Sawcanuck
ArboristSite Lurker
DISCLAIMER: If you would like to skip the novel that I apparently wrote below please feel free to skip the question in bold at the bottom of my post lol!
Hello All! I have lurked here for some time and have learned a ton so I will begin by saying thank you for my chainsaw education to date and saving my a$$ on a few occasions where I was stumped and was able to solve my problems by reading previous threads.
A quick introduction...I have always cut my own firewood and maintained a couple of saws but that has accidentally expanded into a bit of an addiction for collecting and tinkering on chainsaws. I mostly have older Stihls but sometimes pick up other saws that I try to get running and then sell to subsidize finding more old Stihls lol!
I am working on a saw that I intend to sell. It is an MS270 that was running very poorly for previous owner and he (and his dealer) could not come up with a solution so it went on a shelf in his barn about 5 years ago and he bought a new saw. I picked it up as a project or possible parts saw.
It had good compression (did not actually test it with a gauge). It had good spark. I pulled muffler and piston looked perfect. Fuel tank was empty and fuel line was a little hard but intact. Based on what I was told by previous owner I was pretty sure this was going to be a little more than a fuel line/filter and carb clean/kit so I decided to pressure/vac test with my Mityvac. Pumped like crazy but I could not pull vacuum or build pressure. Found a cracked intake boot. Bought and installed a new intake boot (50 bucks - ouch!) and a new impulse line (I figured good insurance while I was in there). I try my best to always do what should be done if I am planning to sell a saw. Eats into profit but hopefully avoids headaches in the future.
Repeated pressure/vac test and both crank seals were leaking. Ordered new seals. Pulled old seals (carefully). Tried to install first seal (clutch side) and it bunched up as it went in. It was at the point of no return (I would have ruined it by trying to pull it back out) so I drove it in and it was ugly looking lol. Tried to install the second seal (flywheel side) and the same thing happened. I retested it (just out of curiosity) and, to my surprise, it actually held vacuum but would not hold pressure. I verified with some soapy water that it was the seals that were leaking. $25+ of seals ruined. VERY FRUSTRATED!
I verified with my dealer that I got the right parts and they said that I got the correct seals (9639 003 1585). I found an IPL online and it shows 2 different part numbers for seals. The other part number is 9638 003 1581.
I called Stihl and asked why the different part numbers. They were very helpful and the tech told me that I had the right part but that it is impossible to install new seals on this saw without separating the cylinder from the case. He was very helpful and even gave me torque specs for reassembly but ever since I got off the phone it has been bothering me. I realize that I am in this far and it is just 4 more screws but I am always reluctant to dig deeper than necessary for fear of creating additional problems.
I figured this would be a good time to reach out to the experts on this forum to see what others have encountered with this saw.
Has anybody been able to successfully install new oil seals on an MS270 (I believe the MS280 is very similar) without removing the cylinder? If so, what part number did you use?
Thank you so much in advance for your help and sorry for the long-winded description but I figured it was best to give you all of the details of what I had done upfront.
I won't order new seals or remove cylinder until I hear what some people on here suggest.
Hello All! I have lurked here for some time and have learned a ton so I will begin by saying thank you for my chainsaw education to date and saving my a$$ on a few occasions where I was stumped and was able to solve my problems by reading previous threads.
A quick introduction...I have always cut my own firewood and maintained a couple of saws but that has accidentally expanded into a bit of an addiction for collecting and tinkering on chainsaws. I mostly have older Stihls but sometimes pick up other saws that I try to get running and then sell to subsidize finding more old Stihls lol!
I am working on a saw that I intend to sell. It is an MS270 that was running very poorly for previous owner and he (and his dealer) could not come up with a solution so it went on a shelf in his barn about 5 years ago and he bought a new saw. I picked it up as a project or possible parts saw.
It had good compression (did not actually test it with a gauge). It had good spark. I pulled muffler and piston looked perfect. Fuel tank was empty and fuel line was a little hard but intact. Based on what I was told by previous owner I was pretty sure this was going to be a little more than a fuel line/filter and carb clean/kit so I decided to pressure/vac test with my Mityvac. Pumped like crazy but I could not pull vacuum or build pressure. Found a cracked intake boot. Bought and installed a new intake boot (50 bucks - ouch!) and a new impulse line (I figured good insurance while I was in there). I try my best to always do what should be done if I am planning to sell a saw. Eats into profit but hopefully avoids headaches in the future.
Repeated pressure/vac test and both crank seals were leaking. Ordered new seals. Pulled old seals (carefully). Tried to install first seal (clutch side) and it bunched up as it went in. It was at the point of no return (I would have ruined it by trying to pull it back out) so I drove it in and it was ugly looking lol. Tried to install the second seal (flywheel side) and the same thing happened. I retested it (just out of curiosity) and, to my surprise, it actually held vacuum but would not hold pressure. I verified with some soapy water that it was the seals that were leaking. $25+ of seals ruined. VERY FRUSTRATED!
I verified with my dealer that I got the right parts and they said that I got the correct seals (9639 003 1585). I found an IPL online and it shows 2 different part numbers for seals. The other part number is 9638 003 1581.
I called Stihl and asked why the different part numbers. They were very helpful and the tech told me that I had the right part but that it is impossible to install new seals on this saw without separating the cylinder from the case. He was very helpful and even gave me torque specs for reassembly but ever since I got off the phone it has been bothering me. I realize that I am in this far and it is just 4 more screws but I am always reluctant to dig deeper than necessary for fear of creating additional problems.
I figured this would be a good time to reach out to the experts on this forum to see what others have encountered with this saw.
Has anybody been able to successfully install new oil seals on an MS270 (I believe the MS280 is very similar) without removing the cylinder? If so, what part number did you use?
Thank you so much in advance for your help and sorry for the long-winded description but I figured it was best to give you all of the details of what I had done upfront.
I won't order new seals or remove cylinder until I hear what some people on here suggest.
