Bar oil...in the gas tank

[buckthorn]

I hope I'm not the first one to such such an idiotic thing, but this morning, yes, I did it. I couldn't start my always-reliable Stihl MS 250. Kept trying and it just wouldn't fire. Never happened before. Long story short, I realized that I had accidentally put the gas mix in the bar oil receptacle, and the bar oil into the has tank. Ugh! I dumped both tanks and filled them up correctly, hoping that maybe if I could get the engine to run enough, it might clear itself by "burning out" the oil and all would be well. It ran ok for abut 10 minutes, but now it dies after a minute or two. Maybe ten times I restarted, ran it as hard as I could until it died, and then repeated. Now I'm not so sure whether this is going to work. Has anyone else done this? Is there any hope of clearing out the engine this way, or are more drastic measures needed (meaning probably going to the shop to clean the carbs or some such thing)?

 

[rupedoggy]

The old "oil in the fuel tank" problem. Try disconnecting the fuel line to the carb, squirting carb cleaner directly into the line and reconnect. Then run the saw and spray some into the carb while it is running. Might work, worth a try.

 

[WhisperingCreek]

I have done this a few times. I think most cutters have at least once, so don't feel too bad.
I think I always caught myself before I ran the saw.
It might be worth dumping the gas again and trying again so you have closer to the right oil ratio.
I would think it should clear up once all of the heavy oil gets through the carb.

 

[jackjcc]

Pull the carb and replace the fine screen I would bet it is plugged with debris and oil. I would recommend against the carb cleaner idea though, it doesn’t play well with the oil in the mix fuel.


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[RED-85-Z51]

Echo reed valve saws have the tanks reversed...front is gas. I see a few a year...i dump the bar oil out, top it with fresh mix and dump the gas out the oil tank and fill with oil. Usually 5 or 6 pulls...smokes more but never had to go deeper than that on one. Bar oil is so heavy the carb wont draw it in.

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[Bruiser1]

No biggie just dump out the oil put fresh two-cycle gas that will dissipate the oil white smoke a little but you'll be all right
Just don't put regular gas in and straight gas it

 

[Wood Doctor]

Bruiser1 in Post #6 has it right. That usually always works. It might take a few smoking runs to get rid of it all. Lots of smaller Echo saws were built with the fuel tank in front and the bar oil in back. It never bothered me because I was careful and looked before I leaped. Not everyone does that.

 

[Brushwacker]

I've had them suck the oil in the carb and needed to take the top and bottom off the carb and clean the oil out of the carb. Not always, usually fresh gas would wash it out without disassembling the carb. I'd flush out the tank again, pull the gas line of the carb, make sure no oil is in the line, spray little carb cleaner or wd40 in the carb fuel inlet and throat and try starting it again. If u can keep it running put it under load until it cleans out good.

 

[Yukon Stihl]

i love buying dead saws with bar oil in the gas tank.
Easy fix,easy money

 

[Wood Doctor]

i love buying dead saws with bar oil in the gas tank.
Easy fix,easy money

I got two Homelite saws in for repairs that suffered from this problem. Both were bought by the new owner for practically nothing at an estate sale. I flushed all the tanks out and started over with new oil and fuel, tuned them both up, and he had himself two good-running saws.

 

[ironman_gq]

Might need a new spark plug if it burned a lot of oil.

 

[pioneerguy600]

It will clean itself out if the carb screen is not plugged already. Have seen more than a few saws with this problem that were dropped off as non running saws to be fixed if possible.