MS361 help, saw will not stay running!

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Will a clogged fuel tank vent make a saw lean out and burn up? I never thought about it...I figured it would just act like it ran out of fuel.
Anything that causes it to lean out can burn up a saw. A long while ago on this forum there was talk about saws being burned up by restricted Walbro felt fuel pickups. This may be one reason why Stihl stopped using them and went with a less restrictive design.
 
Anything that causes it to lean out can burn up a saw. A long while ago on this forum there was talk about saws being burned up by restricted Walbro felt fuel pickups. This may be one reason why Stihl stopped using them and went with a less restrictive design.
I had a MS462 Mtronic not too long ago where they had changed to a felt filter and the felt stopped the screen in the carb up.
 
I had a MS462 Mtronic not too long ago where they had changed to a felt filter and the felt stopped the screen in the carb up.
This sounds like a bad aftermarket filter where they used cheap/defective felt and/or failed to flush the loose fibers from the inside of the filter during manufacture.
 
Been searching the webs for help with my saw but the more I look, the more I am at a lost.

Some years ago, I went to use it after letting it sit for a while and if I remember right, it turned off when putting it on its side to cut into a tree. I cleaned the carb and put it back together and it seemed fine for a while, thought maybe it had trash in it. Well, I guess last year I tried to use it and it would not stay running. I maybe rebuilt the carb again but that didn't fix the issue so I bought an aftermarket Dukes carb I think. The saw would run with it on it but it just didn't seem like it would rev up like it should so I was never satisfied with it.

This year I knew we need to cut some wood to have some for our stove so I made it a point to fix this saw. I took the original carb and put it in cleaner, took everything I knew to take apart and cleaned it, sprayed carb cleaner in holes and even tried to push wire through holes. Needless to say, I put it all back together and crank it up and it seemed to run great. Sharpened the chain and I was ready to cut.

Saturday, I put the saw in wood and it ran good but didn't even make it through a log. At WOT, it just died. I could choke it and it would fire back up but once you go WOT again, it dies again!

After reading some things, some say the fuel line but I am pretty sure I replaced and the tank filter at some point, last year I guess. Reading some more, it seems like some said maybe the needle wasn't opening up enough at WOT and it was running out of gas so I took it out tonight and barely bent it to pull up the needle more so that it would get full flow. Put it back together and cranked it up. Seemed to be running good but I decided to hold it WOT a little longer and then it just died. Same situation that I have been fighting forever it seems like. It'll crank back up, run and then die again.

The saw is not beat up, wore out or abused by any means.

I'm just at a lost and really don't know what to do or check for. If I remember correctly, the Dukes carb did run on the saw, so to me that means that the fuel line is good, no ignition issues or fueling issues. I just didn't think it was as strong as it used to be so I wanted to figure out why the original carb will not work. Last I checked, I think one place had a Stihl carb and it was around $100 which is a fifth of what I paid for the saw. If it is in the carb though, I just don't know whatelse to change, clean, check or replace to make it run like it should.

It was cleaned and blown out, maybe didn't get it all of the way but I'm not certified chainsaw mechanic, more or less and a guy that does what he thinks is right or will go by a video.
L and H screws I think are set 1-1/4
Pretty sure I replaced the fuel line and filter in the last year or two but it had problems after changing those.
Put the plug to Winter mode tonight to see if that made a difference but it did not.
I rebuilt the carb with the gaskets a couple of times since it acted up some years ago but nothing has worked in fixing it.
For last 5 or so years, we only use ethanol free gas with the gray stihl bottle mix, performance xp or something like that.

Sorry for the long post and rambling if I have but I am so confused with this saw. Any help or ideas is appreciated, thanks,
Charlie
Check the metering valve on carb.
 
Back
Top