Stihl MS 200t help

[flacab23]

Hi. I have 2 stihl MS 200T saws and both run great but will not idle. so I brought them in to the local stihl shop. I got a call the next day and was told that the pistons were bad in both of them that is why it will not idle and to fix them was $400.00 each. I saw the pistons in both and they were not shinny and had a little scaring. they told me the piston kit is $220 plus. is there any aftermarket cylinder and piston kits for this saw? I see kits for other stihl kits but can't find one for this saw. It seems that the MS 200T piston is crap because I have had 8 saws now go down because of this. these two saws I can understand because some dirt got past the air filter but the others were all because they say that the gas was not perfectly mixed, when I used the same gas in a 191, 140, 036, 044, 046, and ms 650. why is this the only say that goes bad. any help to a cylinder kit or work around for this would be great. Thank you.

 

[carvinmark]

Hello and welcome to AS. Sorry to hear about your 200's. I have been running one for about 3 years, pretty much daily, and have had no major problems. Wonder if the smaller displacement saws are more touchy to improperly mixed fuel than the larger ones.
$400.00 seems a bit excessive.

 

[Lakeside53]

I have replaced very few 200T/20T pistons in 5 years... and these were on on very high time saws. They don't sell for $200... try $90.50. They wear out very gracefully - get highly polished and very worn rings, but that's at a few thousand hours. The cylinders rarely score. We service hundreds of these per year.

Scaring? can you post a pic? Is it on the exhaust side or the Inlet. What was the compression? At about 130-135lb ("yellow" ), the 200T is dog. I've seen a few like this... but they keep on using them or sell them to homeowners.

The most common problem on a 200T is the carb. Until recently, the life of the accelerator pump was about 2 years (a zillion trigger pulls). After that, boot torn, impulse hose off... Seals - very rare.

For a 200T NOT to idle because of the piston, the piston would be clattering around - really loud. Did it suddenly "not idle" or did you have to "goose it" for the past xxxx months (bad!) to get to to accelarate? If the latter, acellerator pump, and you've been lean in transition.


I have seen scratches on the exhaust side due to carbon build up in the exhaust port -that's because some of these saws spend a lot of time hanging on belts idling. It had little effect on the running though and didn't affect idle.


Did you lean out the saw? I get 200's in all the time that have been leaned out to about 15,500-16,550 rpm.. that's going to take a toll.. I reset them to 14,500...

 

[stihl only]

They don't sell for $200... try $90.50.

I'm thinking he's talking P&C complete?

SUre is a WAY above failure rate you have going there and I can assure that like Lake has said, this isn't common at all.

That 200 wouldn't bring the money it does if people were having this much trouble!

 

[pgg]

Ya there's no after market piston/rings/cylinder kits for 020's/200's. OEM only. But a rooted piston on each saw sounds pure B.S. from a snakey dealer looking to rip ya. Worn carbs are the 200's usual hassle, leaking too much air and running wickedly lean, won't no matter how much you piss around with the hi & lo jets.

If the pistons are slightly scuffed, just polish them up and slam in a new set of stihl rings only. No real desperate need to hone those cylinders either, those new stihl rings bed themselves in nicely as is. Slam on a new carb as well, preferably a non-accel pump type, you're lucky over there, you can get 200T carbs for a pittance, down this part of the world a 200t carb costs over 400 bucks. If money's an issue then do it yourself, that dealer will rip and rogue you on excess labour costs for sure.

 

[stihl only]

Ya there's no after market piston/rings/cylinder kits for 020's/200's. OEM only. But a rooted piston on each saw sounds pure B.S. from a snakey dealer looking to rip ya. Worn carbs are the 200's usual hassle, leaking too much air and running wickedly lean, won't no matter how much you piss around with the hi & lo jets.

If the pistons are slightly scuffed, just polish them up and slam in a new set of stihl rings only. No real desperate need to hone those cylinders either, those new stihl rings bed themselves in nicely as is. Slam on a new carb as well, preferably a non-accel pump type, you're lucky over there, you can get 200T carbs for a pittance, down this part of the world a 200t carb costs over 400 bucks. If money's an issue then do it yourself, that dealer will rip and rogue you on excess labour costs for sure.

YEP, that's for sure!!
Dealer, and Devil.... Pretty close, aren't they???

 

[flacab23]

I didn't check the compression because I picked them both up from the dealer and they are in pieces. he showed me how the piston has some scarring marks (not deep just scuffed), and he told since the piston is not really shiny anymore it will not idle right. He also told me that it needs an idle because the flap is loose, but when I tried it infront of him didn't feel anything and then he said well this one is not as bad as the other. I have about ten saws that they have told me that needed a piston because there was scarring in the past. I think I am going to bring it to someone new. I don't know if the scarring is on the exhaust side or not I will take some pics in morning.
PS there was no clattering and it started the idle problem over night. it runs at high output just fine. when throttle is let go it trys to idle but puts a little then dies. they tried to adj. idle screw but did nothing. then got a call $400

 

[Lakeside53]

I can almost bet you just need a carb...

 

[parrisw]

Ya, I tend to agree with Lake on this one. Although, I would still check the usual suspects. Impulse hose, intake boot, I'd check the handle mounts while your at it too, the back one tends to get weak. The last 200T I fixed I went through 3 carbs until I got one that would run right.

 

[stihl86]

I wouldn't make any judgements without seeing the piston. When they are run lean, it starts showing up more toward the clutch side of the ex port. It doesnt take much to affect the idle. I would pressure test to check for air leaks, then install a known good carb.