Problem with Stihl 015 bar/chain alignment and chain sprocket cover

[JamesReed]

Whenever I put the chain sprocket cover over my bar and chain and tighten the nut it does not hold the bar in the correct alignment position. As the nut begins to really tighten , back of the chain sprocket cover moves away and prevents it from flush at the very back near the muffler. This results in the bar/chain not fitting flush or flat and cause a misalignment with the sprocket. This puts the chain is in a bind and will not move . I do have the tension in the hole in the bar correctly. I guess you could say that it just seems not to fit correctly. Anything suggestions I can look for. I do know it is the old 015 that does not cover the muffler. Thanks

 

[sedanman]

Take the bar off and look at the case where the bar stud is installed. I have seen 015 cases crack there and there is no easy fix, pray it isn't craked otherwise it's a parts saw.

 

[West Texas]

take a look at the studs that hold the chain cover on; and see if one of them has worked its way out a bit. These both need to be flush with the 'tank assembly unit or it will cause your cover to go on at an angle.

 

[JamesReed]

Take the bar off and look at the case where the bar stud is installed. I have seen 015 cases crack there and there is no easy fix, pray it isn't craked otherwise it's a parts saw.

Well, this is unbelievable and just my luck. When I looked at the bar stud it was somewhat crooked thus causing the sprocker cover not to align correctly when the nut is tightened. When I took the inside plate off to unscrew the bar stud it was screwed into the metal of the saw body itself with a thick wire that was wrapped around the threads. I had to unwind and unwrap the thick wiring that was screwed around the bar stud The hole(has faint threads) goes all the way back into the oil tank. In fact if I turn the saw up oil comes pourling out. I sure had "no idea" that was the way the stud was helt in the metal hole. Needless to say after tearing the thick wire up to get the bar stud out the hole, the hole is now much bigger than the bar stud. Have you seen anything as such and if so... do you know if there is a fixable solution? Needless to say I believe I am in worse shape now than I was before I unscrewed the bar stud. Thanks for any advise you can provide.

 

[sedanman]

That 'thick wire' is likely a heli-coil that someone used to repair stripped out threads with, not absolutely perfectly either. Stop where you are and have either a machine shop or a dealer look at this and give you advise. Without seeing the problem, I cannot tell you how to fix it or if it can be fixed.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Yup, helicoil bastardation if ever I saw one.


They had to drill out and tap the hole for the H-coil and they drilled into the oil tank, wasnt really anyother way to do it really but now its going to scare prospective fixers away.



New helicoil, some green locktite(680) applied liberaly, let it sit overnight she'll be good as used.


A keensert (keenan insert) would be a better option but they require more space to use and Im not sure whats behind the side in question.

 

[SmithEC]

It's possible that that hole is supposed to go all the way into the oil tank. I can tell you that if you pull the forward bar stud out of a 460 the hole does go all the way through to the tank. You can drain your oil right through it.

Those bar studs are something that I definitely wouldn't mess with with anything other than a torque wrench and a stud puller. I'd bet there's been more than one operator take their sprocket cover off and put the nut on the stud and wrenched it down, leaving themselves with the problem you're stuck with now.

I really hope you can fix this. That's a heck of a way to find yourself stuck with a bad saw.