MS 660 magnum top end rebuild kit?

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treeroot

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Seems to be lots of options.. I don't need muffler.. Just jug, piston, rings, gaskets..

I see they make 56mm piston/jugs.. Are these better then factory? I am not an expert, but I thought facotry was 53mm.

What tools do I need? What size is that torx I'll need to thread into the head to unscrew it?

Saw is used on an alaskan saw mill

Thanks!
 
There are a LOT of options- some great, some good and some not so good.

The so called 56mm big bore kits from Asia- while cheap- will gain you nothing over the original and quite possibly run worse than the original bore size OEM cylinder and piston.

Original bore size was 54mm.

T27 Torx is the size you need for most anything MS660.

If you intend to continue milling with the saw- OEM is your best bet, Meteor next and Hyway if you must- this is my opinion- I am sure others will jump on and tell you the exact opposite and rave on how their 56mm big bore can outstrip an 088 on a mill, in my own experience- this is not the case. You have to form your own opinion, but milling is hell on chainsaws compared to occasional bucking with short bars.

Next question is, are you entirely sure the original cylinder cannot be saved? Many can- it just takes some work to get rid of all the transfer from the piston to make them good again- they can look beyond saving, but under the muck- they are still gold.
Then you have to know why you came to the position the saw needs a new top end- why did it fail? You need to find that out and correct it before you replace the top end and have it do the exact same soon after.
 
There are a LOT of options- some great, some good and some not so good.

The so called 56mm big bore kits from Asia- while cheap- will gain you nothing over the original and quite possibly run worse than the original bore size OEM cylinder and piston.

Original bore size was 54mm.

T27 Torx is the size you need for most anything MS660.

If you intend to continue milling with the saw- OEM is your best bet, Meteor next and Hyway if you must- this is my opinion- I am sure others will jump on and tell you the exact opposite and rave on how their 56mm big bore can outstrip an 088 on a mill, in my own experience- this is not the case. You have to form your own opinion, but milling is hell on chainsaws compared to occasional bucking with short bars.

Next question is, are you entirely sure the original cylinder cannot be saved? Many can- it just takes some work to get rid of all the transfer from the piston to make them good again- they can look beyond saving, but under the muck- they are still gold.
Then you have to know why you came to the position the saw needs a new top end- why did it fail? You need to find that out and correct it before you replace the top end and have it do the exact same soon after.

Thanks.. I'll go for 54mm.

I just pulled it all apart. The cyclinder isn't too bad.. Feels baby smooth except a tiny tiny 2 spots where the rings mashed into it. What's best way of trying to get it off to try to save it? Emry cloth?

The saw is second hand from an arborist who sold his stuff off. A friend of mine. I got it for like 125$ and used it to buck wood for 4 years. I just started milling with it. I knew when I got it that it was a bit worn. But for bucking wood it worked fine, even for milling.

Why it all of a sudden blew up? Not sure.
It was a fresh jerry can of mix- 40:1. I've mixed this in this can at this ratio many many times. I used stihl 2 stroke oil as always.

I did recently poke some holes in the muffler and take out the spark arrestor. But I adjusted the carbs properly. I have a digital tach that I use. I milled a bunch of wood with it since I did the muffler work and had zero issues.

Brand new spark plug and air filter. Literally 10 mins old when the saw just died. I was able to get it going once more fairly easily since I didn't know why it died, but then it died again. Came home, had good spark, no fuel issues and so I pulled the muffled off and saw the damage. 75 psi.

The boot between the carb and head looked new.

I never use the decompression button, but maybe it had a vacum leak? I will be putting a plug in when I get it going again.

I could throw a new top end kit and have it pressure tested..
 
Photos of these two tiny spots the rings "mashed into it" would be good- sounds a bit more like you might have had a bearing let go and caught it as it came through a transfer?
Photos of the piston and damage areas on it, photos of the cylinder internals- or we are all just guessing.

If you have a weak point in a saw- milling will exploit it and expose it. Might be an air leak. might be heat, might be dull chain, might be tuning, might be mix, might be mechanical failure- without evidence its just guess work.

The saw is ex tree service, ex friend and now in use for milling. Personally I would be giving it a top to bottom refresh at this stage and starting up again with a basically "new" saw- like split case, bearings gasket and seals type refresh, all the rubber components and the new QUALITY top end if needed- don't cheap out on any of it. Sure, it will cost- but you will have a known quality saw at the end of it all.
 
You mean the wrist bearing? Don't think so, it was all intact when I took it apart. Or are you saying a bottom end bearing?

Chain was just sharpened. I cut one side of the log, not a plank, literally first cut of the day. Saw ran fine, not hot, not runnig wierd or anything when I used it to mill about 1.5 months ago.

Now that I think of it, when I used it 1.5 months ago I put a new air filter and plug in it. I never used it after I did that until today, but I know I fired the saw up right after I put the plug and filter on and it was very hard starting. Started great before the new plug and filter.

Don;t think it was mix.. 40:1 is what I run and I went out and looked in the garbage can and found my 2 125ml oil bottls and the jerry can had exactly 10 lites.

I'll take the cylinder to the dealership tomorrow and see if they think I can clean it up and reuse it.. they are pretty good to deal with.

I will take into consideration your suggestion to rebuild it. I have a couple months off coming up so wouldn't be a bad idea. I have a 460 I can mill with in the mean time.
 
THe picture in the cylinder that looks worse is the spot you can feel a bit of bump when you put your finger instead. The picture is 100x worse that in looks with my eyes. I'll see if I can get a better picture
 
Hyway has a very good kit meteor also cross is not bad oem is good they will all have different timing numbers unless ported oem has the safe numbers but with base gasket delete and open up muffler oem will mill all day but as Bob said not matter the cylinder it's not gonna out mill 880
 
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