Stihl MS270 running awful...dealer clueless

[JackBurton]

Hi all. Im actually posting for my neighbor.
He has an MS270c thats been great for a long time, but recently its been acting up.
Hard to start, wont idle well, dies when you give it throttle if you arent real careful, and wont return to idle quickly after cutting.
He took it to the local dealer, 3 times now for this problem, and they replaced the plug and fuel filter, and the saw acted exactly the same. Hes fed up with them now, as their response now is the fuel, even though they dumped his old and used theirs, and it still does it.

I looked at it today just to verify the problem, and it will start ok, but not unless the choke is at least partially engaged.
Once running, it will fall on its face if you give it throttle too quick.
It cuts ok, and seems to have decent power once you get it going well enough to cut, but once done, it takes longer than it should to return to idle.
The screen on the muffler is clean. Plug is new. Otherwise, not entirely sure what to look for on this saw.

I was thinking it was an adjustment issue, but the adjustment screws dont seem to do a whole lot, and since its not mine, I dont want to goof it up any more than it already is.

Any ideas? Is this something simple?

 

[ANewSawyer]

Sounds like he needs to clean out the carb and not use any old fuel in future. It could be an air leak but I would check the carb first. Especially if the saw is older.

 

[s sidewall]

Carb rebuild if rebuildable.

Steve, Samsung On5 using Tapatalk

 

[JackBurton]

Thanks. I was leaning towards a carb rebuild. Seems like the kits can be had pretty cheap.

 

[SteveSr]

Thanks. I was leaning towards a carb rebuild. Seems like the kits can be had pretty cheap.

But a carb kit may or may not fix a carb issue. The symptom sounds like it could be a sticking main nozzle check valve in the carb which, BTW, is NOT included in the kit.

Failure to idle down and choke required to start it sounds like an air leak somewhere. If not corrected you'll quickly burn up the saw. Your friend needs to find a different dealer who can do a proper crankcase pressure and vacuum test.

 

[Full Chisel]

I worked on a 270 a while back that gave me fits. I rebuilt the carb and put a new fuel line in. It still ran rough with an unstable idle, and I noticed that it would change depending on whether it was being held or sitting on the ground. Found a torn intake boot...replaced that and thought for sure it would fix it but it still ran badly...actually worse than before. Come to find out, at least one of the bolts behind the flywheel that connected the two case halves had backed out and stripped the threads out and allowed a massive air leak to develop at the crankcase. It was deemed a basket case at that point...the flywheel had also been compromised by the loose bolt getting caught behind it.

Not saying that's what is going on with yours, but it definitely sounds like an air leak condition to me.

 

[JackBurton]

Thanks for all the suggestions.
I spoke to another shop a bit further away, since I was in there checking on saw prices anyway, they think its an air leak too. As mentioned above, said it needed a crankcase and pressure test to be sure.
It went back to the other dealer today, and they saw the problem it was having this time, not that it means they will do anything they havent already, but hes hopeful they will find something simple, and since he already paid for it to be right, hes hoping (and so am I) that it comes back right this time. Obviously he doesnt want a major problem, as hes retired, and not a lot of income. That said, Im a bit more than fairly handy, and could make any repairs needed, given the time, but there again, I cant really do diagnostic work as I dont have the proper equipment for saws, and throwing parts at a problem isnt something Im keen on doing, no matter what Im working on.
Seems like no matter what, if the original dealer cant take care of it, he would be better off letting the other shop diagnose it. They seem to know a lot more than the other guys, just from the 15 minute conversation I had with them about this saw.

 

[JackBurton]

Just to update, the saw went back in again to the Stihl dealer, who replaced the carb. No change. It went back again so they could remove the carb and put the old one back on.
At this point, my neighbor contacted Stihl, who suggested a different dealer. I cant believe that a saw could go in for service, to a Gold Level service dealer and still have issues 4 visits later, yet Stihl stands behind the dealer, who obviously didnt perform any tests, simply threw parts at it. There is no explanation of what could be wrong, let alone a remedy.
He is taking it to another dealer about 20 miles away in hopes that they can get it taken care of.

The thing is, if its shot, they should be able to tell him, but they cant. They honestly dont know whats wrong with it. They told me that (I know the service manager, as Ive been dealing with them on Deere stuff for better than 20 years), and the Stihl rep my neighbor talked to said they told him that too. Seems like poor service on Stihls part, but they may get involved with the other dealer to try to find out exactly whats wrong.

I guess if its shot, maybe he could put a new piston/cylinder on it, if its worn out, or rather I could, because right now he sure cant afford a new one and isnt the most mechanically handy person, and definitely needs a good saw out here.

 

[Bedford T]

i might suggest you get some brake cleaner or carb cleaner and spray it down while it idles if it idles up on any of the spots like the seals, cylinder base, boots, hoses etc you know you have a problem and then tell them where to pressure test it. it will wind up cleaner if nothing else. the seals might be hard to get to.

 

[HarleyT]

Have you or the "dealers" removed the red limiter tabs yet?

 

[HarleyT]

Has anyone looked at the piston, or taken a compression reading?

 

[HarleyT]

Where in Indiana are you? We have a few Hoosiers here that could probably take a quick look at it.

 

[mountainlake]

Did it get a new fuel line yet? Steve

 

[JackBurton]

I dont know about the limiters, I believe they removed them to set it, then replaced them.

I dont know if they checked the compression, but am pretty sure they didnt look at the piston.

It has had a new fuel line, on its first visit.

Im just a bit North of Kokomo.
I actually wondered about that, but I dont know that he would want someone working on it other than the dealer, unless they cant get it right. Personally, Id take it to anyone who could do the proper tests, just to know what I was looking at repair wise, and will try to get him to do that if the other dealer doesnt come through. Id do it anyway, to save some money, but then Im not him.

I havent done anything to it myself other than give it a quick look and attempt to adjust the carb, which didnt help, as he was hoping the dealer would get it taken care of. Hes got a lot of anxiety about not having his saw, so Im just trying to do what I can to help. Ive told him several times that Ive got two good saws, and he is welcome to use either if he needs a bigger saw (he has two small saws), but he wants his right, and is concerned it wont be by mid September, when he is supposed to start dropping some dead trees.

 

[HarleyT]

Take off the bar/chain/sprocket cover, drain the bodily fluids, and mail it to me. I'll look at it and see what it needs, and put up all of the pics and progress here. Shipping from Indiana to Ky. should be @ $10-$12 each way.

I"ll look at it for no charge.

 

[JackBurton]

Thanks for the offer HarleyT, but he wanted to stick with the Stihl dealers.
Turns out they actually got it done. Well, it was a different dealer, but they said the intake had a 1" split in it.
I am glad they found the problem, and my neighbor more so, but it seems like it should have been easy for the other dealer to find, which makes me even more leery of taking anything to them again.
Anyway, it seems like all is good now.

 

[ZeroJunk]

When you said John Deere dealer that is a little bit of a red flag. Not saying that none of them have a top notch service tech, but the ones around here don't.

It's a little like taking your John Deere to a Stihl dealer.

 

[HarleyT]

All of the Deere dealers around here are also Stihl dealers.

 

[JackBurton]

When you said John Deere dealer that is a little bit of a red flag. Not saying that none of them have a top notch service tech, but the ones around here don't.

It's a little like taking your John Deere to a Stihl dealer.

Not really applicable here.
They are a Stihl dealer as well, and are listed as an Elite Dealer and Gold Level service center for Stihl. Oddly enough, the other place has none of those things, but was able to find the problem in short order.

The original dealer, like just about all Stihl dealers, started out selling Deere (or some other brand large equipment), then picked up Stihl later on. I refer to them as a Deere dealer because thats what they started as, and were when I first started buying from them, and where I still buy Deere and Exmark parts. They later picked up Stihl, and have had them for a long while now. They just suck at servicing them apparently, and are certainly not worthy of a Gold Level rating from Stihl....but thats what they have.

 

[ZeroJunk]

All of the Deere dealers around here are also Stihl dealers.

They are here as well. But, they don't have a real tech. And, you probably know that the Gold Level certification doesn't mean a whole lot.