Stihl 034 AV woes.

[Bizzaro]

Hi to all,
New here. I bought a Stihl 034 AV last year. I saw one up on CL and did some research. It is supposed to be a real solid saw. Everything I read was two thumbs up. So I went to pick it up. (Summer temps70F) it Started right up. Ran pretty well but smoked a bit till it ran for a while. Shut it off. Started it up again. Same show, maybe less smoke. The guy (clearly a scammer now) said he mixed it 20:1. (2nd ignored obvious "somethings up here" smoking was the first) 20:1 Pretty absurd with the new modern 2 stroke oils we have now. 20:1 was like before I was born! I chalked the smoking up to the 20:1 mix. I got around to running it late in the Summer. I mixed it 40:1. Smoked a lot when I would first start it. It did run pretty well mostly, after a little tuning. But if it stalled it would start hard. I have probably only run 4 or 5 tanks of gas through it. Mixing 40:1 Sometimes seems to overheat a bit. I took it out the other day to get going on next seasons wood. It was a cold day, (20F) and stored out in the shed. When I went to the pull cord, it pulled so hard, I could barely turn over the engine. I mean really hard! So is this thing toast and a waste of time, or should I dig into it? Piston sets are cheap enough, but I don't want to waste time on a dead horse either! So you chainsaw wizards please, what are the likely issues/scenarios? Thanks in advance, My biggest fear and suspicion is the case is cracked somewhere and the chain oil is getting into the gas?
Bizzaro

 

[Mike Van]

Take the muffler off, look at the piston - If it's all scored, you'll know what you need. I remember 16 to 1 mix, there were no gnats of mosquitos around you in the summer -

 

[rd35]

My MS260 has historically, since new, been really hard to crank after sitting on the shelf for a long time. But as soon as it rotates a few revolutions it always smooths out and cranks, starts, runs like new. I think the oil residue gets real stiff on the cylinder walls after sitting for a long time and once the piston makes a few cycles up and down that film gets wiped clean. That's my theory anyway. I can only imagine a nice 034 with a good piston/cylinder and good rings would probably be even harder to crank than my 260. Also, check to make sure your pull rope is not cut off short. That makes one real hard to crank too.

 

[rd35]

Also, if your saw is smoking a lot....that's no indication of any serious problem with the saw. Based on what the seller told you, I would imagine the muffler is totally coated, inside and out, with excess oil from his oil-rich mix. So it will likely continue to smoke until you get it all burned out of the muffler. Whenever I do a rebuild I like to slop oil all over the cylinder walls and sides of the piston. When I cram that piston into the cylinder that oil gets pushed into the combustion chamber. On start-up for the first time I get a small puff of smoke ....but when I do the run-in on a test log it will run clean for a few seconds until the muffler gets hot...and then I turn the entire area around me into a huge blue/white cloud as I burn off all the oil that exited the cylinder on start up and coated the inside of the muffler. After all of that oil burns away (wide open throttle dyno run on a log) then the smoke is gone for good!

 

[lefturnfreek]

I run a tweaked 034 and you have a very dependable, solid saw if you repair it. I traded an old washing machine for mine originally 20 years ago.

Yes, 16:1 is a smidge high ....

Pull the muffler and look at the piston, compression test... maybe it just needs a carb kit cause it’s flooding.

Keep on ..... Running Loads !!

 

[Mustang71]

I think it's funny when people say 2 strokes smoke. When running correctly they do not smoke or smell like burning oil. 20:1 they might smoke. I've had scored piston saws that didnt smoke and ran fine. 4 strokes smoke when they run rich or burn oil. 2 strokes dont smoke when running normally. I run all my saws at 40:1 new or old. The 034 is a good saw. I prefer the older stihl saws. They tend to be cheap but you need some mechanical ability to get them right.

 

[Bizzaro]

Here

I think it's funny when people say 2 strokes smoke. When running correctly they do not smoke or smell like burning oil. 20:1 they might smoke. I've had scored piston saws that didnt smoke and ran fine. 4 strokes smoke when they run rich or burn oil. 2 strokes dont smoke when running normally. I run all my saws at 40:1 new or old. The 034 is a good saw. I prefer the older stihl saws. They tend to be cheap but you need some mechanical ability to get them right.

 

[Bizzaro]

Could a moderator please move this ti chainsaws for me? I would have thought it would be at the top of the list, but it is buried way down in forum topics. Video won't load. Here's some more pix. Running it smoke like v
Crazy at first. Calmed down some. It is fuel in the (everywhere) muffler burning off. Spark plug looks ok.

 

[Bizzaro]

Here ya go kids. And it was flooding out and hydro locking, that is why I couldn't turn it over to get it to fire! I got great spark, but its puking gas like crazy when it runs, even though it doesn't sound to bad when you(I remember to take the brake off!). Not used to a brake. My jonsereds 621 and49sp. No brake. I have not taken the muffler off yet. Maybe today. I have a video that I am trying to edit. To large to upload.g

 

[Mustang71]

Sounds like the carb needs cleaned or buy a cheap one off Ebay.

 

[Mike Van]

If it's been smoking like that for any time at all, the spark screen in the muffler [if it has one] has to be plugged. Just like a stovepipe, the more it shuts off, the more it builds up. Take the muffler apart, check that out.

 

[Bizzaro]

Continued in chainsaws, where it belongs.

Could a moderator please move this ti chainsaws for me? I would have thought it would be at the top of the list, but it is buried way down in forum topics. Video won't load. Here's some more pix. Running it smoke like v
Crazy at first. Calmed down some. It is fuel in the (everywhere) muffler burning off. Spark plug looks ok.

 

[Bizzaro]

Continued in Chainsaws, where it belongs. Same heading. New pix up. Can't get Video to play?