.
Just adjusted lean as mentioned in post 12, a lot of saws come set lean nowdays and nothing the OP said pointed towards flooding. Steve
