About to dive into a couple STIHL 362 rebuilds. Help!

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

T.Bird

ArboristSite Lurker
Joined
Oct 9, 2021
Messages
42
Reaction score
45
Location
Wisconsin
IMG_2327.jpeg

Greetings! I snoop around here every once and a while when I’m looking for answers to various questions that arise in my work as a production arborist. You guys are great! So here I am… finally making an appearance as a registered user and begging for your help:

There are these two Stihl 362s with bad motors just collecting dust in our shop. I am not entirely sure what is wrong with them yet, but my boss claims that the pistons/rings/sleeves are bad. He has purchased the necessary engine rebuild parts for them and had told me that if I manage to successfully get them running again, he would give me one of them. Sounds like a good deal to me! Actually, it sounds like it could be a lot of fun! I like to think that I am pretty mechanically inclined and I have a LITTLE bit of two-stroke engine repair experience, but this would pretty much be a new venture into uncharted territory for me.

I am starting my journey here hoping you folks could provide me with some advice, guidance, encouragement, love, support, and maybe point me towards any available resources out there that might help me with the project. Thanks!
 
These might help, just take your time and do it right or you might end up breaking something. I did a crank replacement last year on one of these and it wasn’t that bad, hardest part was trying to get the wiring seaport without breaking the little connectors lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
FWIW, I found that a complete top end rebuild of a Stihl 362c was much easier than the 441c I struggled to save. Rebuilding the 441c was an abomination by comparison. I was successful in both cases but I doubt I would ever again rebuild a 441c M-tronic.

They’re not that bad! Did a couple of those, one being a 441 M-tronic Arctic and this one was a bit challenging but still worth it.

Have a 362 under the shelve as well so I’ll be interested to see how this goes. Please post some pics when you go along.

Also, don’t just slam on new parts, look for the fault first. Could just be faulty wiring, those 362s are known for that.
 
FWIW, I found that a complete top end rebuild of a Stihl 362c was much easier than the 441c I struggled to save. Rebuilding the 441c was an abomination by comparison. I was successful in both cases but I doubt I would ever again rebuild a 441c M-tronic.
That's reassuring. Thanks!
 
Also, don’t just slam on new parts, look for the fault first. Could just be faulty wiring, those 362s are known for that.
Yeah... good point. Honestly, I am now getting a little more intimidated by the diagnostic project that I suddenly have in front of me then that actual repair work itself. Troubleshooting is hard!
 
Yeah... good point. Honestly, I am now getting a little more intimidated by the diagnostic project that I suddenly have in front of me then that actual repair work itself. Troubleshooting is hard!
No need to be intimidated, it's not rocket science ;) just need the proper tools. Here's the service manual, it has every step detailed
 

Attachments

  • ms_362_service-manual.pdf
    6.2 MB · Views: 26
I'd stay clear of this rebuilding crap. Not unless you are willing to go to far greater lengths then you might expect. Unless you know the history of the saw, there can be costly discoveries along the way. To many people abuse their saws, and aren't even aware of it. And even if aware might not share all the information that might help you. Screw it. Let them rebuild it themselves.
 
pull the clutch drums and look at the crank before ordering a single part. 261 and 362s are known for wearing the crank where the clutch drum bearing rides
 
Back
Top