SawTroll
Information Collector
I don't really understand, but I guess that all those hats were a bit much for you??
Problem with Stihl ms250
- Thread starter CajunBoy
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Rickochet
ArboristSite Operative
Thanks for the reply. I have been using winter weight bar oil from Stihl in the blue jug. Plus, I have it stored in my 70 degree F garage, walked outside started it and no/very little oil. It gets a bit of dripping from under the chain adjuster cover but almost zero on the chain bar grove. I am going to dig into it today to see what I can find.
Rickochet
ArboristSite Operative
Went to the shop this morning and began performing some forensics on the MS250.
1. I began by emptying the oil tank and pulling the oil pick up tube filter. It was clean as could be. No debris in the tank or the filter. The pick up hose looks good and flexible. No problem there.
2. Removed chain adjuster & chain assembly & inspected oil holes in the bar. Clear, but little sign of oil. Again, no problem.
3. Inspected the tank vent valve that is located directly behind the bar and it had a lot of crud built up in the recess. I cleaned it out with some brake cleaner and then with compressed air at a low pressure. That could be the problem.
4. Removed the clutch drum to make sure the worm drive was in place and functioning. It was and I saw no problem there.
5. Since further inspection would require more dis assembly and since I found all of the debris in the oil tank vent, I decided to take it out and run it with out the chain & bar. Started it and immediately began seeing bar oil appear from the oil port. Maybe I cured the problem!
6. I performed a thorough chain inspection and used my grinder to bring it back to life. Filed the bar rails and reassembled the saw, filled it with Stihl Blue Jug Winter Bar Oil and fuel mix.
7. Went outside and fired it up and ran it with varying RPM's for a few minutes and had a nice flood of oil as typical when running a saw free like this. I did notice that it was NOT slinging oil like my other saws do when help close to a log. Most saws will leave a nice oil stripe when revved as we all do to check for oil.
8. Loosened the chain and inspected the teeth and bar and they appeared to be bathed in a nice oil film. Not soaked, but sufficient.
9. Went in & put on my chaps, safety glasses, hard hat with ear protection and headed out to my back 40 where I have a 50' hickory blow down that was waiting to limb & buck. The saw was throwing nice chips of wood and sliced through the ol' Shagbark with ease. I cut up the vast majority of the tree with the little 250 without a problem. No bar smoke and the chain kept its edge as it normally does.
10. I allowed it to run out of fuel so I could accurately measure the amount of bar oil remaining.
11. Went back up to the shop and with zero fuel in the tank, and I poured out the remaining bar oil into a measuring cup. I had right at 2 oz. left in the oil tank. The oil tank capacity is 6.8 oz. With a little simple math, 2 / 6.8 = 29.4% of the oil remained. So in that one tank of fuel the saw dispensed 70.6% of the bar oil.
What did I learn from this? Well, just a few:
How about others who operate an MS250? What kind of bar oil usage do you typically see?
I will continue to watch to see if this crops up again. I will keep you posted. Have a great weekend!
1. I began by emptying the oil tank and pulling the oil pick up tube filter. It was clean as could be. No debris in the tank or the filter. The pick up hose looks good and flexible. No problem there.
2. Removed chain adjuster & chain assembly & inspected oil holes in the bar. Clear, but little sign of oil. Again, no problem.
3. Inspected the tank vent valve that is located directly behind the bar and it had a lot of crud built up in the recess. I cleaned it out with some brake cleaner and then with compressed air at a low pressure. That could be the problem.
4. Removed the clutch drum to make sure the worm drive was in place and functioning. It was and I saw no problem there.
5. Since further inspection would require more dis assembly and since I found all of the debris in the oil tank vent, I decided to take it out and run it with out the chain & bar. Started it and immediately began seeing bar oil appear from the oil port. Maybe I cured the problem!
6. I performed a thorough chain inspection and used my grinder to bring it back to life. Filed the bar rails and reassembled the saw, filled it with Stihl Blue Jug Winter Bar Oil and fuel mix.
7. Went outside and fired it up and ran it with varying RPM's for a few minutes and had a nice flood of oil as typical when running a saw free like this. I did notice that it was NOT slinging oil like my other saws do when help close to a log. Most saws will leave a nice oil stripe when revved as we all do to check for oil.
8. Loosened the chain and inspected the teeth and bar and they appeared to be bathed in a nice oil film. Not soaked, but sufficient.
9. Went in & put on my chaps, safety glasses, hard hat with ear protection and headed out to my back 40 where I have a 50' hickory blow down that was waiting to limb & buck. The saw was throwing nice chips of wood and sliced through the ol' Shagbark with ease. I cut up the vast majority of the tree with the little 250 without a problem. No bar smoke and the chain kept its edge as it normally does.
10. I allowed it to run out of fuel so I could accurately measure the amount of bar oil remaining.
11. Went back up to the shop and with zero fuel in the tank, and I poured out the remaining bar oil into a measuring cup. I had right at 2 oz. left in the oil tank. The oil tank capacity is 6.8 oz. With a little simple math, 2 / 6.8 = 29.4% of the oil remained. So in that one tank of fuel the saw dispensed 70.6% of the bar oil.
What did I learn from this? Well, just a few:
- You guys are a good resource of info!
- The little things can cause big problems.
- This saw uses slightly less than 3/4 of a tank of oil when a full tank of fuel is burned.
- A good reminder to clean out all vents often!
How about others who operate an MS250? What kind of bar oil usage do you typically see?
I will continue to watch to see if this crops up again. I will keep you posted. Have a great weekend!
D&B Mack
Sawin Wit It!
Just my 2 cents...
I buy and resell a lot of used 250's (they are pretty popular around here), before I go on though, never had a brand new OTB one. Here's what I've noticed with them and my discussion with the stihl rep about it.
1. 250 oils less than any pro saw or saw with an adjustable oiler.
2. Chains and bars are often burnt.
Talk to the rep and he said,
1. 250 will oil less, since the saw was designed for a landowner and not a pro, the saw was designed for a specific cutting/idle time. Since not adjustable, the preset setting was designed as an average for the expected use of the saw.
2. The 250 was designed as a light-mid level saw. Many people buy it and consistently bury it into heavy wood at a high rate, more than what the saw was designed for. This action wears the entire saw down at a faster rate since it is exceeding its design parameters.
When I sell the saw, I tell them to check the oil output and if they are not getting a solid stream of oil in a couple of seconds as stihl recommends, then use a thinner oil. Just my opinion though.
I buy and resell a lot of used 250's (they are pretty popular around here), before I go on though, never had a brand new OTB one. Here's what I've noticed with them and my discussion with the stihl rep about it.
1. 250 oils less than any pro saw or saw with an adjustable oiler.
2. Chains and bars are often burnt.
Talk to the rep and he said,
1. 250 will oil less, since the saw was designed for a landowner and not a pro, the saw was designed for a specific cutting/idle time. Since not adjustable, the preset setting was designed as an average for the expected use of the saw.
2. The 250 was designed as a light-mid level saw. Many people buy it and consistently bury it into heavy wood at a high rate, more than what the saw was designed for. This action wears the entire saw down at a faster rate since it is exceeding its design parameters.
When I sell the saw, I tell them to check the oil output and if they are not getting a solid stream of oil in a couple of seconds as stihl recommends, then use a thinner oil. Just my opinion though.
414Landzkreeper
New Member
bumpitty, bump bump bump
My MS250 may be a lemon. I have had this saw for less than 4 months. I will interject that I have been running Stihl products for 15 years. Multiple Saws, blowers, trimmers, brush cutters, oil's, hand saws, pole saws, blower/vacs, power drills, concrete saws, all forms of hedge trimmers and many, many, many kombi attachments.
At least i don't have to take this particular saw back to the dealership for fuel cap recall service.
In regards to my MS250,
Bar/chain overheating, check.
Fuel leaking and low oil flow rate, check.
15-30 times pulling starter rope, @ dealership by dealer rep as he began breaking a sweat, just before he serviced the spark plug, still with no start, check.
I unsafely showed them how I started the saw to get through the day. check
The stop/off switch suddenly not working while in the midst of these other ridiculous circumstances, check.
Imagine having to choke out to stop this machine from running in front of 1 of your customers, after they watched you try to pull start the saw 20 times before it finally started. That was actually funny, check. What a joke of a product.
I don't want to forget the chain coming off of the bar while in use, the first day. I checked tightening specs 10 mins before this happened.
The chain continues to come loose after 20-30 minutes of use.
I only bought this saw for light occasional use and that's what it is used for. The possible lemon of a saw is going back to the dealer for the second time in 3 days. The last thing the dealer rep said to me was " if you keep having problems, bring it back", I was all choked up with laughter and said "yeah its coming back".
Please disregard my testimonial if you could care less about it.
Great thread, great topic. My dealer and their reps are great, I look forward to a brand new saw next week. I will post feedback to this testimonial etc...
P.S. I'm a new poster to this site and will be back with more encouraging input. I have many years of experience and have plenty of dangerous yet helpful tales of adventure while dangling from tree branches while performing acrobatic feats of arbornautics.
I appreciate all of the tips, knowledge, helpful advise etc... I have had the pleasure of reading while on arborsite, thanks to all.
My MS250 may be a lemon. I have had this saw for less than 4 months. I will interject that I have been running Stihl products for 15 years. Multiple Saws, blowers, trimmers, brush cutters, oil's, hand saws, pole saws, blower/vacs, power drills, concrete saws, all forms of hedge trimmers and many, many, many kombi attachments.
At least i don't have to take this particular saw back to the dealership for fuel cap recall service.
In regards to my MS250,
Bar/chain overheating, check.
Fuel leaking and low oil flow rate, check.
15-30 times pulling starter rope, @ dealership by dealer rep as he began breaking a sweat, just before he serviced the spark plug, still with no start, check.
I unsafely showed them how I started the saw to get through the day. check
The stop/off switch suddenly not working while in the midst of these other ridiculous circumstances, check.
Imagine having to choke out to stop this machine from running in front of 1 of your customers, after they watched you try to pull start the saw 20 times before it finally started. That was actually funny, check. What a joke of a product.
I don't want to forget the chain coming off of the bar while in use, the first day. I checked tightening specs 10 mins before this happened.
The chain continues to come loose after 20-30 minutes of use.
I only bought this saw for light occasional use and that's what it is used for. The possible lemon of a saw is going back to the dealer for the second time in 3 days. The last thing the dealer rep said to me was " if you keep having problems, bring it back", I was all choked up with laughter and said "yeah its coming back".
Please disregard my testimonial if you could care less about it.
Great thread, great topic. My dealer and their reps are great, I look forward to a brand new saw next week. I will post feedback to this testimonial etc...
P.S. I'm a new poster to this site and will be back with more encouraging input. I have many years of experience and have plenty of dangerous yet helpful tales of adventure while dangling from tree branches while performing acrobatic feats of arbornautics.
I appreciate all of the tips, knowledge, helpful advise etc... I have had the pleasure of reading while on arborsite, thanks to all.
FergusonTO35
ArboristSite Operative
Ok, now I'm really glad I passed on the cherry MS-250 I found in a pawn shop for $165.00. When it comes to running a saw with a stingy oiler in thick wood, what I do is bring a squirt can of bar and chain oil with me. Prior and after making a big cut I lift up on the chain with pliers slightly to expose the drivers and the bar groove. Then, I flood the area with oil from the squirt can. This provides the aditional oil needed for more demanding use. I discovered this when I had some big hedgeapple trees to cut and the biggest saw I had was my little Poulan 2150.
Nosmo
Addicted to ArboristSite
Another Remedy
Here is what I have done with the MS 250 I used to have. It was slow about oiling too.
It is a trick I remembered reading about what the Russians did in WW2 during the winter.
They thinned their gun oil down with gasoline and it worked well. The Germans did not do this and their guns kept jamming.
Use a little gasoline in the oil to thin it and it will sling it like it is supposed to after starting the engine.
Nosmo
Here is what I have done with the MS 250 I used to have. It was slow about oiling too.
It is a trick I remembered reading about what the Russians did in WW2 during the winter.
They thinned their gun oil down with gasoline and it worked well. The Germans did not do this and their guns kept jamming.
Use a little gasoline in the oil to thin it and it will sling it like it is supposed to after starting the engine.
Nosmo
FergusonTO35
ArboristSite Operative
Sounds good. I bet mineral spirits would work too. I have read that American troops would pee on the action of a frozen Garand or BAR to get it going again.
