Stihl 011

[a. palmer jr.]

Ok, when you put the new reed valve on, was there a gasket? did you replace it, or reuse it, or is there one at all? Do you have a compression tester?

If there was one, how did it look, If there wasnt one, there is suposed to be, if you replaced it, are the screws tight enough, if you reused it, hmmm... still check the screws, it may need to replace the gasket...

I think the problem is somewhere besides the carburetion...It won't even hit one time. It has gaskets on both sides of the reed which appear to be all right. It has a long tip sparkplug and I'm wondering if it's the wrong one. I'm gonna pull it out today and check it. Usually when you put a small amount of fuel in the carb it will start and run until that fuel is burned then quit. I've got a neighbor that's pretty good on these that's gonna look at it today. Maybe we'll get to the bottom of this! I just hate to tear the engine completely down if I don't have to. Do these things shear flywheel keys easily? I have a compression tester but it's the kind for cars. I might be able to hold it on the saw while my buddy cranks it.

 

[redunshee]

No, flywheel keys don't shear easily unless flywheel nut isn't tight. However you couldn't pull it over if it were sheared. You have spark but no fuel correct. Did you rebuild carb? Didn't see that mentioned in earlier posts. The carb could be so dirty that pouring gas in won't help. That would be my next step;that and the reed valve gasket.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I haven't rebuilt the carb yet. I just replaced the vent hose, the fuel line, and the reed plate. I took the side plate off the carb and it looked pretty clean and the diaphragm looked ok but I was gonna rebuild it later. I'm gonna take the spark plug out and squirt a little fuel in there and see if she hits then. I may also have to take the muffler off and see if it's carboned up too much. I don't know if I mentioned it earlier but I haven't had the saw but a few days.

 

[bartlanz]

Ok, If you changed the plug, did you get the "rite" one?

The two recomended plugs for nearly all Stihl saws are:

NGK BPMR7A
Bosch WSR 6 F (A)

If you are getting spark, I am still going back to checking for compression... given you are not getting a little burble when you are pouring gas into the cyl... You need Four things for that engine to work... Fuel, Air, Compression and Spark... Well, we have confirmed and garunteed that 3 of those are good...

 

[a. palmer jr.]

Ok, If you changed the plug, did you get the "rite" one?

The two recomended plugs for nearly all Stihl saws are:

NGK BPMR7A
Bosch WSR 6 F (A)

If you are getting spark, I am still going back to checking for compression... given you are not getting a little burble when you are pouring gas into the cyl... You need Four things for that engine to work... Fuel, Air, Compression and Spark... Well, we have confirmed and garunteed that 3 of those are good...

It's got the Bosch plug. I went out and checked the plug first. It is brand new and had a little fuel on it. I dried it off, gap looked good, so put it back. I pulled the handle and to me it seems the compression is great. Pulled the screen off the muffler to look inside to see if it was stopped up. It didn't appear to have excessive carbon so I poured a small amount of fuel in the muffler port. Pulled the rope and...nothing. I know the fuel is good because I put it in another saw and it worked fine. So now I'll wait for my friend to come up here and we'll check the compression and if it's good I'm going to have to assume it's outta time. Since I put gas in the combustion chamber I'll have to rule out crankcase seal and fuel system. Since it had spark and plenty of it but it still wouldn't even pop once it must be outta time. I have old saws that have less compression that run pretty well.

 

[bartlanz]

hmm... Well if its drawing fuel and the plug is wet... Did you pull the coil off when you where working on it?

 

[a. palmer jr.]

hmm... Well if its drawing fuel and the plug is wet... Did you pull the coil off when you where working on it?

I haven't gotten into that part of it yet..It had plenty of spark but next thing is to pull the left side off and see if maybe it sheared a key. When I first got it the thing would just barely run, no matter how you adjusted the carb or pulled on the gas trigger, it just popped a little for a few seconds and died. I'll go out when it cools down a little this evening and tear into it again.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I took the flywheel cover off last night...dirty as could be so cleaned it up plus cleaned the area around the flywheel. There didn't appear to be enough clearance between flywheel and coil, if fact they were rubbing so I spaced it slightly, checked the crank for tightness and it was snug. Had a few bolts loose on the muffler so tightened them up. Flywheel key was fine. My friend was in a hurry last night so he left before we could check compression. I wonder if the wife would mind helping me with that.....

 

[bartlanz]

From what I'm told you want the flywheel and coil to be as close to gether as they can be... guys here say to use a business card or two...

 

[a. palmer jr.]

From what I'm told you want the flywheel and coil to be as close together as they can be... guys here say to use a business card or two...

I didn't have one handy so I used about three folds of sandpaper, should have made it about ten thousandths or so. I'll probably use a gap gauge if I can fit one in there. I'll recheck the spark after while, wife has an errand for me today that'll probably take 2 or 3 hours. Gotta take her to town. Maybe then I'll mention it to her about helping check compression on saw.

 

[redunshee]

I didn't have one handy so I used about three folds of sandpaper, should have made it about ten thousandths or so. I'll probably use a gap gauge if I can fit one in there. I'll recheck the spark after while, wife has an errand for me today that'll probably take 2 or 3 hours. Gotta take her to town. Maybe then I'll mention it to her about helping check compression on saw.

Use a business card or something non-magnetic(I use brass shim) about the the same thickness (about .012). Loosen flywheel, insert card and let magnet pull flywheel onto card. Tighten and you are good to go.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

Use a business card or something non-magnetic(I use brass shim) about the the same thickness (about .012). Loosen flywheel, insert card and let magnet pull flywheel onto card. Tighten and you are good to go.

I'll do it like you said but I have a strange feeling it still won't be good to go. It's storming real bad here right now so can't get any help checking compression. I had another saw about ten years ago that acted like this one, it was a Poulan 25DA and although those are good saws I did everything I knew how to do and couldn't get it started. The problem with it? It had a cracked case that I couldn't see. It had good compression, good spark, new carburetor, etc. but wouldn't hit a lick. That's kinda how this one's acting. I hope not, but it has the same symptoms.

 

[redunshee]

I'll do it like you said but I have a strange feeling it still won't be good to go. It's storming real bad here right now so can't get any help checking compression. I had another saw about ten years ago that acted like this one, it was a Poulan 25DA and although those are good saws I did everything I knew how to do and couldn't get it started. The problem with it? It had a cracked case that I couldn't see. It had good compression, good spark, new carburetor, etc. but wouldn't hit a lick. That's kinda how this one's acting. I hope not, but it has the same symptoms.

Have you done a pressure and vacuum check? That will confim if you have an air leak which would occur with a cracked case. However in my limited experience it should start with an air leak but just won't run well. I assume you don't have a compression gauge which is why you need help. I guess I'd start there first. Keep us posted.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

Have you done a pressure and vacuum check? That will confim if you have an air leak which would occur with a cracked case. However in my limited experience it should start with an air leak but just won't run well. I assume you don't have a compression gauge which is why you need help. I guess I'd start there first. Keep us posted.

I just have an automotive type compression gauge. It works but it's a two man operation to hold it on. Wife wouldn't help tonight because of heavy storms we had here. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I didn't get any help checking compression but I put the chainsaw bar in the vise and used the button to hold the throttle partly open and held the compression tester and pulled the rope. Although this isn't the best way to do it I got around 120 psi. I tried again a couple of more times but 120 is about it. Not the best but should be enough to fire. I'm gonna take the side back off and do the business card thing next. By the way, when I did the compression test, the end of my tester ended up kinda greasy so at least the cylinder's getting something in it. I left the spark plug out so that maybe if it's really flooded it might dry out a litttle. My dad used to use a match over the spark plug hole and burn out the excess gas. Probably best to just let it evaporate if you have time, which I do.

 

[redunshee]

I didn't get any help checking compression but I put the chainsaw bar in the vise and used the button to hold the throttle partly open and held the compression tester and pulled the rope. Although this isn't the best way to do it I got around 120 psi. I tried again a couple of more times but 120 is about it. Not the best but should be enough to fire. I'm gonna take the side back off and do the business card thing next. By the way, when I did the compression test, the end of my tester ended up kinda greasy so at least the cylinder's getting something in it. I left the spark plug out so that maybe if it's really flooded it might dry out a litttle. My dad used to use a match over the spark plug hole and burn out the excess gas. Probably best to just let it evaporate if you have time, which I do.

Yea, 120 isn't great but it should fire up. Doesn't your tester screw into plug hole? If I recall its 14mm.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

Yea, 120 isn't great but it should fire up. Doesn't your tester screw into plug hole? If I recall its 14mm.

Nah, it's just got a rubber tip on the end of a pipe. You just hold it against the hole. It might have shown a little more if I'd held the throttle wide open instead of partly open. I'll have the day to myself tomorrow so I'll go out and tear it down again. I thought I checked the muffler but it turns out I just checked the muffler opening so I'll take it off and look inside this time and also re-gap the coil. I re-gapped the plug today and I may go buy another one even though this one looks new. I've seen new bad plugs before. Even though they show a spark when tested sometimes don't have a spark under compression. This thing acts like it's not getting spark. I might re-check the shutoff switch also.

 

[bartlanz]

Nah, it's just got a rubber tip on the end of a pipe. You just hold it against the hole. It might have shown a little more if I'd held the throttle wide open instead of partly open. I'll have the day to myself tomorrow so I'll go out and tear it down again. I thought I checked the muffler but it turns out I just checked the muffler opening so I'll take it off and look inside this time and also re-gap the coil. I re-gapped the plug today and I may go buy another one even though this one looks new. I've seen new bad plugs before. Even though they show a spark when tested sometimes don't have a spark under compression. This thing acts like it's not getting spark. I might re-check the shutoff switch also.

U know, I dont know why I didnt think of this before...

On MY 011AVT I had to replace the spark plug wire... Why you may ask... When I pluged it into the plug, I got no go, When I pluged it into an inline spark plug tester the saw would fire up... conclusion, I needed new spark plug line... You may be in the same boat, its a common problem whrere the wire gets tugged and works when twisted one way, but not the other...

Replacing the wire was not expensive, but was a bit of a PITA to fish through the saw...

 

[a. palmer jr.]

U know, I dont know why I didnt think of this before...

On MY 011AVT I had to replace the spark plug wire... Why you may ask... When I pluged it into the plug, I got no go, When I pluged it into an inline spark plug tester the saw would fire up... conclusion, I needed new spark plug line... You may be in the same boat, its a common problem whrere the wire gets tugged and works when twisted one way, but not the other...

Replacing the wire was not expensive, but was a bit of a PITA to fish through the saw...

Can you remove the wire from the coil assembly or do you have to replace all of it?
It sure never occurred to me either but that's another possibility because the wire has been jerked around quite a few times.

 

[bartlanz]

On the two I have rebuilt you could, I yanked it out, and when I got the new wire, I took an awl and started a hole up the wire, then it literally threads into it. There is a screw shaft on the coil