What exactly are you trying to do? There were several different tank assemblies and AF covers as well as airfilters. Tha AF has to match the correct version. Put up some pictures of the saw and back of the carb with the filter removed.
The saw starts and runs with the choke closed. It seems the master control is correctly pushing up against the AF choke lever.
The saw starts and runs with the choke closed. It seems the master control is correctly pushing up against the AF choke lever.
Turn the saw left side facing up, you should be able to see the airfilter base contact the carb throat and if it fits tight.
It looks like you are trying to put a "wide" filter on a saw that only takes the narrow one. As you have found out the "tall" tank vent gets in the way. You need to find a narrow filter for everything to fit correctly.
That air filter is NOT an air filter any longer and should be replaced.
I recently learned this lesson myself. Get the IPL, and than go look at each filter via the Part #. eBay always has photos. Ray Charles can see the differences; the filters (3 different), are notched for specific tank vent systems.
The choke shutter/flap does not always close tight on these saws, the 028 and 038 the same if the choke flap does not close completely the engine will still run with the choke lever positioned full on. Air is still bypassing the choke flap just enough that the engine will run but it will be very rich mixture going into the crankcase.
There is just enough space to see the back of the filter looking in from the left side. If you find the tall black tank vent is blocking your view then pull it out, it gives a better view plane. For a quick test on fitment I often smear some grease on the solid part, in this case the carb flange and then fit the airfilter to it, tighten the nuts, then remove the filter and check for grease transfer. Same idea as using Prussian Blue but that stuff is messy and really only needed for very tight accurate fitments, the grease method is good for this airfilter fitment issue.
Before resorting to gluing it try closing it manually with the filter off the saw in your hands and see if the flap actually lines up with the seat in the filter. If that is good then mount it on the saw and push the master control switch all the way down into the full choke position. Then use a small flat blade screwdriver like the tuning screwdriver, try inserting it between the master control lever and the toggle on the airfilter, if it will slide in rather easily it means the choke flap is not reaching full closed. I have needed to shim quite a number of the 026`s to get the choke to close completely, somewhere between 1/16 up to near 1/8" on a few of them. I just glue the appropriate thickness shim to the master control, it would likely work just as well glued to the filter but I cycle filters between flocked , mesh and felt to suit the weather conditions here.
Update.
