Stihl 038 AV Super wont start anymore

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Pull the recoil and re gap the coil with a business card. Could def cause your symptons.

Just tried regaping the coil, thought it helped, but sadly didnt once i put the spark plug back in :(

maybe a clogged pulse line...or the fuel filter had a clog in it that worked its way into the fuel line when it started before and completely clogged it and or the carb,,

even if the piston is completely dry, without the plug in it, it should still spin fairly freely..there will be some friction of course..but if its as hard as your saying to pull on the starter theres something else wrong. and that should be the first hurdle to jump.

once thats done troubleshoot the fuel problem

It does spin freely, with a little friction, with the spark plug out, which i would think is a good sign.

Meteor may have discontinued 50mm 038 pistons, stihl has? Try ebay, but don't go chi-com. Italian tecomec is as good as oem.

You can covert to a 52mm magnum. Do a search. Several of us have done that route and oem parts are still available.

One more on pistons. I've heard good things about Espian. The greek guy on ebay has them.

Thanks for the info, ill check it out. I dont know if stihl still has them or not, i was just saying i guess stihl doesnt have an online parts finder, you have to go to the dealer.

Ive gotten it so i can pull the cord all the way, rapidly, still not as smooth as it was, but i can do it. Sadly it still doesnt start, which makes me think its a fuel problem. Either there is somehow still a large amount of fuel in the cylinder, which is impossible cause ive had the airfilter, spark plug and exhaust off for more than a few days now, or fuel is not getting to the engine.

The other day i went to just dump the fuel out just to see if i could start it, if there were fumes in the cylinder and make sure it wasnt just dumping gas into the cylinder. While i was doing that i noticed it was at like 1/3 of a tank, which is wierd because when i first had this starting problem, i dumped the old fuel out and filled it up with fresh stuff, so i dont know where all that fuel went...

I took the carb off, didnt seem like there is much to clean there, but i did spray some carb cleaner through it and such. How can i check if gas is getting to the engine/carb, im used to float bowls.
 
I took the carb off, didnt seem like there is much to clean there, but i did spray some carb cleaner through it and such. How can i check if gas is getting to the engine/carb, im used to float bowls.

Crank it several times on choke, pull the spark plug out and see if it's wet or dry.
 
i just took a little video to try and show you how it sounds, it sounds a lot better in the video than in real life, but gives you an idea.

 
Sounds like plenty of compression..

Assuming it has spark as you stated ...but just to be sure pull the plug, connect the wire to the plug and gold the electrode end of the plug against a bare metal non painted part of the saw and pull, you should see the spark jump the gap in the ectrode.

1. if no spark then you got an ignition problem, which requires more troubleshooting a probly parts too..if you do have spark


1.Disconnect the fuel line to the carburetor..
2. use some starting spray in the intake of the carburetor
3. while your pulling have some one spray just a bit ..you should get a pop or momentary run.
(do not let it run on starting spray for more than 1 second or two, all your trying to do is see if you get a pop or a momentary start..run too long on starting spray and itll seize the piston.



6. Then hook the fuel line back up..put gas in the tank
7. with choke on
8. pull till you get a momentary start, then it will die cuz the choke is on.
9. choke off , throttle lock on
10 Try to start again... if it starts it will rev up a bit cuz the throttle lock is engaged, just blip the throttle and the throttle lock will disengage and it should idle
11. if it starts then dies when you disengage the throttle lock your idle setting is too low, restart and turn it in about 1/2 turn at a time till it stays idling.
12. If the above gets it running for a bit then it dies and wont start again or gets hard to pull over
13. pull the plug and see if its really wet then its flooded and a carburetor problem
14. if it gets hard to pull again then its flooding to the point that its severely flooded and you need to rebuild the carburetor

Stuck open needle valve.. would cause flooding condition
Bad or torn diaphragm.. cause no fuel or flood condition
Bad pump.. Missing or damaged pulse line.. could cause no fuel or flood condition

the hard pulling just sounds like a really healthy compression number but its hard to tell from the video if something else is causing it. sometimes the under side of the clutch area will get really packed with wood chips and could cause friction
 
Without causing offence, you need to pull that saw over properly. You need to pull it through the compression and yes, if you are half hearted about it, the 038 WILL bite you! Even if they have been sitting, my 038s will usually pop on the second or third pull on choke and then run on the next pull. Starting the 038 is very different to starting a wee saw, particularly if you have been used to an easy start variety.
If you keep pulling the saw over with the choke on you will flood it. After a few pulls with choke on, move the start switch up one position from choke to the intermediate/fast start position and crank it over.
 
Yes, remember i sent pictures...

whoops sorry missed those.

P/C don't look too bad, piston skirt has some wear, rings are not stuck.

Try a thimble of gas in the carb and see if it pops with a clean dry plug. If so it's fuel related or has bad vac leak.

To check spark open a plug up ~ 1/4" gap. If spark will jump, coil is most likely OK.
 
Got to be a typo.

No typo. Jumping a plug gap under compression is harder than just grounded on the cyl. You want to test it?

This is the same I do on my 1940 Ford 9N tractor. It has original 6V + ground electrics, points. If coil/ign is good it will jump 1/4". Check out yesterdaystractors.com 9N 2N 8N forum

Think a Stihl coil can't do that? Unless a weak sister is pulling the recoil
 
Not sure,,, but did you try a new, proper heat range plug,,, Plugs can fire out side the cylinder,,, but may be weak or shorted and not fire installed,,,
 
Without causing offence, you need to pull that saw over properly. You need to pull it through the compression and yes, if you are half hearted about it, the 038 WILL bite you! Even if they have been sitting, my 038s will usually pop on the second or third pull on choke and then run on the next pull. Starting the 038 is very different to starting a wee saw, particularly if you have been used to an easy start variety.
If you keep pulling the saw over with the choke on you will flood it. After a few pulls with choke on, move the start switch up one position from choke to the intermediate/fast start position and crank it over.

I know how to start it properly, and i did try that, hence why i first got on this forum. When i first got this saw it would start right up, no hard, unsmooth pulling, not it is hard and not smooth. And i am aware that some saws are hard to pull, just trying to figure out why and how mine all of the sudden became hard to pull and wont start. If you read from the start you will find out all that i have done, and all that has been suggested to me. No offense taken
 
just some friendly advice.. when you pull to start the saw, pull it just a bit to get the slack out of the starter and let the starter engage the fanwheel then pull ..when you just pull on it..the slack
hits the starter pawls/claws and starter ring really hard and eventually it either rip the face off the starter ring or possibly break on of the starter pawl thingies.
 
just some friendly advice.. when you pull to start the saw, pull it just a bit to get the slack out of the starter and let the starter engage the fanwheel then pull ..when you just pull on it..the slack
hits the starter pawls/claws and starter ring really hard and eventually it either rip the face off the starter ring or possibly break on of the starter pawl thingies.

I dont know if i was doing that in this video, but yes i usually do, do that, with all of the things i own. Thanks
 
Good news! I probably shouldve started with this, no pun intended... starting fluid. I didnt have any and i didnt want the make a trip to the store just for starting fluid, but i finally did. Assembled the saw back up, minus bar and chain and air filter, sprayed some starting fluid in the inlet, gave it a good yank and it popped to life. It didnt have any fuel in it, so it died. I put some fuel in it put the choke on and gave it a few yanks until it wanted to start, turned choke off and yanked it and it roared to life. Now I did have to hold the throttle a little to keep it running, but that also could be because its 8 oclock at night, in the middle of winter, and its less than 10 degrees out, but i see that as a success. Tomorrow, when its daylight and a little warmer ill do further testing as to if i need to adjust the carb. I dont understand why it just took a little starting fluid to get it starting again...

Side note, the whole reason i took it apart, like i said before, was to see if oil was coming out of the oil, and it is, which is good news. Ill have to see if the bar is allowing oil to get to the chain.

Thanks to all for all of the help, i really appreciate it!
 
Good news! I probably shouldve started with this, no pun intended... starting fluid. I didnt have any and i didnt want the make a trip to the store just for starting fluid, but i finally did. Assembled the saw back up, minus bar and chain and air filter, sprayed some starting fluid in the inlet, gave it a good yank and it popped to life. It didnt have any fuel in it, so it died. I put some fuel in it put the choke on and gave it a few yanks until it wanted to start, turned choke off and yanked it and it roared to life. Now I did have to hold the throttle a little to keep it running, but that also could be because its 8 oclock at night, in the middle of winter, and its less than 10 degrees out, but i see that as a success. Tomorrow, when its daylight and a little warmer ill do further testing as to if i need to adjust the carb. I dont understand why it just took a little starting fluid to get it starting again...

Side note, the whole reason i took it apart, like i said before, was to see if oil was coming out of the oil, and it is, which is good news. Ill have to see if the bar is allowing oil to get to the chain.

Thanks to all for all of the help, i really appreciate it!

Welp that sounds like good news..from the pics the saw looks pretty nasty, i would tear it all the way down except for splitting the cases and give it a good cleaning. Can be done in sink or bath tub with a brush and degreaser. Replace fuel line, impulse line, intake boot and anything else that you may find that needs replacing. Would be a great learning experience also and to get familiar with your saw. Its all a pretty easy procedure.
 
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