Dolmar 5100s died

[SawTroll]

I've got @ 7 tanks through mine and all seems well so far.
Fwiw, I just got a nylon fine filter to replace the stock one. Maybe these are better unless it's a dry, dusty day ?

Hopefully not the black winter version - if not they are better than the flocked ones, at least here, in green wood and no dust in the air.

You may have to reset the carb though.

 

[SawTroll]

Skipping all you went through with your saw and knowing any saw, not just Dolmar, can fry I don't understand this "waiting for the regional distributor to authorize the repair under warranty". What the hell is that. Where I work I pick up the phone, explain the situation and within 10 seconds the decision is made. To date the answer has always been the same, fix it and send us the bill. This waiting around for someone to approved a warranty issue for days on in is BS. Same for the E10 claim, total BS. I note too you said he had it back together but was waiting on warranty approval. More BS. Thats a slick deal in itself. Your saw is done but he can't give it to you unless you want to pay for it because he doesn't have warranty approval yet. It shouldn't have been fixed untill either they approved the warranty or you approved the work. Thats a deal of I hope he doesn't tell me to take it back apart, unreal.

If I sold Dolmar or any brand for that matter that made me wait days for an approval on a warranty issue, forcing me to face the customer that is waiting on his unit as well, I wouldn't sell that product. No dealer or customer should have to put up with that non-sense. Two weeks to get a cylinder and piston replaced and the saw back in the customers hand is BS.

I can understand a wait for a unit a few months out of warranty or a iffy situation in which the customer ruined his unit on his own but wants warranty anyway and is fighting with a dealer that says no way. In those cases I can see sending the entire unit back to the distributor and let them look at it and make a decision but for something simple as a fried cylinder while under warranty what is the wait for approval for.

I have to wonder if this regional distributor even see's the saw and parts they are debating on. I know my rep never looks at anything I call in for warranty and neither does the distributor. I call, they listen and say fix it, simple as that. Seems the only time my distributor wants to see the unit is when I deny warranty to the customer and he isn't taking no for an answer. I've been overridden once with a "awwwwww hell give em a new unit, its not worth arguing over even though your right, they ruined it. I guess all warranties aren't created equal...

Very well said, my friend! :yourock:

 

[THALL10326]

Very well said, my friend! :yourock:

Don't get me wrong Troll, I'm not hooping and hollering, I'm just puzzled about this wait for approval deal. I don't understand that at all. Every once in awhile I'll get a unit in fried thats under warranty. I'll check it over looking for bad fuel or anything the customer may have done. If I don't find anything I pick up the phone and make the call. I'm asked did you check it over and find any obvious reasons why it fried. If I say no, the unit is fine, gas is good, its just cooked. They take my word and say fix it then. Done. Whole thing take less than a minute. I guess thats why I don't understand this wait for approval thing.

 

[spike60]

It turned out that the saw needed a piston and jug replacement. The dealer first told me that the regional Dolmar distributor might not honor the warranty because the damage resulted from using E10 in the mix and the owners manual warns against using fuel with alcohol in it.

A week later, the dealer had repaired the saw, but was waiting for the regional distributor to authorize the repair under warranty. I called the regional distributor three times and left a vehement recorded complaint each time (No way of getting a warm body on the phone. I guess they don't talk to individual customers - just to dealers).

Two thoughts here. Virtually everything has 10% ethanol at this point. All units are warrantied for use with E-10 Gasoline Anything hiigher than 10% is considered an alternative fuel and not gasoline, and that is where warranty issues arrise. Sounds like the dealer wasn't trying as hard as he might have.

As far as vehement messages go, this can often work against you. Maybe OK as a last resort, but if you are too quick to escalate you could have the warranty denied.

FWIW I'll tell you guys a little bit about how the warranty process really works. A saw comes into the shop and it's toast. The first thing that has to be done is to find out what caused the failure, and this MUST be done in order to warranty a saw. You simply can't fill out a warranty claim with "no apparent reason", because there's ALWAYS a reason. Now I'm the guy who is going to do this; it's my trained and certified eyes alone that will make this determination. If the saw passes a pressure test, then the chance for warranty coverage isn't looking so good. Things like dirty air filters, poor fuel and such are on the customer's shoulders. But within certain limits, it's still my call.

I had a guy last year who brought in a toasted saw. Air filter was filled with sawdust like it was troweled in. Passed the pressure test perfectly. Guy didn't have a leg to stand on. He also had very little money at the time and was using the saw for work. He's a good guy, a good customer, and he needed a break. So, officially, these trained and certified eyes found an air leak at the intake boot. I can get away with this OCCASIONALLY because my warranty claims are well below average. Moral of the story here is be nice to your dealer if you want him to be nice to you.

One more story and I'm going down and have dinner. The 2 Dolmars I mentioned earlier were both out of warranty when they failed. I did have another failure on a 5100 which was with a pro user and was actually a month out of warranty. The problem was that the throttle plate came loose and it and the screw got sucked into the saw and destroyed it. Obviously, it was more of a Zama problem than a Dolmar problem. I called up my regional distributor, Atlantic Power, more to ask if they had seen that before than to ask about the warranty. But they thought that they should do something for the guy and they told me to go ahead and rebuild it under warranty. You can't ask a distributor to do any better than that.

 

[THALL10326]

Two thoughts here. Virtually everything has 10% ethanol at this point. All units are warrantied for use with E-10 Gasoline Anything hiigher than 10% is considered an alternative fuel and not gasoline, and that is where warranty issues arrise. Sounds like the dealer wasn't trying as hard as he might have.

As far as vehement messages go, this can often work against you. Maybe OK as a last resort, but if you are too quick to escalate you could have the warranty denied.

FWIW I'll tell you guys a little bit about how the warranty process really works. A saw comes into the shop and it's toast. The first thing that has to be done is to find out what caused the failure, and this MUST be done in order to warranty a saw. You simply can't fill out a warranty claim with "no apparent reason", because there's ALWAYS a reason. Now I'm the guy who is going to do this; it's my trained and certified eyes alone that will make this determination. If the saw passes a pressure test, then the chance for warranty coverage isn't looking so good. Things like dirty air filters, poor fuel and such are on the customer's shoulders. But within certain limits, it's still my call.

I had a guy last year who brought in a toasted saw. Air filter was filled with sawdust like it was troweled in. Passed the pressure test perfectly. Guy didn't have a leg to stand on. He also had very little money at the time and was using the saw for work. He's a good guy, a good customer, and he needed a break. So, officially, these trained and certified eyes found an air leak at the intake boot. I can get away with this OCCASIONALLY because my warranty claims are well below average. Moral of the story here is be nice to your dealer if you want him to be nice to you.

One more story and I'm going down and have dinner. The 2 Dolmars I mentioned earlier were both out of warranty when they failed. I did have another failure on a 5100 which was with a pro user and was actually a month out of warranty. The problem was that the throttle plate came loose and it and the screw got sucked into the saw and destroyed it. Obviously, it was more of a Zama problem than a Dolmar problem. I called up my regional distributor, Atlantic Power, more to ask if they had seen that before than to ask about the warranty. But they thought that they should do something for the guy and they told me to go ahead and rebuild it under warranty. You can't ask a distributor to do any better than that.

Now thats more like what I'm used to. Good job there. Your folks trust your judgement and say get it done, thats how it should be,

 

[Brian VT]

Hopefully not the black winter version - if not they are better than the flocked ones, at least here, in green wood and no dust in the air.
You may have to reset the carb though.

It's all "clear" colored. I haven't tried it. I'll wait for warmer/lighter air and keep an eye on the plug. It sure looks a lot easier to clean than the flocked.
Sorry to be off topic.

 

[Rocosil]

Skipping all you went through with your saw and knowing any saw, not just Dolmar, can fry I don't understand this "waiting for the regional distributor to authorize the repair under warranty". What the hell is that. Where I work I pick up the phone, explain the situation and within 10 seconds the decision is made. To date the answer has always been the same, fix it and send us the bill. This waiting around for someone to approved a warranty issue for days on in is BS. Same for the E10 claim, total BS. I note too you said he had it back together but was waiting on warranty approval. More BS. Thats a slick deal in itself. Your saw is done but he can't give it to you unless you want to pay for it because he doesn't have warranty approval yet. It shouldn't have been fixed untill either they approved the warranty or you approved the work. Thats a deal of I hope he doesn't tell me to take it back apart, unreal.

If I sold Dolmar or any brand for that matter that made me wait days for an approval on a warranty issue, forcing me to face the customer that is waiting on his unit as well, I wouldn't sell that product. No dealer or customer should have to put up with that non-sense. Two weeks to get a cylinder and piston replaced and the saw back in the customers hand is BS.

I can understand a wait for a unit a few months out of warranty or a iffy situation in which the customer ruined his unit on his own but wants warranty anyway and is fighting with a dealer that says no way. In those cases I can see sending the entire unit back to the distributor and let them look at it and make a decision but for something simple as a fried cylinder while under warranty what is the wait for approval for.

I have to wonder if this regional distributor even see's the saw and parts they are debating on. I know my rep never looks at anything I call in for warranty and neither does the distributor. I call, they listen and say fix it, simple as that. Seems the only time my distributor wants to see the unit is when I deny warranty to the customer and he isn't taking no for an answer. I've been overridden once with a "awwwwww hell give em a new unit, its not worth arguing over even though your right, they ruined it. I guess all warranties aren't created equal...

It's quite possible that the dealer was trying to take me for a ride. All I know is that after I told him that no way was I going to pay for the repair and that if the job weren't done under warranty, I would have him take the new parts off and I'd take the saw home and fix it myself and after I left those messages with the distributor, the problem was suddenly resolved.

Chainsaws don't play a big role in my life, but I know enough to keep the air filters clean and to check the plugs from time to time, especially on a new saw, to make sure they're not running too lean. Neither dirty filter nor running lean were involved here. I suspect a manufacturing defect, but, as I said, I'm no expert.

My other two saws, a 028WB and a 031, are both about 30 years old and, as such, pre funny fuel and limiters on the needles - so that's all new to me. They have never given me any sort of trouble that required dealer intervention. They did get so rickety and hard to start from old age that I took them to an independent tech who works for a dealer, and he declared them non-repairable. That's when I bought the Dolmar. But since I hate to throw away things that look repairable to me, I sought advice here, and with that and some elbow grease I got them back into perfect working order. So, even though the Dolmar was out of action, the Stihls saw me through nicely.

So far the repaired Dolmar is behaving well, and I hope it will continue to do so because I really love the way it makes firewood.

 

[jeepstrapped]

Welp if your really curious you can do this. Pull the spark plug, lower the piston all the way to the bottom of the cylinder, get a flashlight and look closely at the exhaust side of the cylinder through the spark plug hole. If you see alot of scratches on the wall your cooked. If it is tant no biggie, use that warranty..

You can also use the old pull rope trick. Hold the saw up at least to your waist. Grab the pull rope handle in one hand and hold it and lower the saw with the other. If the saw has no compression it will fall as fast as you can lower it, the pull rope will extend right out. If its got compression your holding the pull rope will hold that saw up even though your trying to lower it.

I had time this morning, pulled the plug and looked at the cylinder wall.
There is scoring directly above the exhaust port, but not on either side.
I did the "old rope pull" trick and the pull rope doesn't hold the powerhead up, instead it falls slowly, jerky, as the piston cycles.

Didn't have my compression tester handy, but I will check when I get home tonight.

But, I will be calling the dealer I bought it from today.

 

[mountainlake]

Another lean meltdown, keep those saws adjusted to EPA RPM specs and there will be more. Steve

 

[jeepstrapped]

I would think a lean meltdown if I had changed anything.
But I didn't change any settings on the saw. And I have only used it to cut maybe 5 or 6 cord ofg wood.

I did notice that there was some dust inside the filter when I cleaned it, and I have changed the filter once already.

 

[SawTroll]

It's all "clear" colored. I haven't tried it. I'll wait for warmer/lighter air and keep an eye on the plug. It sure looks a lot easier to clean than the flocked.
Sorry to be off topic.

I believe that is a 44 micron one, vs. 80 micron for the black winter filter - it sure is easier to clean than the flocked ones.

If there are a lot of dust present, use the flocked one anyway.

 

[Brian S]

I would think a lean meltdown if I had changed anything.
But I didn't change any settings on the saw. And I have only used it to cut maybe 5 or 6 cord ofg wood.

I did notice that there was some dust inside the filter when I cleaned it, and I have changed the filter once already.

Lean meltdown is certainly a possibility, there are some other posts about the 5100 running too lean with the factory settings. I did not see if you mentioned whether or not your dealer set the mixture before delivery, he/she should have and it should have been rechecked after it was broken in. My suspicion lies in line with what Steve thinks, too lean from factory to meet EPA regs.

I had an Echo that came to me super super lean and would have blown up if I hadn't richened it up a bunch. Had a Poulan with the same problem too. No reason the Dolmar couldn't have the same problem.

I wouldn't worry too much about a small amount of fine dust. I have a Stihl 026 that always has traces of dust in the cab throat even with a brand new OEM filter, hasn't hurt it yet.

 

[atvdave]

I did notice that there was some dust inside the filter when I cleaned it

Same here... I was cleaning mine last night and notice some dust on the inside of the air filter. I've only cut maybe 1 cord of wood with it.

I'm not sure what people are talking about "flocked ones", I know there are 3 different types you can get (according to on-line store's).

What's the part number for the flocked ones?, and will I need to take it back to the dealer to have the carb readjusted?

Thanks
Dave

 

[67 Mustang]

I did notice that there was some dust inside the filter when I cleaned it, and I have changed the filter once already.

Anybody tried this? (BTW - This ad is from a past AS sponsor.)

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[atvdave]

We have had great results in applying to Air Filters on Dolmar PS-5100S chainsaws to reduce dirt from passing through the filter."

Hmmm.. kinda like K&N 2 stroke air filter oil for dirt bikes & quads?

 

[windthrown]

I had time this morning, pulled the plug and looked at the cylinder wall.
There is scoring directly above the exhaust port, but not on either side.
I did the "old rope pull" trick and the pull rope doesn't hold the powerhead up, instead it falls slowly, jerky, as the piston cycles.

Didn't have my compression tester handy, but I will check when I get home tonight.

But, I will be calling the dealer I bought it from today.

You don't need a compression tester in this case. Its toast. The scoring means it ran too lean. The rope trick slipping means it has low compression. It should hang and hold by the starter rope without slipping.

Running lean seems to be an issue with Dolmar saws, and particularly the 5100s model. I would suspect that it has a lot to do with the inability of many Dolmar dealers to correctly tune these saws for US sales, or that the design is too aggressive to tolerate EPA tuning requirements and US lower octane gas, or both. The issue seems to be spotty, so I would guess that correct carb tuning is the real issue stateside.

Maybe the poor-man's defense is to run these saws with clogged up air filters? Or adjust the carbs and run them really rich. Also I seriously doubt that the fine filter by-pass dust is the issue in these saws. I run my saws in crap conditions all the time. Fine dust always gets into the engines, and burns off.

 

[Taxmantoo]

A week later, the dealer had repaired the saw, but was waiting for the regional distributor to authorize the repair under warranty.

When I read that, I went straight to Dolmar's distributor list. I'm glad to say that Maine's distributor (Atlantic Power) is not Michigan's distributor (Central Power Systems).

It should hang and hold by the starter rope without slipping.

Hang and hold? Hold for how long?
My PS510 has about 165-170psi cold compression. When I hang it from the starter rope with 18" bar and 1/2 tank of fuel, it gets about three seconds per compression stroke.

 

[CentaurG2]

I had time this morning, pulled the plug and looked at the cylinder wall.
There is scoring directly above the exhaust port, but not on either side.
I did the "old rope pull" trick and the pull rope doesn't hold the powerhead up, instead it falls slowly, jerky, as the piston cycles.

Didn't have my compression tester handy, but I will check when I get home tonight.

But, I will be calling the dealer I bought it from today.

Stick a fork in it dude, it’s all done! When/if you get that thing back from the dealer pick up a stihl edt-7 tachometer. Will set you back about $100 but will be the best money you have ever spent. These dolmar demons are coming out of the factory set too lean. Back off the H screw to 14200K. Took almost a FULL turn out on the H needle to calm mine down. Good luck.

 

[windthrown]

Hang and hold? Hold for how long?
My PS510 has about 165-170psi cold compression. When I hang it from the starter rope with 18" bar and 1/2 tank of fuel, it gets about three seconds per compression stroke.

Well, it sounds like the guy's saw just chugged down the starter rope without holding much at all. opcorn:

 

[Termite]

Months ago a thread was posted about 5100's running lean. I mentioned in the thread that my dealer [D&D enterprises-Salem Indiana] cut a notch in the rubber gasket under the air filter. This foam gasket makes the atmosphere side of the diaphragm pull air through the air filter. Dealer says plugged air filter equals not enough fuel pumped to carb equals burnt up saw. I don't know if this is true or not but my saw is still running fine.
I did have to have the coil replaced.