Old Stihl 041AV

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Hello all,

I inherited a Stihl 041 AV from my brother who was a tree cutter when he lived up here in the Northeast. It's been sitting for about 5 years with gas in it. The old gas melted the fuel hose and gummed things up pretty good. I was told by one mechanic not to take apart the gas tank and just work through the fuel feed hole when replacing it. I got the old filter out and what I could of the hose but a lot of the old hose is essentially fused to the inside of the gas tank. Will this effect the fuel mix? I tried using needle-nose pliers to remove it but it has the consistency of putty.

Took the carburetor out and rebuilt it with a new kit. Cleaned up all the lines... I can get the saw to start but it will only idle for about 5 seconds... a bit longer with the throttle open. If I give it full throttle gas sprays out of the choke hole of the carb. Is that normal? Does that mean it's flooding? There's also black soot coming out of the muffler.

I've been trying to research how to adjust the idle adjustment screw but one thing I'm not sure of is where is it's default position?

Yup, obviously I'm not too experienced with this stuff so any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks much.

 

[redneck51587]

I would take the tank off and clean it out... Make sure u put perma seal or some kind of gasket material on the mating surface before reinstallation or else it will leak. As for the carb... I use the one and a half rule... Meaning turn the screws in all the way... Then back them out one and a half turns. Try to run it and adjust them from there. You want the low adjustment to be just enough to keep the saw running without moving the chain. And the high... Just hold the throttle in and turn it up til it runs fastest just before it dies out. Then you have things close but i usually turn the high down maybe a quarter turn from WOT. Good luck... Oh btw... Is that an 041 or an 041 farm boss?

 

[NORMZILLA44]

Yeah good luck, and keep us posted. I inherited a 041 super. It is real clean, but I need to replae some line's, and hose's as well.

 

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I would take the tank off and clean it out... Make sure u put perma seal or some kind of gasket material on the mating surface before reinstallation or else it will leak. As for the carb... I use the one and a half rule... Meaning turn the screws in all the way... Then back them out one and a half turns. Try to run it and adjust them from there. You want the low adjustment to be just enough to keep the saw running without moving the chain. And the high... Just hold the throttle in and turn it up til it runs fastest just before it dies out. Then you have things close but i usually turn the high down maybe a quarter turn from WOT. Good luck... Oh btw... Is that an 041 or an 041 farm boss?

Thanks Red, I really appreciate the advice. I'm going to fiddle with it some more today and try different settings based on your suggestions.

Not sure which model it is. Says 041AV on the top cover, and "Made in West Germany" on the side.

Here's a pic of it with the 25" bar. I also have the 18" bar for it.

View attachment 209689

 

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Redneck, thanks for the advice. I went out and made the adjustments you suggested. It started to idle more and more so I let it sit for about an hour. Went out and just tried it again and now it's running!! Problem is it's running full throttle and the only way to stop it is hit the shut off switch. The idle adjustment screw... does that ever seat fully? Seems I can tighten and tighten it forever. Is that my problem? Do you need to let it out more?

Making progress!!

P.S. I replied to you about whether it's a farm boss or not and I included a pic. Guess it needs to get approved. The jist of it is I'm not sure if it's a farm boss. The original Stihl bar is 18" which I have in the shed but it currently has a Sandvik 25" on it that's been on it for as long as I can remember my brother having it.

 

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Ok so I'm quitting for today but I wanted to give an update. I'm very excited because it seems I can get it idling now and that's a HUGE improvement!

I trimmed back the idle adjustment screw and that stopped the chain from spinning full throttle. I let it warm up a little, opening and closing the throttle. Everyting was working and I was really excited! So I go and test it on a small log. As soon as the chain hits the wood the motor starts bogging down so I quickly pull off, rev it up a few times and try to go at it again... motor bogs down again and stops. I couldn't get it to start up again so I let it sit. After about 15 minutes it started right back up but with the same results when I actually tried to cut with it. Could my adjustments be off? One thing I noticed I did wrong was I turned the low adjustment screw only about 3/4 turns instead of 1 1/2. Could that be why I needed my idle adjustment so tight to get it started?

P.S. I've made 2 other replies before this but they said they needed moderator approval so not sure why this reply went through? One of them had a pic of the saw since I'm not sure if it's a farm boss or not. Anyway Red, I really appreciate your help!!

 

[redneck51587]

It sounds like you're getting close! Just play with it and you'll get it figured out! you should have one Hell of a saw there!