260 pro repair.. please help

[Robertesq1]

Hi guys... My 260 pro stopped working... It just cut of at full throttle and I sent it for a diagnostic and this is what I received:

The tech did the STIHL check list and discovered bad scoring on the exhaust side of the piston which indicates the wrong fuel mixture was used. When he looked at the fuel that was in the saw it did not look like it had any mixture in it. There also was scoring on the intake side of the piston which indicates debris was sucked into it.
So we do not recommend to repair the unit since the cost would exceed the value. The amount for the diagnostic was $38.50.
Please let me know if you want us to go any further on the unit, and if not do you want the saw put back together since we have to take it apart to do the testing. It probably be another $15 - $20 to put back together
Can anyone advise... Sounds like they are telling me the saw is ruined. please help.

Robert

 

[Magnumitis]

Its worth rebuilding. You can gets parts from guys here or have one of them rebuild it for you. Or sell or trade/put it towards another saw. Out of curiosity, does it have an adjustable carb on it or a fixed H one?

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[Saw Dr.]

For $38.50, ask to see the Stihl checklist. It takes 5 minutes to remove the muffler cover. If the piston is scored, you will probably have at least $150 into the saw to rebuild it yourself. That number could easily double or more depending what you find when the cylinder comes off. I'll pay the $38.50 shop fee if you don't want the saw.....

 

[machinisttx]

For $38.50, ask to see the Stihl checklist. It takes 5 minutes to remove the muffler cover. If the piston is scored, you will probably have at least $150 into the saw to rebuild it yourself. That number could easily double or more depending what you find when the cylinder comes off. I'll pay the $38.50 shop fee if you don't want the saw.....

I second the motion.

 

[tallfarmboy]

FIrst of all... I would ask the dealer what exactly they did to charge you $38.50. As stated above, it would only take 5 minutes to pull the muffler and assess the piston and cylinder. They are saying that you ran straight gasoline in the saw instead of the proper 50:1 fuel/oil mixture.
With that being said, I would get the saw back from them, clean up the cylinder with some muriatic acid and fine sandpaper (lots of threads on this), and put an aftermarket (Meteor preferred, or Hyway) piston in it. The MS260 Pro is a VERY easy saw to work on. If you don't have a T27 Torx Driver, invest in one and you can do all the repair yourself. If you have ANY questions, just post on this board, it will get answered very quickly.

Best of luck with the saw... that is a good saw that needs to be resurrected.

TFB

 

[nmurph]

Scoring on the intake is also symptom of a straight-gassed saw.

 

[NewToStihl]

FIrst of all... I would ask the dealer what exactly they did to charge you $38.50. TFB

It's the same way around here with the dealers I know. It's a base "troubleshooting fee" to cover the dealer for the time invested to diagnose the saw. It's true some diagnostics only take a few minutes, but others take hours (much easier to keep a single general fee). By the time an employee sits there to listen to the saw story (and all-too-often the owner's life story), gets it entered into their system and tag the saw they already have some overhead put into it. Then, a tech/mechanic will put time into the diagnostic. At that point a lot of folks will not bother moving forward with the repair if it's costly as is with the case mentioned above. So, when that happens all the time that could have been being spent on profitable actions was wasted. It's a business and they need to make money after keeping the lights on and bills paid.

All of the dealers I know explain this up-front so that the customer knows exactly what to expect and has agreed to the troubleshooting fee before work gets started. It's a tough pill to swallow, but still understandable for the business owner.

Reminds me of when I was younger and the first (and only) time I had a check engine light come on in my car and I took it to the dealer to get the code. Cost me $40 and they spent all of 3 minutes hooking up the scanner and reading the screen to me. Made me mad at the time at the time, but now I understand better how businesses operate.

 

[Kostas]

The diagnostic machine he used on your car had cost him money to buy it.It is very logical to charge you,no matter how much time he spent.The light on your car went away and you did your job,right?I am not judging you.Things working the same on all over the world,same here.I agree with you that is better to inform the costumer that it will cost him some money to check his saw,it is better to know from the beginning.

 

[NewToStihl]

Hi guys... My 260 pro stopped working... It just cut of at full throttle and I sent it for a diagnostic and this is what I received:

The tech did the STIHL check list and discovered bad scoring on the exhaust side of the piston which indicates the wrong fuel mixture was used. When he looked at the fuel that was in the saw it did not look like it had any mixture in it. There also was scoring on the intake side of the piston which indicates debris was sucked into it.
So we do not recommend to repair the unit since the cost would exceed the value. The amount for the diagnostic was $38.50.
Please let me know if you want us to go any further on the unit, and if not do you want the saw put back together since we have to take it apart to do the testing. It probably be another $15 - $20 to put back together
Can anyone advise... Sounds like they are telling me the saw is ruined. please help.

Robert

The other posts are correct, if you have the time and confidence you can repair the saw yourself - that is an easy model to work on. And, the folks here are great about answering questions, but make sure you search around first to see if your question has already been answered. Part of the prohibitively high cost of the repair at the dealer is that the new piston alone would retail for $95 and since they don't clean cylinders with acid you'd probably be looking at a complete new top end which would retail for $205. That's before the labor which could easily be $50-$70 per hour, so you can see how very quickly you'd be able to get a nice used MS260 Pro for the same or less than the repair cost.

The truth is that you won't know if the cylinder is still usable until you take it apart. Odds are that they cylinder won't we clean from the start, so you would need to attempt a cleaning with muriatic acid just to determine if its still usable. The guys here on the site seem to be able to clean up a lot of cylinders, but I've had very bad luck with them and typically don't find a good usable cylinder wall after cleanup.

If you go for good aftermarket parts you're probably looking at $40 for a piston shipped and in the neighborhood of $150 for a complete top end shipped. Of course, this is all assuming you don't need to replace any other parts like the needle cage for the piston, crank bearings, crank seals, etc....

 

[NewToStihl]

The diagnostic machine he used on your car had cost him money to buy it.It is very logical to charge you,no matter how much time he spent.The light on your car went away and you did your job,right?I am not judging you.Things working the same on all over the world,same here.I agree with you that is better to inform the costumer that it will cost him some money to check his saw,it is better to know from the beginning.

I don't want to distract from the thread intent here, but the same logic applies to the Stihl dealer. He probably paid for the tech to be trained, he bought the tools the tech used, he bought the bench the tech put the saw on, etc. The exact same argument applies in both situations. Dealers get bashed a lot and I was simply trying to defend this one - giving him the benefit of the doubt based on what information we do/don't know (maybe he's a crook, who knows?). If the OP took the saw in there for diagnosis he had to have known it wouldn't be free, and likewise the dealer should have explained there would be charges for diagnosis. Since the OP didn't state whether the charge was a surprise we simply don't know if that was an issue.

 

[Robertesq1]

Dang. Not sure how pure gas got into the saw. I mark my jugs.

 

[Magnumitis]

That sucks. I'd consider parting it out as well. Still curious about the carb.

 

[Robertesq1]

That sucks. I'd consider parting it out as well. Still curious about the carb.

Not sure about the carb. Were there different versions? This saw is probably 4 years old.

 

[Magnumitis]

Not sure about the carb. Were there different versions? This saw is probably 4 years old.

Many different carbs over the years. Does it have three separate adjustments? H, L, LA if not, and you do decide to rebuild it, you prob will want to put a wt194 on it or wt426

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[sunfish]

4 years old is not old. I'd fix it myself.

What price did the dealer give to fix? Just needs a piston and clean up or replace cylinder.

 

[GrassGuerilla]

The good news is, you know what caused the issue. That make it a simpler re-build.

Now it's time to decide what you want. DIY Stock re-build? Or send it to a pro and have it re-built and ported? First option is cheaper. Second option will be close to the price of a new saw, but will cut like nobody's business.

Option three, buy a nice used one and keep that as a parts donor.

 

[Robertesq1]

Guestimate is around $300 to repair. They will give me an exact figure later

 

[surfincr]

the 260 is very easy to work on i just finished 2 of them. as your location says northeast if you live close by i'd be happy to help you rebuild it.

 

[Whiskers]

Fix it yourself, you'll learn a lot about your equipment and future issues will be easy to remedy. I'd start with seeing if the cylinder is salvageable with the acid treatment. If it is, you might be able to get your saw back up and running with just a piston.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

I get dealer saws in all the time to redneck repair . Their cost to rebuild just a simple top end swap with OEM P+C and labor usually exceeds the cost of the saws new.