Post up a pic of the cylinder and we might be able to guide you into a safe way to save/recondition it. Did it have physical damage from a shattered piston of foreign material ingestion? Or just smeared aluminum transfer on the plating? If it wasnt straight gas or a very lean tune id want to be sure to fix why it fried. Ive had random good luck with ra dom makers. Meteor is best but too expesive to me tor cylinder kits. Pistons are fair and great quality. Economy Aftermarket topends are too much of a moving target to say one is good. Look around for a tecomic brand kit if you are dead set on a new kit. Otherwise some pics will tell if you can save the jug you have
I should be asking questions here... Cousin's not had it tore down yet, but isn't an internet guy (still with a flip phone -- not criticizing, it's a less stress path). So he asked me to find a cylinder/piston kit. I didn't start with symptoms, but his buddy followed up and gave me those. When I saw all the very inexpensive Chi-source paths, I felt too good to be true and thought I'd better ask some of you fellows. Neither cousin nor I are high skilled mechanics, past being part changers. He's had the 028 since new, same as the one I have of Dad's that was bought new at the same time (was looking up when built, looks like '79-'80 -- didn't realize they were that old). He'd never let anyone else run the saw but his restaurant running best bud, and they both are obsessive on the gas/oil/stabilizer for all their 2-stroke stuff (I'm the same way, only using pure gas also). Dad and cousin both went stihl on oil when the saws were bought (not saying it's better or worse than others, but they and I all ran it, and all synthetic since that came out). I'd be surprised if there was any improper mix, but there's always a mistake possible, I guess. He says his 028 acts like good compression and cranks easy when cold, seems to have less when ran at full speed a half hour, and then goes dead at idle and won't crank again till not hot to the touch. Dad's is doing the exact same, and I've gone from it being my favorite to using my 20yr old but low hours MS290 as the reliable runner. When I asked the older mechanic at the Coop on Dad's saw about compression, he' pulled it cold and was very skeptical of issues. I left it and said check it out, and if it needs a carb kit or anything, no issues on the money. He said no issues found when I came back, but I doubt he would run one 30min at load (would be hard to do that in a business and get everything else done). Would be some moderate number of hours on Dad's 028 or cousins, as both burned wood for heat. Ain't like a professional using saws, but 30yrs for Dad and 40 for the cousin and probably 100hrs each year with the saws with stove wood and storm-felled trees/limbs clean up on farms. So, cousin was told by a small engine mechanic that he goes to a lot that it could be renewed with a jug/piston/bearing kit. I'm wasn't savvy enough to promote or detract the path. I was wondering yesterday if a engine shop couldn't bore one of those cylinders 10-30 thousands and then can you get a piston that much over? I dug around today enough to see that it looks like you gotta re plate the jug, and it looks like there's folks that "renew" them (like these folks
https://www.usnicom.com/ChainsawCylinderServices). Cousin's pretty thrifty, and I'm not sure if he'd be sentimental about his saw or have a cut and run point on cost. I'm a little sentimental on Dad's saw, but have to have one running when I need it, with old/some-dead tree-lined pasture perimeter fences and cows on my side and the neighbors' side (so there's a point where I'd let it go or put it on a shelf in the shop to talk about), so I had interest in how all this goes. I appreciate any advice offered. If anything I'm thinking don't make sense, let know... I ain't proud and this is a great forum. I've been a lurker reading on here a lot and have also posted a small amount and got a lot of help.
