Stihl 034 rebuild

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So I ordered a meteor piston kit for it. It was about my only option apparently staying with a 46mm isn’t popular. I think I’m going to do crank bearings and seals while it’s apart. Are there any aftermarket bearings worth using or should I just wait 2 weeks on the stihl bearings? Also I don’t have a case splitter do I have to have the one that uses the bar studs or will the big c clamp looking one work? I can tell this is becoming an addiction I caught myself about to pull the trigger on a running 038 super for 250$ on my lunch hour today. I just don’t know enough to know if that’s worth buying or not.
 
There is a tread....aproximately 2-4 weeks old about stihl 034/036....

Where one is describing how to get it appart and back together with dry ice and a torch....I was searching it for two days....but could not find it!

First goes bearing on a left side of a crank....crank must be cold out of refrigerator....then you heat seat in left halve.....press it in

Then you put right bearing into right halve (bearing cooled down....seat heated) and pressfit 2 halves together....

On a PTO side you have to check the right placement of a bearing.....it floats slightly....so that the oil pump will fit properly...
 
I think I'm the one that posted about using dry ice. The order of operations is important. I tried a few times on junk to figure it out. On the 034/036/360 the oil pump sets the bearing depth. I had trouble with just heat and a freezer getting the bearing to drop into the PTO case 1/2 against the oil pump. Dry ice is cold enough to force the issue. The second issue I had was there is too much going on the put the 2 halves together just using heat/cold. I made a tool to suck the crank through the PTO main bearing by pressing against the inner race. The clutch with a good selection of washers could be used for the same effect. I also had trouble getting the PTO seal into the bearing and onto the crank so I made a seal bullet to make it easier. Not necessary but sure helped. The key is to not beat on things with a hammer, use screw drivers, or put axial loads on the ball bearings. When I got my 360 back together and the case half bolts tight the crank ran in the center of the cases and ran free. There was minimal drag. The key was sucking the crank though the PTO bearing.

Bullittman


This was my other post:
https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/dolmar-case-assembly-tool.357977/post-7676076
 
Can you catch a fingernail on those and/or do they seem to be through the plating? Intake side is not as critical as ex side. If you do have any imperfections in the plating don't use acid on those spots, it will get underneath and eat away the cylinder under the plating.

Rather than steel wool I like to finger sand using wet/dry sandpaper and solution of dish soap. Try to stay away from too coarse of grit so you don't scratch things up.

Some pics of a 036 I got for free, it got straight gassed, piston was toast the cat concurred, cylinder cleaned up nice.

Last picture shows the 034/036 clutch upgrade kit with the larger bearing.

View attachment 969254View attachment 969259View attachment 969263View attachment 969268
Just make sure you get all the cat hairs off of everything. Things might get a little hairy. lmao :cool: OT
 
Now it’s time to play the waiting game. Ordered the bearings, seals, gaskets, and fuel lines from stihl yesterday. I have a case splitter and flywheel puller on the way as well.
 
Some of the parts and all of the tools came in today. So I got the cases split and they’ll go to work tomorrow to get ran through the parts washer while I wait for the bearings and seals to come in. All of the places showing bare metal are starting to get to me I keep having to talk myself out of having it powder coated.
 
Back to waiting for parts. I heated the cases and froze the bearings. The flywheel side went in perfectly. It just fell right in but somehow I screwed up the clutch side so I had to drive the bearing back out and now it has a thump to it.
 
This is the trouble I ran into doing mine. The PTO/clutch side is TIGHT. It took dry ice to get the bearing cold enough. There is a chance that the bump is just some dirt in the bearing. Try to clean it out really well. Washing it with lots of hot water is not unreasonable. Obviously as soon as its washed it needs dried w/ compressed air. When woking with bearings the goal is to not load the balls/races axially. Ball bearings aren't very strong in that direction. Hammers are even worse for them. If at all possible they need to be driven with the race where the interference fit is. This prevents loading the balls/races. The 034 uses the oil pump body to reference the PTO bearing. Have the oil pump body on the side case when installing the bearing. Here the local welding supply has both dry ice as well as liquid Nitrogen. The liquid Nitrogen is a bit excessive and I'm not sure if things can be damage from too cold or not. The Nitrogen would certainly get the job done but dry ice was more than sufficient for the saw I put together.

Unfortunately if the bearing doesn't clean up and still has a rough spot you'll need another new bearing. Hopefully it wasn't an OEM Stihl bearing that's in question :(. See if it clean up and try again.

Bullittman

Edit:
Large sockets and a large vice or some other clamps can be re-imagined into a makeshift press. Be cautious that the sockets chosen are an appropriate size and that they themselves don't get stuck. Review the order of operations on how the bearings, crank, and case halves go together. The goal is to minimize side loading of the bearings. Also, avoid putting any force through the crank. It risks knocking it out of true. If that happens its doomed. Should it be necessary to press a bearing onto the crank, use a plate to support the crank web on the side that is being pushed on. A piece of flat bar that fits between the crank halves works. Everything on mine dropped together with dry ice except putting the halves back together for final assembly. Use the clutch and washers to pull the crank though the PTO bearing. You should not need a hammer anywhere on this. There are lots of posts on 034/036/360 builds. I've got content in some of them as well as great information by others. Review them for insight and ideas. GOOD LUCK!!!!
 
Some of the parts and all of the tools came in today. So I got the cases split and they’ll go to work tomorrow to get ran through the parts washer while I wait for the bearings and seals to come in. All of the places showing bare metal are starting to get to me I keep having to talk myself out of having it powder coated.
Seals come in the gasket kit from stihl, and the kit is cheaper than just seals
 
This is the trouble I ran into doing mine. The PTO/clutch side is TIGHT. It took dry ice to get the bearing cold enough. There is a chance that the bump is just some dirt in the bearing. Try to clean it out really well. Washing it with lots of hot water is not unreasonable. Obviously as soon as its washed it needs dried w/ compressed air. When woking with bearings the goal is to not load the balls/races axially. Ball bearings aren't very strong in that direction. Hammers are even worse for them. If at all possible they need to be driven with the race where the interference fit is. This prevents loading the balls/races. The 034 uses the oil pump body to reference the PTO bearing. Have the oil pump body on the side case when installing the bearing. Here the local welding supply has both dry ice as well as liquid Nitrogen. The liquid Nitrogen is a bit excessive and I'm not sure if things can be damage from too cold or not. The Nitrogen would certainly get the job done but dry ice was more than sufficient for the saw I put together.

Unfortunately if the bearing doesn't clean up and still has a rough spot you'll need another new bearing. Hopefully it wasn't an OEM Stihl bearing that's in question :(. See if it clean up and try again.

Bullittman

Edit:
Large sockets and a large vice or some other clamps can be re-imagined into a makeshift press. Be cautious that the sockets chosen are an appropriate size and that they themselves don't get stuck. Review the order of operations on how the bearings, crank, and case halves go together. The goal is to minimize side loading of the bearings. Also, avoid putting any force through the crank. It risks knocking it out of true. If that happens its doomed. Should it be necessary to press a bearing onto the crank, use a plate to support the crank web on the side that is being pushed on. A piece of flat bar that fits between the crank halves works. Everything on mine dropped together with dry ice except putting the halves back together for final assembly. Use the clutch and washers to pull the crank though the PTO bearing. You should not need a hammer anywhere on this. There are lots of posts on 034/036/360 builds. I've got content in some of them as well as great information by others. Review them for insight and ideas. GOOD LUCK!!!!
like your idea of using washers with clutch to pull the crank thru
 
It must’ve been some dirt in the bearing I washed it out and it was smooth as it could be. So I finally got it put in and got the case halves back together. I froze the crank and I guess from where the bearing heated up from the case being hot I was able to just push it right into the clutch side. I was able to slide the flywheel side on enough to catch the case bolts and just slowly worked my way around the bolts until it was pulled tight. I hit a snag in my progress when I realized my meteor piston kit didn’t come with a wrist pin bearing.
 

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What size bar and chain should I run on this. I was thinking maybe a 20 inch but I have no idea if it’s too much bar for it. Also should I go with .325 or 3/8 chain pitch. I plan on opening up the muffler before putting it back together. Also the top part of my fuel tank handle was missing. Would it make sense to try and source the trigger. lock, springs and stuff through eBay or would a farmertech replacement be my best bet?
 
What size bar and chain should I run on this. I was thinking maybe a 20 inch but I have no idea if it’s too much bar for it. Also should I go with .325 or 3/8 chain pitch. I plan on opening up the muffler before putting it back together. Also the top part of my fuel tank handle was missing. Would it make sense to try and source the trigger. lock, springs and stuff through eBay or would a farmertech replacement be my best bet?
20" 3/8 is perfect on my 036. I go to 0.325 on my 50cc saws

Do you have other Stihl med bar mount saws so you can mix and match? Something to think about.....
 
What’s the easiest way to install this oil line. It snapped coming apart. I got a new one and attempted to replace it but as you can see from how rough it looks now I got a little irritated with it and I think I ended up damaging it.
 

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What’s the easiest way to install this oil line. It snapped coming apart. I got a new one and attempted to replace it but as you can see from how rough it looks now I got a little irritated with it and I think I ended up damaging it.
I had an idea to soak it in hot water to soften it up but unfortunately that ship sailed before the idea hit.
 

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