Stihl 361 not starting
- Thread starter Sparky
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StihlFroling
Only the Best.....Type A
Sounds like something simple being overlooked. I would verify tester accuracy if you can. Dump the gas out that you ran on yesterday if its still in there and check it. To check the flywheel you HAVE to pull it. The key only aligns the timing , the taper is what hold the flywheel on. I highly doubt it you shearded the key. but to check. Just loosen the flywheel nut but not all the way off. now hold the flywheel in a safe manner and hang the saw so you can TAP the crank, they usually pop real easy. Now fully disassemble. I just did one yesterday.
On my 361 I found it likes more fuel than what ive read here in some cases. I do have a muffler mod. my H is at 1.3-1.5 out. It was at 1-1.1 peaked. Yes i can get more rpm out of it, but the more fuel I gave it, the harder I can lean on it in the cut with no bog or drop in rpms. I was cutting up a big hedge tree today that I dropped last year. The more I use my sexty one the more Im impressed by how it eats wood. Running SunocoGTX 98octane.
Good Luck
On my 361 I found it likes more fuel than what ive read here in some cases. I do have a muffler mod. my H is at 1.3-1.5 out. It was at 1-1.1 peaked. Yes i can get more rpm out of it, but the more fuel I gave it, the harder I can lean on it in the cut with no bog or drop in rpms. I was cutting up a big hedge tree today that I dropped last year. The more I use my sexty one the more Im impressed by how it eats wood. Running SunocoGTX 98octane.
Good Luck
Sparky
Woods Bum
I dont really feel like I have over looked anything I went through a elimination process as I would with anything i'm working on.The compression is reading 130 that stands out to be the problem to me.I also used two different testers and both yielded the same result,I know the gas is good because I used some of the same gas in my other saws and weedeaters the past couple of days.I will agree these 361 are great saws I am very pleased with this one.
Probably a bad carburetor. See my "Dirt Cheap Carb Fix" thread. If you try my solution and that fails, I'll buy your saw for whatever price below $400 that you think that your MS361 is worth. Good luck, Sparky.
Sparky
Woods Bum
So you think this saw should run with 130lbs of compression?I dont think i'm having a carb issue the saw is getting plenty of fuel,although it wouldnt hurt anything to give it a good cleaning.
I don't get how cleaning the carb will fix his low compression? There's only two things that would cause low compression. Bad decomp or (most likely) a melted piston.
If that was my saw the cylinder would be off for inspection already. Then we'd at least know what's going on in there.
However, even at "130 psi" compression it should still start and run, even if at low power. Also, I don't trust many compression testers these days. Many of them do not work.
Okay. Maybe I'm wrong. But... Let's just say the saw got hot, causing a small amount of damage to the piston, and the resulting low compression makes the saw hard to start. What happens if he gets the saw running at 130 psi? What will happen? I would think (I might not be very smart, so please bear with me) that it would only serve to cause more damage to the piston, and possibly the cylinder.
I don't see why so many people on this sight will spend hours and hours trying to figure out why a saw has low compression, but won't spend 30 min. to an hour pulling the cylinder off and inspecting it the right way? It's a little bit of a pain in the butt, but it's worth it to me.
I don't see why so many people on this sight will spend hours and hours trying to figure out why a saw has low compression, but won't spend 30 min. to an hour pulling the cylinder off and inspecting it the right way? It's a little bit of a pain in the butt, but it's worth it to me.
Most of the saws that I have rebuilt can be inspected without pulling the cylinder. Just examine the piston and rings after removing the muffler. I think OP did that about 20 posts ago. Results seemed inconclusive. No Pics appeared here.
So, I think he should ship the saw to me, but I just lowered my price to $300 because I already have a 361 that runs perfectly after at least 1000 hours of operation and 6 years of hard work.
Can we see pics of the piston through the exhaust port?
StihlFroling
Only the Best.....Type A
He should have pics on the cyl by now. 130 I'm thinking no go. As soon as your under 150 I'd have the jug off. What was your H screw at? Anything done to the saw?
You didn't answer my question. Given the fact that it's quite simple to pull a cylinder, why do so many people advise against it. At least piston/cylinder damage could be ruled out. He's already been scratching his head and fiddling around with the saw for 2 or 3 days. What's 2 hours to be sure there's nothing wrong inside?
Obviously there is something wrong, since the compression is so low. I know you already stated that you don't believe in compression testing, and that his saw just needs a carb cleaning, but I'm not buying it.
Sparky
Woods Bum
I tried several times to get pictures but they just did not turn out good I will try to get some put up if I can get good ones.Like I said on the piston I saw some scorching and some light scoring.And im not sure why anyone thinks it is for sell I do not buy something then when it tears up sell it to someone else.If you have a 361 that runs good then fantastic!Why worry about buying mine to begin with?
