Stihl trouble starting

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gbsk

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Sep 22, 2018
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Location
South Bend,IN
I have a Stihl MS290 chainsaw that a friend gave me. I am having a lot of trouble starting it. 3 chainsaw mechanics said it was fine. One guy said I need to push down the decompression valve located at the top of the saw. I looked everywhere and did not see one. Otherwise I tried to start it this way.
What I do is grab the handle, be sure to depress the safety switch on the top of the handle. Then I grab the trigger and push the vertical selector switch(stihl calls this the master control switch) on the saw, down to the bottom (fully choked) if it is cold. If it is warm move the selector switch up one position. Put the saw on the ground with your foot in the trigger handle. Put your left hand on the wrap handle and your right hand on the starter rope. Pull the starter rope slowly until you feel it engage. Then once you hear a pop, if you had a full choke move the selector switch up one notch. And keep cranking until the saw starts.
Why and how can I get this to start?
 
The 290 does not have a decompression switch/button. The mechanic that told you that, should be fired.
Been running a 290 for over a decade. Sounds like your doing it right. Full choke, pull till it try's to start, Once it tries to start on full choke, DO NOT pull it again on full choke or it will flood. Once it pops, move the choke to the start and pull again. It should start.
Make sure the air filter is clean. If I let the filter get dirty it is a little harder to start. Meaning I have to pull a few more times. You should choke it no mater what the temp is. Stick a fresh plug in it, in case that plug has issues. Sometimes mine starts real easy sometimes it takes a few more pulls.
 
The other guys use the "throw" method. I tried it and it did not work for me. Is there a secret? I think that method works so the pulling is faster. I did get it running a couple of weeks ago. It ran great for 5-10 min. and then stopped. I could not get it to start. Now the rope will not even pull out all the way.
 
I read about a method that works pretty good for me. I don't recall where I read it, so I can't give the author of that post full credit.

Anyway, here it is. Put it on full choke. Pull the starter chord slowly about four times. The idea is to not have it fire at this point. Then put it on warm start and pull the chord seriously to start the chainsaw. Usually one or two serious pulls will start the chainsaw, or it least it worked for me when starting from a cold start.
 
I put mine on full choke, give 2 or 3 strong pulls till it try's to fire off. Once it try's to fire DO NOT pull it again and move it to run then 1 or 2 strong pulls and it fires rite off. If the air filter is dirty it may take a few more pulls.
 

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