MS180C refusing to be dismantled - nightmare!

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Ibeatgodzilla

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Hello all,

Since my last post of a cursed 038 (multiple problems, which have since fixed, thansk to help and advice from members here although has recently faded out due to what sounds most certainly like an air leak... Just need to find out where from, but that's another story) I made the purchase of two more chainsaws to add to my collection. The guy was selling them as a pair, I was only after the 066 myself, but €400 for it and an MS180C chucked in too was a deal I wasn't going to turn down.

Even better, both were in excellent condition, ran straight away and have been very reliable ever since. I put a sticker on the 066's nameplate to change it into 666, seems more suitable.

Anyway - on to the point. To my surprise the MS180C has ended up being used very often for what I do, I do like how lightweight it is yet has the power for most little jobs I use it for. The other day however it suddenly stopped oiling - obviously that meant put it away, use another saw to finish the job, and look at the problem when I get back home. It seems a common problem on this model and I found a good video showing many likely possibilities, and how to get to them and fix them. It wasn' so easy as the oilway holes being blocked, so I had to look further.

Step 1: remove the bar and chain, insert a piston stop and take off the clutch to check the worm gear.

Result: crankshaft broke. Great.

I am aware that the clutch is a left hand thread and that I should be turning the socket arm clockwise to remove it. I have no idea why it was this tight - and I sure have enough leverage with a 600mm breaking bar and six-sided socket. The piston stop has never caused any problems in anything else.

So now the engine simply turns over with the clutch firmly in place. What started as a theoretically simple issue has now ended up in a basically fcukt machine. I've accepted the fact that on top of fixing the oiling issue I now have to replace whichever components of the crankshaft/conrod/piston/barrel which are broken too... But I cannot remove the engine, or even just the barrel, from the main body of the chainsaw without removing the very stubborn clutch first... I'm afraid that if I try to lock the engine a different way by putting a bar between fins of the flywheel I'll only end up breaking that too - it is only aluminium after all.

... Any ideas? Seems a shame to consider the saw a write-off as up until now it's been a very good machine and has certainly earned its keep.

- Dan
 
Battery powered impact driver, not an air impact! Hold the flywheel, it should pop the clutch right off, if it is a decent impact driver.
I tried that, pretty decent driver, didn't work.

I am of course considering the potentially more financially sensible option of just getting another MS180 - which are cheap enough used - and keeping this one for spares, but it would still be good to dismantle it and get the darn clutch off... Never seen one so tight!
 
I forget why exactly but you can break stuff because an air impact is more powerful than a battery impact. Some people on here don't advise using a battery impact either, they believe it might twist the crank or something. IDK. The op could also pull the cylinder and hold onto the crank. Just be careful not to break off a flywheel fin, one guy on here broke a flywheel fin off trying to hold the wheel and remove it.
 
I doubt the crank broke or the clutch would no longer be attached. More likely the the con rod folded up like the piece of junk it is.

Small, light saws really are useful tools as you have found - but there are much better made ones even for reasonable prices. Just about anything in fact.
 
To remove clutches and for similar jobs I use a cheater bar about one meter long. Failing that I have a 1000Nm compressor-driven air impact gun. ;)

Regardless, check out the Echo CS-352 as a replacement. ìlike the MS-180 it's presently on sale and is the same price, perhaps a tad lighter and Echo has a far better warranty than Stihl.
 
Hey look for the whole replacement aftermarket engine for like 40-50 dollars.... I tell ya I put on in a ms180, and it has worked flawlessly.... as a matter of fact I haven't used the saw in awhile, and me and a buddy went and cut 2-loads of oak/hickory yesterday and I used it for both loads.... my buddy couldn't believe it when I buried the 14" bar.... no, obviously the saw doesn't fly threw the wood, but with a competent operator, it works great...I planned on fixing and selling the saw a year ago, but when I used the saw, I loved the light wieght if it....for the price of these saws, $40-50 is a decent price for a engine that's ready to roll!!!
 
Thanks for all the opinions here - I do agree with pretty much everything that has been said so far.

I don't have an air impact gun myself, but a friend does so I could try bringing it there.
Echo equipment is harder to find here in europe, and dearer as a consequence (and buying from the US has prohibitive shipping costs). I'm a much bigger fan of the unbreakable top-end Stihl tools (er except for the awful 4-mix combi machines, my KM130R also bent a conrod...) - my FS500, 066 and HS86R just seem to go on forever and never break. Low-end Stihl certainly isn't the same quality.
I do love the bigger saws but sometimes they're just unnecessary for what I do - ie mostly cutting through 2" thick hedge trunks and trees up to a foot wide, and the weight can have quite an effort on my back after long enough use, so small saws have their purposes too. For most lightweight work I use an 023 which goes pretty well - as the MS180 came essentially as a bonus to the 066 I bought the pair for I just considered it a second light saw. Considering the price of parts I'm just going to get a used one to use again, simply as I now have a near-complete set of usable MS180 spare parts. I've seen three for sale here in France for €120 which is a good price for one in europe.

I guess the answer to this conundrum is 'it's dead and I'm going to get another one anyway, just brute force it with an air gun and see what happens'

I agree that the small homeowner saws aren't the best, but to be fair, if it weren't for the clutch being abnormally tight on the shaft and causing all this aggro, it probably would have been a nice straightforward fix to get the oiler working again. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Thanks for the suggestions, everybody.
 
I'm a much bigger fan of the unbreakable top-end Stihl tools (er except for the awful 4-mix combi machines, my KM130R also bent a conrod...) - my FS500, 066 and HS86R just seem to go on forever and never break. Low-end Stihl certainly isn't the same quality.

I guess the answer to this conundrum is 'it's dead and I'm going to get another one anyway, just brute force it with an air gun and see what happens'

I agree that the small homeowner saws aren't the best, but to be fair, if it weren't for the clutch being abnormally tight on the shaft and causing all this aggro, it probably would have been a nice straightforward fix to get the oiler working again. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Thanks for the suggestions, everybody.
The problems are not the equipment, but the guy bending the conrod......
 
When removing head bolts from an old car. Use a socket and breaker bar, you will likely have broken bolts, and waste a lot of time and money.
Use an impact wrench, and you will be happy.....
 
Thanks for all the opinions here - I do agree with pretty much everything that has been said so far.

I don't have an air impact gun myself, but a friend does so I could try bringing it there.
Echo equipment is harder to find here in europe, and dearer as a consequence (and buying from the US has prohibitive shipping costs). I'm a much bigger fan of the unbreakable top-end Stihl tools (er except for the awful 4-mix combi machines, my KM130R also bent a conrod...) - my FS500, 066 and HS86R just seem to go on forever and never break. Low-end Stihl certainly isn't the same quality.
I do love the bigger saws but sometimes they're just unnecessary for what I do - ie mostly cutting through 2" thick hedge trunks and trees up to a foot wide, and the weight can have quite an effort on my back after long enough use, so small saws have their purposes too. For most lightweight work I use an 023 which goes pretty well - as the MS180 came essentially as a bonus to the 066 I bought the pair for I just considered it a second light saw. Considering the price of parts I'm just going to get a used one to use again, simply as I now have a near-complete set of usable MS180 spare parts. I've seen three for sale here in France for €120 which is a good price for one in europe.

I guess the answer to this conundrum is 'it's dead and I'm going to get another one anyway, just brute force it with an air gun and see what happens'

I agree that the small homeowner saws aren't the best, but to be fair, if it weren't for the clutch being abnormally tight on the shaft and causing all this aggro, it probably would have been a nice straightforward fix to get the oiler working again. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Thanks for the suggestions, everybody.

If you want Echo and Shindaiwa products you can get them from Italy. If you want Dolmar/Makita you can get from Germany.
 

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