OcFerris
ArboristSite Lurker
First, I'm sure this question has been asked and answered 10 times before but I've read and read and can't find an answer.
I'm a weekend wood warrior 2-3 months a year and I have an older Stihl 026 (not pro) that's been giving me trouble starting when cold. I can't tell you what year the saw is but I bought it used 7 or 8 years ago. It stared fine, hot or cold, until last year. It always starts first pull when warm but as it cools off it gets harder to start. Leave the saw sit overnight and we're talking 40-50 pulls to get it going again. Once it starts and warms up for 20-30 seconds it runs great, lots of power, responsive throttle, etc.. It doesn't seen to matter what the air temp is or whether the saw has been sitting for 2 days or 2 months, it starts about the same.
First thing I did was take it to the local Stihl dealer who replaced the plug and air filter, adjusted the carb then basically told me I didn't know how to start my saw. "You have to pull it 3 times with the choke on, turn off the choke and it will start every time" he says. He's right, if you let the saw sit for 3-4 hours between starts that will work. Let the saw sit overnight and no go. I explained that I've tried every combination of choke/no-choke methods of starting I can think of and his recommendation wouldn't work. Told me to "bring it back if you have trouble getting it started and maybe it's just too old to fix" so I paid my bill and left.
Next day comes and the saw doesn't start (no surprise) but at $80/hour for shop time I decided I can fix this thing myself. I mean jeez, spark + gas + air in the right combination and this thing has to run. One of the suggestions I came across here was to try choking it with my thumb over the carb. That worked. Darn saw burped on the second pull so I removed my thumb and turned off the choke and the saw started on the third pull. Well that was easy! From what I read I figured I had an air leak so in addition to the new plug and filter, I ended up replacing the fuel line and filter and rebuilding the carb. I didn't adjust anything inside the carb, just replaced all the parts with what was in the kit. Then I generally cleaned everything well, confirmed the butterfly was closing as far as possible and made sure the control lever was closing the valve on the new air filter properly. Everything looks right but it's no easier to start than it was before I got into it. (though I have to admit it does run better)
I did not replace the impulse line as the dealer didn't have it in stock (7-10 days!). I cleaned the old one and inspected it for cracks or holes, loss of flexibility etc. and I believe it to be good. When my dealer gets the part I will replace it but I have my doubts (based on zero experience whatsoever) as to how much improvement it will make. Also, the saw seems to have adequate compression. I don't know how much but it doesn't pull "easy" or drop to the floor if I hang it by the pull start handle.
This is getting personal and I don't want to give up on this saw but I'm starting to ask myself if I should have just replaced it with a good used one. I suppose I could incorporate the thumb choke start method and be done with it but that's not how I like to do things and it would just peeve me every time I did it.
Any suggestions as to what I should do next would be appreciated!
I'm a weekend wood warrior 2-3 months a year and I have an older Stihl 026 (not pro) that's been giving me trouble starting when cold. I can't tell you what year the saw is but I bought it used 7 or 8 years ago. It stared fine, hot or cold, until last year. It always starts first pull when warm but as it cools off it gets harder to start. Leave the saw sit overnight and we're talking 40-50 pulls to get it going again. Once it starts and warms up for 20-30 seconds it runs great, lots of power, responsive throttle, etc.. It doesn't seen to matter what the air temp is or whether the saw has been sitting for 2 days or 2 months, it starts about the same.
First thing I did was take it to the local Stihl dealer who replaced the plug and air filter, adjusted the carb then basically told me I didn't know how to start my saw. "You have to pull it 3 times with the choke on, turn off the choke and it will start every time" he says. He's right, if you let the saw sit for 3-4 hours between starts that will work. Let the saw sit overnight and no go. I explained that I've tried every combination of choke/no-choke methods of starting I can think of and his recommendation wouldn't work. Told me to "bring it back if you have trouble getting it started and maybe it's just too old to fix" so I paid my bill and left.
Next day comes and the saw doesn't start (no surprise) but at $80/hour for shop time I decided I can fix this thing myself. I mean jeez, spark + gas + air in the right combination and this thing has to run. One of the suggestions I came across here was to try choking it with my thumb over the carb. That worked. Darn saw burped on the second pull so I removed my thumb and turned off the choke and the saw started on the third pull. Well that was easy! From what I read I figured I had an air leak so in addition to the new plug and filter, I ended up replacing the fuel line and filter and rebuilding the carb. I didn't adjust anything inside the carb, just replaced all the parts with what was in the kit. Then I generally cleaned everything well, confirmed the butterfly was closing as far as possible and made sure the control lever was closing the valve on the new air filter properly. Everything looks right but it's no easier to start than it was before I got into it. (though I have to admit it does run better)
I did not replace the impulse line as the dealer didn't have it in stock (7-10 days!). I cleaned the old one and inspected it for cracks or holes, loss of flexibility etc. and I believe it to be good. When my dealer gets the part I will replace it but I have my doubts (based on zero experience whatsoever) as to how much improvement it will make. Also, the saw seems to have adequate compression. I don't know how much but it doesn't pull "easy" or drop to the floor if I hang it by the pull start handle.
This is getting personal and I don't want to give up on this saw but I'm starting to ask myself if I should have just replaced it with a good used one. I suppose I could incorporate the thumb choke start method and be done with it but that's not how I like to do things and it would just peeve me every time I did it.
Any suggestions as to what I should do next would be appreciated!
I'm having a blast!
