Oiling trouble with ms170

[daddy]

I have a love/hate relationship with this little saw. It doesn't owe me anything, as it probably has 20 cords under its belt, but it has been somewhat less than reliable.

I know, what do I want for $179.95 ?

Ethanol was blamed for my carb problems. First time fixed under warranty, second time I paid for a new carb. When it runs right it is great. I can run it all day and not get tired. I love the light weight, and with the 12" polesaw bar and chain filed real sharp, it cuts plenty fast.

Anyhow, the latest trouble is lack of bar oil. The other day,I was on a firewood trip, and had clean bars,chains,filters,and everything ready to go,including winter grade stihl bar oil. I started with the little 170 and after a min or two, the chain got tight, and very hot. I was not into screwing with it, so I grabbed the 290, and got to work.

Later, when I took the bar off to check it, it was ok, and the oil channels did not have any crud, or chips in them. I fired it up without the bar to be sure oil was flowing. It was. So, I put the bar back on and tried to paint some oil stripes on a chunk of plywood. It took quite a while at rather high rpm to get it to start "painting". But it did oil. I cut with it for a bit, and it seemed ok, but only used about a quarter tank of oil to one tank of fuel.

So... today I take it out and run it again. Same routine. Takes a long time to get enough bar oil to mark a line on something, and only uses a quarter tank or so per tank of fuel.

What do I do next? I'm not shy of tearing into this thing, but it seems so delicate, I'd like to know I'm doing the right thing before I dive in.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[oscar4883]

Empty the bar oil and fill the tank with some mix gas. Shake it around for a bit and empty the tank. Do that a couple times and then run some mix for oil with the bar and chain off. Don't peg the throttle either. A little less than half maybe. See if that clears out anything. If it does, then replace the mix with bar oil and cut. If that doesn't work see if there is a hose with a pick-up in the tank and clean that.

 

[daddy]

Oscar, I'd thought about doing something with solvent to try to clean it out. I guess I'll try the gas trick in the morning.

This won't damage the pump will it?

 

[oscar4883]

Nope, you will be OK. Where abouts in PA are you?

 

[daddy]

In the woods north of pittsburg.

 

[oscar4883]

If you where on the other side of the state I could give you a hand! lol Thank goodness for the internet.

 

[Dan_IN_MN]

My friends MS170 had stoped oiling. I took it apart...didn't find anything wrong. Put it back together and it worked...I don't know what I did....but it's still oiling today.

 

[daddy]

Manyhobies, Thanks for the reply. I have never taken the saw apart. What do you do to check the oil pump?

 

[Fish]

Here is a pic or two of the bare crankcase and oiler.

 

[Fish]

To access the oil pump/line, you need to pop off the wrap handle.

 

[slipknot]

So pretty much these little bastards have very durable almost indestructible oiler mechanism? I took mine apart and cant figure out how to get it back together..lol. Dont drink and disassemble!!!

 

[jeeptj19992001]

you will need a little metric machine screw to tread into the oiler to pull it out. for get the size screw needed, somebody might chime in and tell you. you thread the screw in, and yank out the oiler.

 

[Fish]

Reinstalling the pump in the correct position and depth can be tricky, I would try
cleaning out everything first.


Just remove the bar/chain and rinse the oil tank out with gas mix, then put in some more and run the saw with no bar and chain, and see if that breaks up
the clogs.

 

[simonUK]

Happened to me various time first with a mS180 which is the same saw just little bit bigger saw then a ms170. First take your wrap handle off take the pull start off pull the oil tank out before you do that disconnect your oil line. Take your clutch off you will then see the oiler get a flathead screwdiver just on top of the oiler give it a whack and it should come out. Then take an air line put it in the where the oiler pipe was then just blow it all out. I then used some wd40 to clean all the channels and it worked. Might be a longer proccess but it worked for me.

Stihl service manuals do recomend to flush the oil tank about every month which seems excessive.
I like the Idea of the polesaw bar and chain on i suppose youve got quite a lot of power it behind it like that.

Simon

 

[wse8562]

you will need a little metric machine screw to tread into the oiler to pull it out. for get the size screw needed, somebody might chime in and tell you. you thread the screw in, and yank out the oiler.

This method works well however it is important to note the depth that the pump is mounted in the case. This insures that the gear on the pump is aligned with the drive worm. Also make sure the notch on the sprocket engages worm when assembled. The screw needed is 5mm BTW

 

[daddy]

Ok, tried the flush of the oil tank with mix gas. I filled it, sloshed it around, and dumped it a couple times, then ran it a bit with the mix in the oil tank.

What I saw, was bubbles coming out of the oil port, so I took a pic for your viewing pleasure.

View attachment 171133

After I put the bar back on, and tried to run it, the result was not good. No oil for the longest time, then just enough to paint two stripes, then it quit. Bar was getting too hot so I stopped.

I guess I have to take it apart...:mad2::mad2:

 

[daddy]

Bump for any other advice. Have not started taking it apart.