Stihl 023 Bogs In Large Oak - Go Narrow Kerf?

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Either of these are best cleaned with non-chlorinated brake cleaner from the inside out. If you see pin-holes through it after cleaning then it is time for a new one. The dome style used to be pretty cheap ($5).
I have run into saws with the air filters so badly restricted from varnish the saw ran like puke. Soon as lifting the filter off the saw it would rev and sound fine. The filter looked clean.
 
Which air filter version do you have? A photo would help. The older one is a front/back snap together 2-piece. The newer style is a single piece dome. Either of these are best cleaned with non-chlorinated brake cleaner from the inside out. If you see pin-holes through it after cleaning then it is time for a new one. The dome style used to be pretty cheap ($5).
Dome filter. Still not too much more expensive here.
 
Thanks, but not for one tree trunk being cut as a favor to a neighbor.
Is that really the only time you think you'll need a good chainsaw? I mean maybe it is. But it’s hard to imagine unless you live in an apartment in town or something
 
Ah, I used a brass brush and the screen looks pretty good but I can hit it with the torch to see what happens. I can't imagine that there is more flow through the screen sieve than the exterior louvers. I need to keep the screen for safety reasons.

Hey Snap , does the open area of your three louvers equal .25 square inch or more ?
My 2.56 cubic inch 42 cc saw runs great with .25 square inch open louvers .
Scott
 
i have also seen saw dust get under the carb cover on the diaphragm side and prevent its full movement cause similar symptoms
This brings up a good point... This saw is definitely old enough to benefit from a carb rebuild with an OEM kit.
 
This brings up a good point... This saw is definitely old enough to benefit from a carb rebuild with an OEM kit.
Perhaps, but it starts, idles and accelerates reliably. I am a huge fan of Seafoam (as you suggested) and it has resurrected many motorcycles each Spring without tear downs, so that is on the list if other measures don't improve the top end performance.
Is that really the only time you think you'll need a good chainsaw? I mean maybe it is. But it’s hard to imagine unless you live in an apartment in town or something
Bought in '97, cleared our oak filled lot to build, and served for storm maintenance since, so yes, I am sure. I have a great saw and actually it's even smaller. No desire to upsize anymore and the effort is to actually make things lighter.
 
Hey Snap , does the open area of your three louvers equal .25 square inch or more ?
My 2.56 cubic inch 42 cc saw runs great with .25 square inch open louvers .
Scott
Good question. The short answer is probably yes.
I figured that the inlet to the muffler can is about .75 square inches, the horizontal transfer plate inside the muffler at about 65% of that, and the outlet of the muffler can is also about .75 square inches, but it has a screen, so a wild guess that perhaps that cuts the outlet area it in half. The louvers might be about ,27 sq. in. or 36% of the inlet to the muffler.
 
Thanks all for the suggestions and education. Will be getting back out there next week to see how it goes now.
 
Good question. The short answer is probably yes.
I figured that the inlet to the muffler can is about .75 square inches, the horizontal transfer plate inside the muffler at about 65% of that, and the outlet of the muffler can is also about .75 square inches, but it has a screen, so a wild guess that perhaps that cuts the outlet area it in half. The louvers might be about ,27 sq. in. or 36% of the inlet to the muffler.
While the screen is definitely restrictive you will notice that the area is significantly increased on either side of it to maintain the flow volume.
 
He's what I have done: Took a chance on a 2" longer bar and new oem Stihl chain. The chain is the one spec'd for the saw but the cutters are visibly significantly longer than the chain that was on there. The air cleaner element was swapped for a new one. I took a shot at adjusting the carb. Low speed jet was initially set midway between lean and rich falloff points but there was a noticeable initial bog when the throttle was cracked. A bit of minor adjustment fixed that and made snappy response. Then the high speed jet was set with a tach to a few hundred under the spec'd max rpm. The result of that was that the saw pulls the longer bar and is much improved with much more enthusiasm cutting the large oak. There are a few things that might indicate that the tuning is not quite on. If I am not bearing down on the bar there is a bit of four stroking in the cut. Also the spark plug is showing some tan but also some darker gray on it after running for about an hour. Finally, the idle is sometimes inconsistent running a bit slow on occasion and a bit fast on others. Sometimes it seems fine and in no case does it cut out.
Any opinions on the tuning would be appreciated.
The other thing I noticed is that there is a bit of burned oil smell whereas the newer saw on the same fuel mix does not.
I will get around to a compression check when I have down time.
 
Dont worry about the compression check. Its likely fine. A bit of 4 stroke is ok out of the wood, it should clean up in the cut. Your likely a tad on the rich side. Not a bad thing. The idle issue may not really be an issue per say, I've had a few older stihls and husqys that just wanted to idle a bit off from time to time. Could be indicative of needing a kit for the carb. The oil smell imo is nothing to worry about. Old saw just doing what old saws do. Glad to hear it perked up for you.
 
Dont worry about the compression check. Its likely fine. A bit of 4 stroke is ok out of the wood, it should clean up in the cut. Your likely a tad on the rich side. Not a bad thing. The idle issue may not really be an issue per say, I've had a few older stihls and husqys that just wanted to idle a bit off from time to time. Could be indicative of needing a kit for the carb. The oil smell imo is nothing to worry about. Old saw just doing what old saws do. Glad to hear it perked up for you.
There is a bit of 4 stroking IN the wood when I'm not leveraging down hard.
 
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