Stihl 028 super av

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acarpenterdad

I like Husqvarna chainsaws...
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I've got an old stihl 028 super av. I believe its a 1982 model. I did some repair work on it last year. Rebuilt carb, new coil with plug wire, new impulse and gas line, stripped it down and cleaned it good. I got it to run for maybe 30 min. And then nothing. It wil fire it i give it a shot of starter fluid. Took it to repair shop and they said piston is shot. Now i'm learning about pressure and vacuum testing as well. I guess my question is how do i evaluate if this saw is worth working on (I plan to do it myself) ? So many variables that i know little to nothing about and i don't want to sink $$$ into it if its not worth fixing. Thanks!
 
I've got an old stihl 028 super av. I believe its a 1982 model. I did some repair work on it last year. Rebuilt carb, new coil with plug wire, new impulse and gas line, stripped it down and cleaned it good. I got it to run for maybe 30 min. And then nothing. It wil fire it i give it a shot of starter fluid. Took it to repair shop and they said piston is shot. Now i'm learning about pressure and vacuum testing as well. I guess my question is how do i evaluate if this saw is worth working on (I plan to do it myself) ? So many variables that i know little to nothing about and i don't want to sink $$$ into it if its not worth fixing. Thanks!
Heres a pic i had handy.
 

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Definitely worth fixing but it depends on your budget. There is plenty of after market options. I would replace the seals and manifold boot also.

EDIT: check your inbox
I aim to fix it. I'll just get parts as i can and learn as i go. What " seals" do you mean ?
 
I aim to fix it. I'll just get parts as i can and learn as i go. What " seals" do you mean ?
You should take it to the dealer (I know) and ask them to do a leak test. That will tell you if if needs crank seals, bearings or head gasket or leaking lines. My dealer charged me 15$. If it needs bearings and seals instead of just bearings, or there are some dry rotted lines, it’s quite a bit more complicated and pricey because the case halves will need to be split. If the piston and cylinder are bad only it’s a 30 min job. The only problem is pistons and cylinders normally do not just fail for no reason, so a leak test is a good idea. It would be dumb to burn up a new piston or cylinder just because you never fixed the root cause
 
I suspect the rings are gone along with the piston. So you need a top-end rebuild. I have rebuilt several of these saw with complete success, so they can be saved. A dealer will likely charge you no less than $250 to do it or you can do it yourself for less than $100. Parts are still available. Take it from there.
 
We need to see a picture of the piston through the exhaust port. I rebuilt my super fairly cheaply. But no since in throwing money at it that you don't have to. I would say at this age anything rubber would be due for replacement.
 
I suspect the rings are gone along with the piston. So you need a top-end rebuild. I have rebuilt several of these saw with complete success, so they can be saved. A dealer will likely charge you no less than $250 to do it or you can do it yourself for less than $100. Parts are still available. Take it from there.
Good, i just hate throwing a fine tool away if i can salvage it!
 
I will post
We need to see a picture of the piston through the exhaust port. I rebuilt my super fairly cheaply. But no since in throwing money at it that you don't have to. I would say at this age anything rubber would be due for replacement.
I will post A pic tomorrow evening. Thanks !
 
I will post
We need to see a picture of the piston through the exhaust port. I rebuilt my super fairly cheaply. But no since in throwing money at it that you don't have to. I would say at this age anything rubber would be due for replacement.
I will post A pic tomorrow evening. Thanks !
 
I posted 3 other pics. I'll do it again. This site is slower than molasses
 

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The piston is most definitely scored and the cylinder probably looks the same. The saw is no doubt worth rebuilding but if you can't/don't want to do it yourself then it will be expensive.
i will do it myself, with help from you fellers !
 
The rings are not shown in the Pics, but the piston looks to be shot, likely from being straight gassed or run too lean. Entire top end (cylinder kit) is in order. I seldom can replace the piston and rings only without including the cylinder.
my son did run a partial tank of straight gas through it a couple of years ago. 028's are running $250 to 300 for one that runs on ebay. do you think repairing this one should be much cheaper if i do the labor ?
 
The rings are not shown in the Pics, but the piston looks to be shot, likely from being straight gassed or run too lean. Entire top end (cylinder kit) is in order. I seldom can replace the piston and rings only without including the cylinder.
i reposted them.
 

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