calling all 661 owners

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

redoakman

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Nov 14, 2014
Messages
447
Reaction score
342
Location
south Western Ontario
Hey guys I was wondering if any of you 661 owners are having problems with keeping your saw running at just about freezing temperature. We. Had just 3 feet of snow and these 661s are taking like a whole tank of fuel to idle . very weird about throw them and get my 660s lol . I'm wondering if the carb is not liking the snow . after that first tank they run fine . I love these saws but I hate feathering the throttle going tree to tree kinda dangerous lol . any ideas/ thoughts are welcome
 
Have you taken them to the dealer to have their run history read on the computer? Perhaps there is something there they have a service bulletin on, or some other parameter that can be addressed.
 
I dont think reseting or calabrating will do anything its happing to both are 661s and are buddys 3 661s ..to the ice thing yes these basted saws always get ice on there butterfly's and we have to put them on skidder muffler to melt .
 
I dont think reseting or calabrating will do anything its happing to both are 661s and are buddys 3 661s ..to the ice thing yes these basted saws always get ice on there butterfly's and we have to put them on skidder muffler to melt .

Any shutters?
 
Any shutters?

There should be one in the air filter cover, think I had trouble using just my fingers but even when it's below zero I don't bother with it. As far as temp goes I've ran it below freezing and no troubles, been kinda warm here in NW Iowa though. I did however manage to flood it today, I think, is that possible on an M-Tronic saw?
 
Near
What do u mean buy shutters sir.

Nearly all Stihl Professional saws and some of the consumers have a shutter in the air box that allows warm air to mix with cold outside air. During conditions where frozen water vapor is being drawn into the air box and through the filter, the venturi action at the air inlet and the intake manifold will freeze blocking the air flow. Take the air filter cover and the air filter off, look at the forward part of the airbox for an adjustable shutter. It is normally closed in summer, and opened during near to freezing and a large content of water vapor in the air.

Report back, I'm sure Stihl didn't forget to do this.
 
Near


Nearly all Stihl Professional saws and some of the consumers have a shutter in the air box that allows warm air to mix with cold outside air. During conditions where frozen water vapor is being drawn into the air box and through the filter, the venturi action at the air inlet and the intake manifold will freeze blocking the air flow. Take the air filter cover and the air filter off, look at the forward part of the airbox for an adjustable shutter. It is normally closed in summer, and opened during near to freezing and a large content of water vapor in the air.

Report back, I'm sure Stihl didn't forget to do this.
O ya we changed them to winter a while back too . 4 months of so lol
 
Running near 0 C./32 F. should not ice saws up that much, especially if you have them set to winter mode. These exhaust strato-scavenged saws tend to run hotter than the cold blooded air starto-scavenged saws, especially during warm-up. Seems odd. I have no experience with running a 661 in the cold though, only a 660 and my older 066. No problems with running either in the cold here. My 441 is a cold blooded pig and slow to get warm at any temp.

I would keep them inside (or in some warm place) at night since they seen to run OK after they burn a tank of gas. I used to do that when I lived in Southern Oregon and cut a lot in the snow and/or below freezing. My saws all ran better when they were warm to begin with. My guess is that it is something to do with the Mtronic carb controller. You can also get the VW 661. There is a carb heater on the VW arctic option 661 saw to prevent icing. Or maybe you can turn the laser on and heat them with that?

661 saws with...
Frikken laser beams.jpg

Oops, the 661 laser is not available in the US and Canada. Way too powerful a weapon in the hands of Dr Evil.
 
I dont think reseting or calabrating will do anything its happing to both are 661s and are buddys 3 661s ..to the ice thing yes these basted saws always get ice on there butterfly's and we have to put them on skidder muffler to melt .
I ran mine through a few stumps with the shutter closed, didnt have any problem ........... didnt run it all day though. Temp was under 20 Deg F

I have seen cold related problems on a few saws due to gas with ethanol ....(water absorbtion, and that water created problems in freezing temps)........ but I am running VP

Are you using pump gas with ethanol ?
$8.00 experiment; dump a can of 40:1 Truefuel in one for the next tank and see if that one saw cleans up while the other 4 have problems
 
too many possible issues here. water in fuel, winter/summer shutter, saws need recalibrated. i have 2 cm saws that get run a bunch in 10-15 degree weather, i think they actually like the cold air better.

Mine certainly liked the ice cold air .......... even with the shutter in the summer position it was an animal.
 
I run mine everyday all day. It was several degrees below zero this week for a few mornings. Two pulls and it's ready to go. Are you sure you aren't blipping the throttle to soon and not giving it 4 or 5 seconds to get it's **** together? Seems odd your having trouble. I run the piss out of mine. I bet I've put almost 60 gallons of fuel through it and haven't had a single hiccuping event what so ever.
 
funny how this was posted at 8:45 last night, and the OP has already had the gas tested at 11:30 on a sunday morning? m-tronic saws have little if any issues with running/starting correctly in any weather. 99.9% is is operator/input issues. i call b.s. on this one....................
 
funny how this was posted at 8:45 last night, and the OP has already had the gas tested at 11:30 on a sunday morning? m-tronic saws have little if any issues with running/starting correctly in any weather. 99.9% is is operator/input issues. i call b.s. on this one....................
Not so sure that I would pull out the BS meter just yet .............. I am so anal that I would have found a way to test it that night.

I actually have 2 test kits for ethanol content sitting in the barn .................. maybe a buddy of his had a test kit laying around and they used it ?

I could be wrong though ..................
 

Latest posts

Back
Top