First, thanks to everyone who contributes this forum. It's a gold mine of info! I've read so many threads collecting troubleshooting advice on the issue I'm having with my Stihl 025, but haven't quite narrowed down the issue yet. It would be great if I could get the voice of experience to weigh on. Scenario as follows: I picked up a used Stihl 025 chainsaw, and it ran OK, perhaps not perfect, but was able to start, cut through some minor logs for the campfire, etc. Noticed it seemed to stutter and stall out when left to idle for very long, but OK, a minor issue for another day. Fast forward to today, and I was cutting up some larger diameter logs, around 15". I notice that it seems to bog down a little bit easily at wide-open throttle and not have as much top-end as I would expect. Quite a bit of smoke, making me suspect it was running a little rich, but it's a two-stroke of course, so it's hard to say without much history of using this saw. Suddenly, it stalls altogether, and I can't restart it. Full-throttle with the tip of my toe, partial choke and part-throttle, full choke -- nothing works. Coincidentally (or not?), it was also starting to rain, so I put the saw in the relatively dry garage, and take a break for 30 minutes, hoping that if it's flooded (fuel, not the rain), it'll restart a little later. No luck. After researching some online and on this forum, I saw some notes about the fuel tank vent being a potential issue, so tried loosening the cap and starting, which mostly just made a minor mess. I took the plug out, and it looked OK, neither particularly wet or dry. Checked the gap and it seems fine. Still wouldn't start. I noticed where the choke valve is, there is some gas coming back out from the carb itself, so it seems to be getting fuel in there already, no real need to test by dripping some in there manually. I took the plug back out, dried it off as well as the cylinder with some compressed air, put it back together, and it sputtered to life! Great! Maybe it was just flooded after all. Shut the it off with the switch, got my hearing protection and other PPE, walked back around the house, started it up again, made one cut (20 seconds or so at full throttle), kind of smokey, and it died again, and wouldn't restart. I realized the little tube that is the fuel tank vent just pulls right off, so I took that off in case it was blocked internally. Re-dried the plug and cylinder within practical limits, gas it full throttle with the switch in the normal run position, and it fired up enough to rev it 2-3 times, then it dies again. Situation repeats over and over. Will let it sit overnight and see how it acts in the morning, but I'm guessing from experience it'll start cold with full choke, partial choke, a little throttle, etc., then stall after a couple minutes of use, maybe so rich it's flooding out. Thoughts?
Secondary issue: It seems like the bar oil is ending up on the bottom of the storage case slowly over time, and not as well on the bar itself. Do I likely just need a new oil tube for that?
Secondary issue: It seems like the bar oil is ending up on the bottom of the storage case slowly over time, and not as well on the bar itself. Do I likely just need a new oil tube for that?
