Dealer told me that my muffler mod was worthless

[SMTM]

First off...Great site, I wish I had found this site before I bought my last saw

About two months ago my saw and an oak tree had a little disagreement, I was in a hurry and went bought a Stihl MS 390 to replace the damaged saw. After poking around here for a while I decided to tinker a little bit with my muffler in an attempt to get a little more out my saw. Muffler mod was no problem but when it came to adjusting the carb I was a little out of my comfort zone so I dropped it off at my dealer where I purchased the saw and he gave me the riot act...."Why would you screw around with the muffler" " Opening up the muffler will gain you nothing" " This is the last time I will work on your saw, since the warranty is no good since you tinkered with the muffler"

Thank god I was the only customer in the store....

He told me that it would be a week and a half before he would have enough time to adjust the carb, I told him that I needed the saw for the weekend and you would of thought I had asked him to cut off one of his arms.......

 

[blsnelling]

He's the one I'd be cutting off. Not only does he have an attitued problem, but he doesn't know what he's talking about!

 

[Metals406]

He's the one I'd be cutting off. Not only does he have an attitued problem, but he doesn't know what he's talking about!

+1 :agree2:

 

[gink595]

Yup, sounds like you need to start to learn how to tune a saw or go catch up with someone who can give ya the short and skinny about it

 

[stipes]

He's the one I'd be cutting off. Not only does he have an attitued problem, but he doesn't know what he's talking about!

+2 :agree2:

2 stokes are like us,,More air you take in the more you come alive...Your dealer is full of crap ,, and you can go back and tell him Stipes says,,your why people buys saws from box stores.....That would make his day!!!!

 

[Metals406]

That's why I like my Stihl Dealer... You tell them you muffler modded your saw, and they say, "Why stop there?" LOL

They've made bike-saws, snowmobile-saws, tweaked 090's... They know what's up. :greenchainsaw:

 

[harrygrey382]

Also, if you can handle doing the muffler mod, I'm sure you can tune the carb. There are heaps of good tutorials - most found by searching AS! Madsens has a good one too

EDIT - for starters http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=46721

 

[blsnelling]

That's why I like my Stihl Dealer... You tell them you muffler modded your saw, and they say, "Why stop there?" LOL

They've made bike-saws, snowmobile-saws, tweaked 090's... They know what's up. :greenchainsaw:

Now that's what I'm talking about!

 

[superfire]

What

that dealer does not want you as a customer if he issays things like that. my dealer will not even back talk me, if i want something my way my dealers says ok. my dealer is also very loyal to me because of my old saw parts collection. i have no qualms with asking my dealer for free help on projects like what your trying to do. the good dealers will warn you if the carb settings aint right and guide throu how to properly adjust a carb

 

[Zackman1801]

" This is the last time I will work on your saw, since the warranty is no good since you tinkered with the muffler"

So he basically just lost himself another customer because YOU do what YOU want with YOUR own stuff? Around here dealers will take any saw and fix it no matter what you do to it.

 

[nmurph]

here are a couple of links to carb tuning. i wish i could find you a decent dealer as easily.


http://chainsawr.com/?q=node/8

http://www.madsens1.com/saw carb tune.htm

 

[sawinredneck]

Your "old dealer" is an idiot!
1) It's YOUR saw and YOU can do whatever the :censored: YOU want to. Regardless of waranty or not. If it's out of waranty because you have modified it then so be it, it's a paying job now!

2) A muffler mod DOES increase power.

3) A muffler mod DOES increase the life of the saw. It runs cooler and cleaner with less carbon build up inside.

PERIOD!!! You need to find a new dealer.

 

[brokenbudget]

He told me that it would be a week and a half before he would have enough time to adjust the carb, I told him that I needed the saw for the weekend and you would of thought I had asked him to cut off one of his arms.......

soooo. did you leave the saw there to wait? i wouldn't trust an a$$ like that with any of my equipment. sounds like the kind of person that would just love to mess the thing up just so he could point the finger and blame you. seen it done.

 

[bigjake]

I would never treat a customer like that.Wow this guy must think he is god.

I would never buy anything from someone that talked to me that way.

 

[Dennis_Peacock]

If I got treated that way? I'd be SURE that not another soul would buy another saw from that dealer. Idiot!!!!

 

[brages]

The euro version of the MS390 has a higher listed HP... and a different muffler part number...

But I could see where modding your muffler would void your warranty.

 

[Brushwacker]

I would make a copy of this thread and give it to him , then tell him your not going to be his customer if he doesn't come here and take the advice.
All you need is a drywall screw to pull the limiter caps, adjust it , and reinstall limiter caps. Do the search thing on carb adjustment and limiter caps ( for removal) and become less dependant on the dealer. If in ? after your adjustment find some one with a good tach and check max rpms .

 

[SMTM]

Damn right!

It's time to learn how to tune a carb. It's so easy even an arborist can do it.

I turned the H screw CC 1/8 turn and checked the plug, it was a nice tan color. Took the saw out to the wood pile and ripped through a couple of 18" oak logs with no problem...The saw sure seemed to run a lot stronger especially on the lower end.

I really liked the sound the saw made when it was idling, reminded me of my small block chevy I had in my camaro back in high school.

 

[demographic]

This might sound like a silly question but I wouldn't mind knowing how the results of all these muffler mods are found and how you work out exactly what to do to get gains?

I know that on two stroke motorbikes (I have a couple of 500 two stroke motocrossers) changing the shape of the expansion chamber is very technical stuff indeed with computer programmes to work out the size and dimension of the cones in order to get good performance out of the bike, otherwise it can make the bike far worse than just using a bog standard expansion chamber, then theres testing with dynos to validate the supposed gains.
Its a HUGE subject and not one that the average bloke on the street can just have a go at unless he's prepared to waste a lot of money on getting it right.

How does that translate to chainsaws?
I can understand that they don't operate over as much of a revrange as bikes need to but how do you know that its better without using some kind of dyno?

Or is there a dyno that gets used to validate the testing?
Surely its not like a 16 kid year old tuning a bike and saying its got more power cos it makes more noise?

I assume theres some good reliable information regarding increase in power?

 

[Taxmantoo]

Demo, any 2 stroke motorcycle from the last 40 years comes with a better tuned exhaust than the flat can on a saw. Instead of altering the timing/strength of a reflected pressure wave in an expansion chamber, the saw muffler is just a can with much smaller exit than entrance. If you open the outlet on that can, it flows better.

Some guys have done before/after timed cuts in the same log and posted them on youtube, bsnelling especially. I think one time Brad posted stock, ported, and then ported with muffler mod vids for a saw (G3800AVS?).