034 went belly up. Got questions

[msmith]

034 I bought in 91 went belly up on me. Shop said the cylinder and rings were scored bad. New piston, rings, bearings, and sleeve, $375 and I will also be needing a new sprocket, bar and chain by summer. So I am looking at around $500 to bring it up to snuff. A new 362 is $710. Whadda ya think? worth it to rebuild or go new? I currently have a 461 and an 025 to get me by for a bit. Was also possibly thinking of replacing it with a 441 if I went new.

Thanks in advance

 

[drf255]

I wouldn't fix at that price.

You need to figure out why it scored FIRST.

The seals are likely bad. Most likely the cylinder is salvageable.

You could buy a Used OEM bigger 036 jughere for around $75, a meteor off Definitive Dave, and make th saw run better than before.

If you don't find out what scored it first. You'll be in the same place in a week and $115 poorer.

 

[czar800]

You could rebuild it yourself cheaper than that. There's a lot of arboristsite sponsors that have everything you need and there's a lot of guys here that would help with the details.

 

[msmith]

Thanks for the info guys. Sounds like a DIY project for this winter.

 

[Mad Professor]

You won't need many tools to take it apart, and minimal time, to have a look at the piston and cylinder. Well maybe some time if you clean it up first, and you should, before taking apart. You may want to pull the clutch and flywheel before taking off the top end so you can get at the seals. You'll need a puller for the flywheel which can be had for ~ $15.

Post some pictures of what you find and people here will help.

Besides getting the piston/cylinder fixed I would invest in a gasket/seal kit, fuel/impulse hoses, and carb kit.

Not sure how far bar is gone but you might be able to true up the rails and salvage that too. Rim sprockets are cheap and you always should have a few chains. Save the old chain for cutting stumps.

As mentioned a 036 top end will fit if you can't use yours and then it will run better than before (more power). Probably get another 20 years out of a great handling saw.

P.S. a lot of dealers just want to sell you a new saw and are piss poor in giving good service.

 

[drf255]

I forgot to add,

NEVER GO BACK TO THAT DEALER AGAIN.

Now I'm done.

 

[67L36Driver]

Yup, a max investment of 150 in parts will render you a like new 036(ish).

Got an 034 with roasted top end on my bench now.

 

[msmith]

P&C appear to be toast. Now what to do. Decisions, decisions.

OEM 034 p&c $203 from a dealer
036 Meteor p&c $130
OEM used 034 jug and meteor cylinder $105 plus or minus

 

[burnses]

I would seriously take a shot at clean up your original cylinder. The mastermind technique is very effective at just that kind of damage. There is a thread on his procedure....I make a reasonable bet that cylinder will clean up and work well. Being a saw from 91 a total rebuild should be in order. But most folks will tell ya to figure out what happened first. A pressure vac test would be the best place to start.

good luck

the can

 

[fordf150]

looks like a low hour piston so i am going to assume bottom end is good but may need seals. try cleaning up the cylinder first and if that fails decide whether you want to spend the money on oem or not. If its a clean saw and you like it i would go OEM.

Price a 036 P&C from the dealer. if your going to spend the money you might as well upgrade while your in there. 036 cylinder is a bolt on deal with jsut 2 minor modifications that even a novice can accomplish. IIRC the 036 oem cylinder kit is just a few bucks more than a 034. just did one for one of my customers. the 036 cylinder option goes for AM or OEM

 

[Brettl]

I would go with a new Meteor p&c. Caber makes some of the best aftermarket rings. On a saw of that age you might as well put bearings and crank seals in while you have it apart.
IF you need a bar, there's many aftermarket bars that are much less expensive than Stihl. I emphasized if because it's very subjective. What my local dealer wants to tell me is worn out and how many years of firewood cutting my " worn out bar" has on it may be two different things.

 

[msmith]

It's getting a total top end massage. piston, cylinder, rings, bearings, seals, gaskets, carb or carb kit.

 

[Brettl]

Im glad you'll be doing your own repair. Unfortunately, a lot of people would pay that high repair bill or buy a new saw. Seems like there's a real niche for small engine repair shops with no brand loyalty. I've seen several pop up here in the last couple years.

 

[Big_Wood]

I would seriously take a shot at clean up your original cylinder. The mastermind technique is very effective at just that kind of damage. There is a thread on his procedure....I make a reasonable bet that cylinder will clean up and work well. Being a saw from 91 a total rebuild should be in order. But most folks will tell ya to figure out what happened first. A pressure vac test would be the best place to start.

good luck

the can

it's actually not his technique. he just brought it to the masses of AS. i was taught to clean cylinders up like that back in 2000. 9 years before MM was a newb asking questions here. lol although i'm very sure it has been done since plated cylinders were put into production which was a very long time ago. i like to use a variety of techniques depending on cylinder condition.

 

[Sparkysparks9]

I'd be willing to bet, that cylinder will clean up just fine!!

 

[drf255]

That cylinder will likely clean up.

A member has an OEM 034 jug for sale in the TP right now IIRC.

If you wanna do it on the cheap, clean cylinder, use a meteor piston, find out why it scored in the first place, and be done.

If you wanna go 036 (which I would), ask for an 036 jug in the TP. My bet is that you'll find one in the $50-75 range. Add a meteor piston and be done.

You can sell that jug for a few bucks as is or cleaned up. The general rule is that the lower displacement jugs on models that easily accept larger jug are nearly worthless. Most want to upgrade to more CC's.

 

[dsell]

Good used 034 cylinders have been easy to find on Ebay, not so much on 036.

 

[msmith]

OK, how scored is too scored. Here it is, if you can see it. I used muratic acid diluted 50% and a scotch brite pad first, then emery cloth. 320, 400, 600, repeat. Done this for about an hour. If I can't salvage it, I think I may have scored a jug from an 034 super locally.

If nothing else, I got the saw pretty much torn down. I haven't halve the case yet, all the large parts and covers are cleaned and stored in a bucket. Small parts and screws in an egg carton and labeled. Took lots of pics along the way.

 

[msmith]

A little better pic maybe.

 

[beaglebriar]

Looks pretty good from what can be seen in the pics. As long as there's no scoring above the ports I'd use it. Did you sand by hand or with a mandrel? Only asking because I have a cylinder to clean up and haven't tried the Mastermind (or whoever the hell came up with it) technique yet.