Stihl MS261C M-tronic WILL NOT IDLE. Brand new.

[anymanusa]

So they replaced a carb the wiring harness ignition coil idle solenoid and some other part and it still wont idle they're going to replace the saw

 

[blackman614]

Talked to a Stihl dealer yesterday and he told me stay away from the saws which have the same carb as the 271. I told him thanks, but I found that out the hard way. He said he didn't have enough feedback from the pro's on the M-Tronic to say whether they are good. He was nice enough to go thru the Stihl dealer product book and point out which saws to stay away from. It is so sad the intended goal of lower emissions has basically turned the purchase of a new saw a crapshoot. And what percentage of emissions are chainsaws? .005% ?

I have several m tronic saws and hate everyone. 661C, 261CM, 201TCM, 441C and several more. Every single one I've had to replace the low idle solenoid on. 661c stopped idling 5 weeks in. Out of warranty. How convenient. 261C stopped idling after 6 months. 201 tcm has never idled right and dies every time you touch the throttle. The Stihl dealers in my area aren't worth a crap. They gave me the run around on every saw. I've only ran saws for a living for 29 years. Logging and tree service combined. I finally found one dealer that can still get me non M tronic saws. I just bought a new 661, and 261. Still in the box and never ran. I just replaced the low idle solenoid on my 261c again this evening. Runs great now. I've never had a problem keeping the air filter clean and taking 5 seconds to adjust the carb if needed. I'll take that over this crappy m tronic any day.

 

[anymanusa]

I have several m tronic saws and hate everyone. 661C, 261CM, 201TCM, 441C and several more. Every single one I've had to replace the low idle solenoid on. 661c stopped idling 5 weeks in. Out of warranty. How convenient. 261C stopped idling after 6 months. 201 tcm has never idled right and dies every time you touch the throttle. The Stihl dealers in my area aren't worth a crap. They gave me the run around on every saw. I've only ran saws for a living for 29 years. Logging and tree service combined. I finally found one dealer that can still get me non M tronic saws. I just bought a new 661, and 261. Still in the box and never ran. I just replaced the low idle solenoid on my 261c again this evening. Runs great now. I've never had a problem keeping the air filter clean and taking 5 seconds to adjust the carb if needed. I'll take that over this crappy m tronic any day.

Why did you keep buying them if you hated them?

 

[anymanusa]

Well the dealer called and said Stihl brought them a new saw for me and they took the old one away. Gonna get it tomorrow.

 

[ihookem]

That is real good if they give you a new saw . That tells us they care about ya . They are very expensive saws compared to ECHO.

 

[angelo c]

I have several m tronic saws and hate everyone. 661C, 261CM, 201TCM, 441C and several more. Every single one I've had to replace the low idle solenoid on. 661c stopped idling 5 weeks in. Out of warranty. How convenient. 261C stopped idling after 6 months. 201 tcm has never idled right and dies every time you touch the throttle. The Stihl dealers in my area aren't worth a crap. They gave me the run around on every saw. I've only ran saws for a living for 29 years. Logging and tree service combined. I finally found one dealer that can still get me non M tronic saws. I just bought a new 661, and 261. Still in the box and never ran. I just replaced the low idle solenoid on my 261c again this evening. Runs great now. I've never had a problem keeping the air filter clean and taking 5 seconds to adjust the carb if needed. I'll take that over this crappy m tronic any day.

Have you changed out the fuel filter ? The solenoids were getting jammed up with fines and the newest style filters( orange) have been better at eliminating fines from tank debris and schputz from fuel itself

 

[r black]

 

[anymanusa]

View attachment 984599

Read my sig and see how Stihl makes a superior product in nearly every single product segment.

Husky is a close second though.

 

[angelo c]

Read my sig and see how Stihl makes a superior product in nearly every single product segment.

Husky is a close second though.

You are too kind...

Husky is poo..

 

[yellowking86]

So I'm pretty peaved. This has been part of my two saw plan for a long time, I finally pulled the trigger and bought one after years and years of holding off. My MS 441CM has been flawless. I've had it for over a decade. I was the earliest adopter of the m tronic. I had the ms 280 iem or cm whatever too. Didn't really like that as much though, kinda low on power really.

Anyway, the new saw was very jerky and rough on the first break in tanks. It was slightly disconcerting. I took the muffler off to verify that no overheating/scoring occured, it looked fine. I used the saw in the damp weather on wet pine for a few minutes and it seemed alright.

So maybe 4-5 tanks through this saw now. Today I went to clean up storm damage, a gigantic pine fell over two fences and i had the 32" bar on my 441 so I was depending on this 261 for limbing. It would not run. I reset it several times and it still WOULD NOT IDLE. It was super hard to start. Like it was getting flooded easily. After it sat, I could choke start it, but it would idle down and die with the first trigger. After a thoroughly disappointing performance, and a sore shoulder from pulling the starter, I gave up and used the big saw for everything.

When I got home, I took the spark plug out and it looked a little black, but probably inline with an oil burning chainsaw. It wasn't "oily" but it wasn't white either. The air filter is fine, I tried several different gas types, I reset the m-tronic a half dozen times, every time it seems to take the reset, but then I let off the trigger and the saw dies. It will not start without my finger holding gas on trigger.

I'm really peaved. What else is there to do?

On a side note, when I purchased the saw, the dealer grabbed it from me and took it to the back room and gassed it up and ran it to full throttle for a few seconds. That was mildly annoying.

Wtf am I supposed to do now?

How do you reset it if it won’t idle?

 

[Patrick62]

something wonky with that one, good that Stihl is standing behind their product.
I have a 261cm, and it is flawless. shortly after I bought it... I modified the muffler to a 3/4" hunk of emt for exhaust.
it has quite a bark now, and let it re-tune itself... Raps faster, and pulls like a locomotive (for a 50cc saw)

 

[turkeybob]

I think we’re only a couple of decades away from them being overtaken by battery.

Battery saw technology is getting better, EGO 2024 range includes 20" models, don't know any specs other than chain speed