036 air shutter?

[yepper]

Well with a few upcoming firewood jobs I finally had a reason to stop using other people's saws and get my own, so I picked up a used 036 at the local dealer. Got it for $199 which I gather from here is a good but not great price. Cosmetically it looks very clean for a 20ish year old saw, it's definitely been used but not visibly abused. Aside from maybe needing to dial in the carb a bit it runs great, starts on second pull in 0* weather and in big wood out cuts the 455 Ranchers I've grown accustomed to by a long shot. Sure does make my wrists tingle a bit more though...

Enough blabbing, the real reason I'm posting is to ask about this air shutter that's on the top of the casing next to the spark plug hole. the PDF manual calls it a winter shutter but it looks different in the manual. What's pictured is a flat removable tab that goes in two different holes depending on the season, mine is a semi-circular shutter that is either opened or closed in the same spot. Can anyone clarify what this does and what the correct operation is for it? I can snap a picture if needed but I figured many on here have probably seen hundreds of them. Thanks.

 

[juttree]

When the shutter is open it lets warm air into the carb area which is the winter mode.

 

[juttree]

To clarify, the air that enters, passes the warm cylinder fins which in turn warms the air.

 

[mels]

Yup. My 034 has the same deal

 

[yepper]

Got it, so I'll be leaving it open full time for the coming months. Does it make a big difference if it's set to the wrong season? The manual is pretty vague but seems to suggest that leaving it open in the summer can quickly damage the saw.

 

[juttree]

When it's really hot out your engine needs all the help it can to stay cool so putting even warmer air down the throat wouldn't be a good idea. Also, it helps to keep your cylinder fins clean.

 

[yepper]

Yeah that makes sense about the door, I'm not sure what way it was set before but it's now open.

OK another completely unrelated question, might as well not make a bunch of threads about the same saw.. I popped the muffler cover off today to have a look at the piston as it was frozen on when I was in the dealership looking at it. I often read posts here about old pistons that "still have the machining marks" as a sign of aging well. There are tiny horizontal lines less than a millimeter apart running up the whole side of the piston, are these the marks people are talking about or do they look different? One of those questions that's hard to phrase for google... Well in any case I tested it at 135 lbs. compression which from what I've read sounds good for a 20 year old saw with an uncertain history.

 

[Definitive Dave]

Yep those are machining marks, 135 seems a little low for a good running saw, check your gauge before getting paranoid about the compression reading though.

 

[Deets066]

$200 isn't a bad deal if everything is copacetic.

 

[yepper]

OK fair point about the pics, will try to get one up tomorrow. it needs a new choke spring as I've read a lot of the 036's do but the dealer is eating the cost so that's good. Yeah after a little more searching I see 135 is a little low but then I'm not 100% sure if the needle was done climbing when I stopped, maybe 4-5 pulls? My tester does have a valve on the end to preempt that question. Will try it again when I take a pic tomorrow. The saw does run well and seems to handle 20" buried in hardwood fine so whatever is going on with the numbers I'm not going to sweat it at this point.

 

[yepper]

OK as requested here's a pic, probably not the first 036 anyone's seen but it's looking all pretty after a deep cleaning yesterday. I did re-check the compression and discovered that I was indeed not pulling it over long enough, pulled till the needle stopped moving today and ran it right up to 150.

 

[gritz]

Wow, that's a pretty good deal! I just sold one on ebay that was in way rougher shape and has a scored cylinder for just a little less than what you paid for that saw. You'll love that saw. My Dad loves the one I built for him.

 

[simonmeridew]

how do you like that Ez start recoil for your 036?
simonmeridew

 

[LogSawyer74]

My 036 has the circular winter/summer shutter on the cylinder cover also. There's also a small black plastic "window" on the air filter cover that can be popped out to let heated air into the carb area. It pops out and then there's a place to insert it into the bottom to block where it normally pulls air by the handle. I've always just left the circular shutter open and changed the "window" according to warm or cold temperatures. What say ye? Bad idea to always leave the circular shutter open? Haven't ran it yet in really hot summer time, just rebuilt it this fall.

 

[yepper]

how do you like that Ez start recoil for your 036?
simonmeridew

It's nice, very easy pulling. I would know too, until the new choke spring arrives it likes to jump off full choke if you breathe too hard on it so cold starts tend to involve a lot of pulling. at least it fires on the second pull once the choke stays engaged... The only saw I could compare it to is an MS310 I used extensively a few winters back, that one was definitely a harder pull without the elastic handle.

My 036 has the circular winter/summer shutter on the cylinder cover also. There's also a small black plastic "window" on the air filter cover that can be popped out to let heated air into the carb area.

Yeah interestingly this one is only the cirular shutter with no window on the filter cover, the only thing it has is a fixed mesh screen. I wonder when the changeover happened, maybe that dates this saw more accurately?

 

[LogSawyer74]

My saw is one of the last years stihl made the 036. It has the plastic model plate on top and the air filter cover knob looks similar to a 260/360.