Considering a Stihl? Here's something to consider

[StihlyinEly]

If you don't normally perform routing maintenance on your automobile and other small engines, i don't see the point in learning how to fix a carb on a saw now. Some folks just aren't cut out for fixing things, and there's nothing wrong with that.

If you're ready to try, expect to take 3 or 4 hours to do with that dealer charges 1/2 hour to do. There are lots of little quirks and kinks to getting a carb off and on with everything re-attached proper, and you might have to do it a couple times at first.

Otherwise do this: buy carb repair kit. rip it down trying to remember the locations and order of operations of each hickie. then try to separate the parts without ripping the gaskets-why? Because sooner or later you'll want to open one and be able to re-use gaskets and practice makes perfect. pull H/L screws, remove needle/pivot assembly spray or soak with carb/brake cleaner blow dry/through with compressed air. clean gasket surfaces. if you find more than a tad of corrosion, you may want to pitch the carb or learn how to go deeper with disassembly and cleaning.

with everything as clean and dry as you can get it, reassemble using kit components where you can. the jam it back on the machine, hook it all up. make sure you got it all hooked up right.

engage your starting ritual.

hth

WRT rudeness. NO WAY JOSE! There are too many fine and friendly folks who will take my dollar for similar, if not better services-while treating me like a person. There are very few things in life over which one has so much control as where he spends his dollars. A rude person may get my money once, but they'll not get it twice-even if it costs me more to shop elsewhere. I live this, I'll do without before I'll pay *&^%%^&'s.

Those who are rude to their customers don't want customers. If they are rude to me, I leave and am thankful for the opportunity to seek out and find folks of better disposition. This is also why some shops have a backlog with other shops in the same area don't. Just like food, the best it at the front of the _long_ line my friend.

A cheap digital camera with built-in flash can make this whole reassembly process MUCH easier. Take lots of pics of each step of the disassembly. Load them on the computer. When you put the carb back together, do it at your computer or, if you have a laptop, bring the laptop into your workshop so you can refer to the pics.

If you opt for that option, remember it's best to use the "macro" option on the camera, which allows you to focus closer, and not get TOO close to the carb when taking the pics. Review each set of pics to make sure they are sharp, not blurry, before moving onto the next step.

 

[SawTroll]

So you called around to 4 dealers during a major snowstorm, and wanted to talk about getting warranty on a saw that was over a year old,
and needed a carb rebuild, and were not happy with how they responded to their questions..........

So you wanted to tell America about how they should not buy a Stihl, "OR THINK ABOUT IT".

Just be forthcoming and clear.

Not being rude, just realistic.......

Yes, but my Husky dealer fixed a 339xp that was 3 1/2 years old, 1 1/2 out of warrency, for free - it needed a new carb, and had a huge air leak as well (was fixed first - the booth from carb to engine of course).

The saw wasn't even bought from him, when new - but my 560xpg surely was! :msp_smile:

Some dealers just are great, others aren't! :msp_thumbsup:

 

[belgian]

Thanks to you bama for the suggestions of how I could have written better. Didn't want to draw it out at the first but you're right; it would have avoided some misunderstanding.

Someone mentioned the oil; since I got the saw I have been using fresh clean gas and "HP Ultra" oil sold to me by the dealer. With 2 “58 Willys Jeeps, gas doesn’t sit around and get stale.

As to who said what; it's hard to remember all the details. The northeast had had a big storm so it's understandable dealers could be backed up. But why go to a dealer who is frazzled and won’t give you the time of day when you might run into one who can have a civil conversation. Am I being unreasonable to try to find the best place to take the saw if I could find a place less backed up, and that treated me decently?

I asked him if anyone could take a look as perhaps I’m not doing something right and it’s different from the way my 026 starts. If he said Sorry, we’re too busy I might not have liked the answer, but that’s a civil response. But it was Absolutely not and there’s no way we can even look at your saw….. etc. in an irritated tone of voice. Maybe some would say that’s not rudeness, so I’d withdraw the word rather than quarrel about it.

The person at the company was not mean; he just didn’t seem to care. In fact one dealer number he gave me, the person was extremely polite and I thought Now we’re getting somewhere, until he told me they don’t repair chainsaws but he could give me the number of the place that does……. On the return call it was just the attitude that after I give you a couple numbers, I have nothing else to suggest. I honestly don’t think that if the saw had still been under warranty, things would have been much different. Perhaps that’s wrong.

I don’t want to create more problems as I’m glad to have the saw fixed.. Maybe it’s my turn to ask you guys a question. When your saw (or truck, or anything) needs repair and you check out a prospective shop and encounter a rude or angry person, is your line of reasoning He may be treating me like that, but I have faith he’ll respect my saw, treat it well and be honest with me about what it really needed? I admit to having trouble figuring that way.

Regardless of the circumstances (snowstorm, warranty issues, etc.), there's no excuse for a business to be rude to a potential customer on the phone. I have been in sales all my life and know what it takes to built a long term relationship with a customer, and in the end, your attitude and personality do represent the company you work for.

I can't blame the OP for taking his next saw purchase elsewhere, and am kinda glad he solved the problem himself. He's a happy camper and probably a better saw tech now, and the local Stihl dealer missed a service deal, no biggie maybe...but he lost also a new potential customer. Customer wins, Stihl loses all the way.

Moral of the story : A friendly voice on the phone is the first rule in customer service.

 

[belgian]

Hell Chucker that phone gets even better man. Old guy comes in one day with a 290, its fried. Didn't buy it from me. He took it back to where he bought it and they said sorry, its out of warranty. He comes to me with the saw and 4 bottles of mix oil still in the pack. He tells me his story of he only put two gallons of fuel through since he owned it, see I still have 4 bottles left. I look at the saw and it does look almost like new. I pull the bar and chain and look closely at the sprocket, no wear at all, saw obviously hadn't been used much. It is a few months out of warranty however. I go hold on, let me make a call. I call my man and explain the situation and nudge him with a you supply the parts I'll supply the labor and this old guy will be happy. My man goes ok, do it. The old guy was sitting right beside me when I made the call. I explained to him I just saved him 212.00 in parts and I'm going to do the labor for free, would had been a 1 hour labor, he's delighted, so I thought.

The very next day Stihl forward's me a e-mail they recieved from my customer. It states I'm charging him 212.00 in parts and 1 hour for labor and he feels he should be re-imbursed for all of that. I'm like what the f-k. Now I'm onto the old bas-tard, he's a crook. I call my man at Stihl and tell him what I'm gonna do, he laffs his head off while I'm mad as a hornet.

I get the saw done, call the old man to come get it. When he shows up to get his saw I got a letter waiting on him that I made him sign. It stated that he had falsely said in his e-mail that I was charging him for parts and labor. It also said I have recieved my saw back fully repaired and totally free of charge. I made the old SOB sign the letter and I sent it to Stihl. They thought it was funny but I sure didn't. The old guy and his e-mail made me look like I was screwing my own distributor, luckily they know me better than that.

Now get this, before the old guy leaves he tells me I'm glad to have found you and I'll be back. I replied well don't make a habit of it to let him know I don't want him back. Haven't seen him since and its a good thing. That bas-tard thought he was gonna get his saw fixed for free and pocket over 200.00 to boot, what a crooked ole SOB. Between telephones and e-mails ya gotta be carefull for sure, especially when your dealing with me, I know how to dial that MO FO too,:hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

I am kinda surprised you took that crap. You didn't have to have him sign a letter, because he could not produce a bill anyway, that your Stihl man obviously was ganna ask for sure. That's no customer, that was an obvious crook. If I had found out, I'd say "I don't deal with crooks...here's your saw back, unrepaired of course".

 

[Vibes]

There are some people who just have certain personality quirks that others don't get and I can see how a customer could think it is rudeness over the phone. We have a guy around these parts who I would describe his personality as dry. He probably didn't get layed much in his life, and you can see why when you talk to him. I have had more than a few people tell me he's a jerk, but he's not. Odd yes. Jerk no. He's actually a really good dealer for all his brands and has been around a long time.

What I find funny is all you guys on here who jump on the OP with this attitude that there can't possibly be a Stihl dealer out there amoungst the thousands who is a jerk off. And obviously the OP was trying to get something done for free. I didn't get that at all from his post. So what, he didn't explain his problem thouroughly, and may be was trying to get answers over the phone, but doesn't that go with the territory in any service business.

We had 2 Sthil dealerships in my area who were the first ones around. One guy was a total jerk. I'm good freinds with his nephews and his sister, and they hated him. We had another who I would desribe as a shyster. His family owned several small businesses and they all had the same reputation. I had dealings with both and they both had attitudes that I didn't like and that has always been my first impression of Stihl. Was I jumping to conclusions yea. But thats what you guys have done to jalan here.

 

[Fish]

Not jumping on anyone, but just think that I don't get too dang wound up just hearing one side of any story.

I am sure that there are countless rude people in the small engine business, believe me, I know.

But carb rebuilds are not warrantable anyway, so this whole post is kind of silly.

I have worked at many shops, and know how the customer/shop guy dialogue goes, and trying to explain to a customer that some thing
likely won't be covered under warranty makes the customer angry.

 

[BloodOnTheIce]

That's surprising. We always welcomed warranty when I was at the dealership and I tell you why-
It's repair you're pretty much guaranteed you're going to get paid for. Our shop was in a tiny little town with a severely depressed economy. When Lowes and Home Depot came-a-knockin' for warranty service contracts, we jumped on it. We could always beat the book-recommended service times by 15-20% or more and they always paid up without question. In fact, doing warranty for Stihl and Husqvarna is the hardest to get reimbursed for. They constantly question repair times and drag their feet to pay. Stihl averaged around 7-8 weeks and Husqvarna averaged 6 weeks. Lowes and Home Depot almost always paid within 48 hours.
Compare this to the little old man or woman on a fixed income that brings their trimmer or mower in, and then after you fix it, it sits in the back of the shop for months. By the time they come in to get it, you have to rebuild the fuel system again.

Warranty work, chain grinds, and bar repairs were the three things we made the most money on. New unit sales is actually not a money-maker at all.

That's funny because Stihl is much easier to deal with for warranty work than Toro, MTD, or any engine manufacturer.
They approve all warranty work within 48 hours, and get credited on our account within a week.
Of the 20 or so warranties I do a year, I haven't been denied a claim in over 3 years.
The entire warranty form online takes all of 5 minutes to fill out and easy, and user friendly.
And if the warranty is in a gray area like a month or two out of warranty I just call the tech services
guys, and plead my case for the warranty work.

MTD, Briggs, and HOP (Poulan/Poulan Pro) never pay for warranty work, and they make everything so difficult you spend an hour to
submit a claim for 30 minutes labor.

 

[bama]

All I was trying to illustrate was that a person might bring in something for warranty work and may have not purchased it at that shop. Although, I was always under the impression that warranty work was paid less than regular work. Don't know where I got that impression from, but nice to see it is not that way.

 

[Fish]

No, warranty work pays less, if you honestly look at the time dealing with the customer, the distributor/factory reps, especially if it is
not a cut and dry case, and of course the louder , squeakier wheels get greased after enough go arounds, but those go arounds take up a lot
of time and energy.

But carb rebuilds are not warrantable.

 

[WetGunPowder]

Just ask them to put it next to the phone so you can look at it-Then they get the hint!

 

[THALL10326]

I am kinda surprised you took that crap. You didn't have to have him sign a letter, because he could not produce a bill anyway, that your Stihl man obviously was ganna ask for sure. That's no customer, that was an obvious crook. If I had found out, I'd say "I don't deal with crooks...here's your saw back, unrepaired of course".

I woulda sent him packing brother Belgian had I known he was going to pull that stunt. He sent the e-mail the day after he left the saw with me, I had already torn it apart. What got me worked up was with that e-mail implying I was charging him for parts and labor made it appear I was ripping off my own distributor. I had just called them the day before and nudged parts out of them to help the old bas-tard out. I considered tossing his saw in a box, all in parts, along with a copy of his e-mail and calling him to come get it, yup I was a tad hot, the paint on the shop walls were blistering.
Then I thought nope, I'd rather make him sign a paper proving he was a lying SOB and send it to my guys at Stihl. So thats what I did. They were giggling at me for being so mad for they knew the e-mail was bogus to begin with. Even so him having to admit he was a lyer by signing that letter was good enough for me. He hasn't been back since and thats a good thing because I still got a few choice words for him, things l wouldn't say to the devil himself,hehe

 

[jalan]

Thank you

WadePatton, StihlyinEly; Thanks for the good sketch of how to proceed, and the tip about using the camera. I enjoy learning about how things work and fixing them so this is good. Fish; why not read the post before replying?

Sometimes we are at the cabins up in the country and I once stopped at a big Stihl dealer in the area. Didn’t buy anything at that time but I couldn’t get over how helpful and down-to-earth the guy was with people coming and going. I remember thinking – If I lived nearby, I’d like to do business here. Now nobody will get rich on my small business – couple of saws and a few packs of oil. But working as I do with young men, they get married and want to heat with wood and look for advice. Bet I steered hundreds of thousands of dollars toward trucks and woodstoves and equipment dealers over the years, and plenty away from dealers whose motto seems to be “The customer is wrong and needs to be told off.” So in my perspective, Belgium hit the nail square on; 110%

I do have to admit that when people move here from the west or south, we do often hear comments about how rude dealers are in general. They aren't used to it. When I go hunting with friends in Omaha, I'm amazed at how good natured the people at the farms and the equipment dealers are........I'm not used to it. One guy above said he'd rather spend extra and deal with someone decent, and I couldn't agree more. That's been our policy over the years, and is not going to change. In fact it's gotten stronger.

By the way, after a day of cutting today, the 260 ran perfect, so I am regaining some confidence that it’s fixed right.

 

[Fish]

Since I am the "Bad" guy, what was defective?

 

[Fish]

Or respond to any direct questions?

 

[Fish]

If it was any other brand, I would still be here, so do not obfuscate in that direction.

Yes, I read all of the vague posts, and did not hop on either side of the posse.

You refused to elaborate enough for anyone with any sense to make a judgement.

You wanted warranty on a saw that was 14 months old, and it was carb related.

You didn't get the response you wanted....

You made a post on this forum telling folks to "RETHINK" about buying a Stihl.

You are mad because I am not massaging your bumm...

keep it real.....

 

[Fish]

This whole thread is a totall crock of ****!!!!

You had a buddy out somewhere tell you how to futz a carb rebuild, and now the saw is running, so all you guys are morons, the Stihl company
are nothing but callous rude crooks, ETC, ETC>, and so on, and a lot of you guys want to go on blathering about these evil Stihl dealers
being rude...

But please guys, keep it real...

A cruddy carb that needs rebuilding is not warrantable, period. And a customer that has gone to these lengths.....Well.

His taking his fight to the web, well then all of his little "innocent" banter kind of voided.....

Sorry, just been there, and done that, ALOT!!!!

 

[WidowMaker1]

bad boys bad boys ,watcha gonna do ...watcha gonna do when fish comes for you ?? :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[jalan]

....

Wow; do you happen to have a dealership in CT?

What was defective? Read post #62

It was not during a snowstorm

I was not begging for warranty service. I was trying to get an idea of how long I would be without the saw.

There was NO “crud” or anything else in the carb.

I am not looking for a fight.

Actually, had I known that most of the readers of this forum seem to be pros, I would not have started in the first place. My wish was to alert new guys to a perspective they may not have (like I did not have).

 

[bigd74]

That's funny because Stihl is much easier to deal with for warranty work than Toro, MTD, or any engine manufacturer.
They approve all warranty work within 48 hours, and get credited on our account within a week.
Of the 20 or so warranties I do a year, I haven't been denied a claim in over 3 years.
The entire warranty form online takes all of 5 minutes to fill out and easy, and user friendly.
And if the warranty is in a gray area like a month or two out of warranty I just call the tech services
guys, and plead my case for the warranty work.

MTD, Briggs, and HOP (Poulan/Poulan Pro) never pay for warranty work, and they make everything so difficult you spend an hour to
submit a claim for 30 minutes labor.

my shop has always ben paid quickly by mtd and briggs polan ad husky w dropped because they dont pay.i'l agree mtd needs to streamline their warranty form.

 

[Fish]

Naw, guys... Sorry....

He just put the line in the sand......

I was just dumb enough to step on it...

I really want no trouble, but just a realistic picture, hopefully we will get one.

If we all step back and everyone thinks about it, and all of the nuances of dealership life is pondered.

Then the picture would be a lot clearer.

The last Husqvarna dealership I worked at, I almost got fired over a warranty problem from Lowes. Husqvarna actually called our dealership over a biatching customer, and the owner told the receptionist to "Give this one to Fish">>>>>

They patched it through to me, so I assumed that the owner approved of it all.

Hell that fiasco was 6 byears ago, and that sum##### is still parking in my cornfield......... He won't let it go.....

I even changed my name.....

It used to be "Brad".....

no seriously, let us all step back and look at the skyline.....