Several months ago my neighbor dropped by with a Stihl fs56rc that appeared to have very little use and he said he never wanted to see it again. He asked if I wanted it and I reluctantly said yes. He was headed to the ECHO dealer to buy a real trimmer.
I’m not a Stihl fan but yesterday I was cleaning out my barn and my curiosity got the best of me so I took it to my shop to have a look at it. I gave the starter a pull and nothing happened. It was not engaging so I pulled the starter off and the whole assembly was a mess. The inner spring was unwound and the whole assembly was a mess.
I should have thrown it on the scrap pile but instead I put some fuel in it and tried to start it with a drill. A few attempts and it started up and a bit of tuning and it ran pretty good.
The problem (and the reason I would never buy a Stihl product) is how difficult Stihl makes it to find parts. I wasted more time than this thing is worth but I would like to find the part if possible. I don’t know what Stihl was thinking but this starter has two springs. Is it supposed to be some sort of easy start system? It is the spring that is closest to the motor and it appears that the part of the spring that engages in the notch in the center has been bent into a shape that doesn’t work. I was hoping to find a picture of it online thinking that I could maybe bend this one into the correct shape but as usual with Stihl I can’t find a parts diagram or part number.
Does anyone know if there are other models that share this same two spring system? I looked on EBay for a complete recoil assembly but no such luck.
Anyone have any ideas? I know this is not much of a trimmer but it looks like it has hardly been used. I don’t really need it but if I could fix it cheap enough I would like to give it a whirl.
Am I pissing in the wind or is it possible that Stihl hasn’t discontinued parts for this model? I’m hoping I can find just the spring that I need and could probably get this thing going. Better yet, I would like to find out if the starter from another model that doesn’t have the “easy start” system would bolt on to this power head. Any ideas are appreciated.
I’m not a Stihl fan but yesterday I was cleaning out my barn and my curiosity got the best of me so I took it to my shop to have a look at it. I gave the starter a pull and nothing happened. It was not engaging so I pulled the starter off and the whole assembly was a mess. The inner spring was unwound and the whole assembly was a mess.
I should have thrown it on the scrap pile but instead I put some fuel in it and tried to start it with a drill. A few attempts and it started up and a bit of tuning and it ran pretty good.
The problem (and the reason I would never buy a Stihl product) is how difficult Stihl makes it to find parts. I wasted more time than this thing is worth but I would like to find the part if possible. I don’t know what Stihl was thinking but this starter has two springs. Is it supposed to be some sort of easy start system? It is the spring that is closest to the motor and it appears that the part of the spring that engages in the notch in the center has been bent into a shape that doesn’t work. I was hoping to find a picture of it online thinking that I could maybe bend this one into the correct shape but as usual with Stihl I can’t find a parts diagram or part number.
Does anyone know if there are other models that share this same two spring system? I looked on EBay for a complete recoil assembly but no such luck.
Anyone have any ideas? I know this is not much of a trimmer but it looks like it has hardly been used. I don’t really need it but if I could fix it cheap enough I would like to give it a whirl.
Am I pissing in the wind or is it possible that Stihl hasn’t discontinued parts for this model? I’m hoping I can find just the spring that I need and could probably get this thing going. Better yet, I would like to find out if the starter from another model that doesn’t have the “easy start” system would bolt on to this power head. Any ideas are appreciated.
