So today I picked up a new to me stihl 034 that needs some work. There’s a tag on it from a repair shop stating it needs piston and cylinder replacement. Are there any decent aftermarket kits or should I stay with oem? Also is there anything else I should be doing when I tear it apart? I plan on keeping the saw so I want to do it right.
Just get the OEM stuff. I've heard ok things about Meteor, but you still take a gamble, OEM works every time.
if you want to do it right, split the case and do bearings and seals while you're at it. Then have it vacuum tested to make sure there are no air leaks.
You can make a judgement call on splitting the case, if it looks like its been straight gassed and the rod and crank aren't cooked a piston and cylinder will do ya fine. if it has... yer looking at full rebuild
The carbs on some of the older 036's can be kind a doofy, there's a funky needle valve that goes bad, its replaceable, but it causes it to go lean/rich without much control