Stihl chainsaw won't turn off

[Liazard]

For a couple of months, I have had to move the choke lever to Full Choke to turn off my Stihl MS180C because the Off position has no effect. I've been doing this for maybe 20-30 uses. Today while using the saw the engine sort of lost power like it was out of fuel (not). Now it won't start.

Are these two problems related, and does anyone have any recommendations on next steps?

 

[walterg]

Kill wire is probably loose. You need to check both ends.
Fix that first. If it's loose on the top end it might of moved and caused the other issue.

Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk

 

[Little Al]

As said Kill Switch or wire going from switch to earth check these first

 

[HarleyT]

The throttle control lever is likely popped out of place...

 

[s sidewall]

Most folks complain about not starting or won't run to good, glad to hear someone has a problem not cutting off.

Steve

 

[Okie]

I had the no kill issue on a very Old 028 and the old kill wire was old and stiff and broke off the little kill grounding metal piece. I've seen some that the little piece of metal tang needed cleaned or adjusted so as to ground out the ignition wire.

If you will remove the air filter you can investigate the kill wire area on the left side of the throttle shaft and see how the engine kill is exposed as the kill and choke is moved and the throttle area.

I had to remove the little round piece of metal from the plastic shaft with needle nose pliers and gently open the crimp with a sharp awl and solder on a piece of very flex wire and then splice the flex wire to the old stiff kill wire. You can probably review such on you tube so as to not break or damage old plastic.

Your throttle shaft and choke/kill shaft area needs investigated.

 

[Liazard]

Most folks complain about not starting or won't run to good, glad to hear someone has a problem not cutting off.

Steve

Well it's also not starting now, so turning it off isn't a problem! Sorry to disappoint!

BTW the other part of my question seemed to get missed. Would turning off with the full choke method cause a starting problem eventually?

 

[TBS]

You increase the likelihood of the plug fouling.

 

[HarleyT]

Take off the top cover and snap a pic of the throttle control for us.

 

[s sidewall]

Ground terminal may have slide out of place, easy fix.

Steve

 

[Okie]

Well it's also not starting now, so turning it off isn't a problem! Sorry to disappoint!

BTW the other part of my question seemed to get missed. Would turning off with the full choke method cause a starting problem eventually?

Yep.

On my chainsaw killing with the choke made it harder to re-start when the saw was hot. (flooded easily)
Also my kill wire that broke off the little metal tab under the air filter area in the airbox could have easily rubbed against the metal and caused a permanent kill, so I added a piece of tape over the end of the broken kill wire until I had time to fix all properly.
Choking to kill could have eventually fouled your spark plug also.

But again you might have two separate issues.
If you do not see anything wrong with the kill switch area and it won't start, see if you have spark.

If you have good spark to a good spark plug, maybe its now fuel related.

 

[SteveSr]

Well it's also not starting now, so turning it off isn't a problem! Sorry to disappoint!

BTW the other part of my question seemed to get missed. Would turning off with the full choke method cause a starting problem eventually?

YES! You'll clog up the spark screen which will cause no-start condition. Remove it and clean by burning with a propane torch.

 

[Liazard]

Spark screen = spark arrestor?

 

[Deleted member 117362]

Spark screen = spark arrestor?

Yes Sir.

 

[Liazard]

But again you might have two separate issues.
If you do not see anything wrong with the kill switch area and it won't start, see if you have spark.

If you have good spark to a good spark plug, maybe its now fuel related.

I'll check for spark in the AM.

 

[HarleyT]

Why?

Why not put up a pic? You obviously have a problem in the kill switch area, and it probably is responsible for your new problem.

The black throttle control is known for popping out of place on these models, and causing many problems...

 

[Liazard]

Got the won't stop problem fixed (wires for ground terminal were out of place). But the screen seems to be clogging up quickly (after 2 days of use). What could be causing that?

 

[Okie]

Got the won't stop problem fixed (wires for ground terminal were out of place). But the screen seems to be clogging up quickly (after 2 days of use). What could be causing that?

over rich condition

 

[jr27236]

Got the won't stop problem fixed (wires for ground terminal were out of place). But the screen seems to be clogging up quickly (after 2 days of use). What could be causing that?

Either it's running rich or maybe your air filter is clogged up? If it is running nice and you don't need the spark arrestor, remove it. (Just don't throw it away) if you know how- retune the carb and run the hell out of it. You might of also built up a lot of carbon in the muffler from choke killing it all those times that is now making its way out clogging the screen.

 

[Okie]

Either it's running rich or maybe your air filter is clogged up? If it is running nice and you don't need the spark arrestor, remove it. (Just don't throw it away) if you know how- retune the carb and run the hell out of it. You might of also built up a lot of carbon in the muffler from choke killing it all those times that is now making its way out clogging the screen.

Good info above:
Be real sure you know how to PROPERLY adjust the carb on your Stihl (especially the H jet) or you can ruin the engine real fast and make sure the air filter is clean or new before tuning the carb and quite often if a Stihl saw acts like it needs a slight idle adjust tweak it's due to a dirty air filter. (ALWAYS clean the air filter before re-adjusting the carb)