Lakeside53
Stihl Wrenching
I8 months ago a old guy (mid 80's, but very able) came to me with a Homelite ZIP and an 041 FB. Both toast from 30 years of storage in the barn, with gas.. Then he whips out an XL12 from the back of his truck - it was still able to turn over so I said I'd look at it. He had moved to town and wanted to heat his house with the woodstove... Had a truck load of dry 6 inch poles that just needed to be trimmed to length, a few a month...
No problem. Fixed the carb on his XL12, dug the tar out of the fuel tank etc etc.. Ran "o.k.". Good backup saw. Chastised him for using old engine oil for bar oil in all his saws, and traded his old junkers for a powder-puff Stihl 024 - no paint missing and you could still see the machining marks on the piston. Very sweet saw. Took him though the starting, safety, fuel, fuel mix, bar oil, air filter, fuel filter, owners manual, blah blah blah, gave him mix for 1 gallon and told him to buy more of the same, and off he went. He loved that saw.....
Called me last week. "My saw won't rev up". o.k. bring it over...
Hmmm, Air filter is down to the wire mesh (these have a "flocking" over wire mesh - the mesh is just a support). Asked him what he'd done to the filter - the local hardware store told him - soak it in gas and scrub vigorously with a tooth brush... he was apologizing for "not being able to get all that fluff off the wires" !!! Quick pull over and... the unmistakable click clack click clack of piston slap...
Starts, but won't rev up... smokes like crazy... The spark arrester was completely blocked. Thick tarry oil inside the muffler.. Hmmm, whip off the muffler cover, starts, revs, but runs like crap. Fuel tank - strange gray looking mix... Fuel filter gummed up.. O.k. what mix are you using? "like you told me, 50:1". He tells me he even used the small bottle of mix I gave him as a measure. Peek in the plug hole - scored bore on the exhaust side...
O.k. so you using 50:1, what mix oil are you using? "Stihl of course, like you told me..."... Damn...
Changed the fuel filter, fresh gas, dump the spark arrester, new plug, sucked through the new gas and runs pretty good (considering the slapping piston and scored bore). Even cut wood o.k.. ..
Had a long talk about filters, fuel and maintenance, with many deviations so he could tell his life story, and the "rest of the story" comes out... back in the mid 60's when he bought his 041 (the very early model) he had 25 acres of windfall to clean up on his farm. Saved money buy using old engine oil for bar oil, and by buying the "other oil" in bulk - he bought 5 GALLONS of "mix" in 1966.... decided not to buy any more as he has over half a bucket left... still using it... a 50:1... Says Stihl on the bucket...
...and, he's not sure now if it's mix or bar oil!!! Worked o.k. in his homelite zip at 16:1... (this is bound to excite raisedbywolves...)
No problem. Fixed the carb on his XL12, dug the tar out of the fuel tank etc etc.. Ran "o.k.". Good backup saw. Chastised him for using old engine oil for bar oil in all his saws, and traded his old junkers for a powder-puff Stihl 024 - no paint missing and you could still see the machining marks on the piston. Very sweet saw. Took him though the starting, safety, fuel, fuel mix, bar oil, air filter, fuel filter, owners manual, blah blah blah, gave him mix for 1 gallon and told him to buy more of the same, and off he went. He loved that saw.....
Called me last week. "My saw won't rev up". o.k. bring it over...
Hmmm, Air filter is down to the wire mesh (these have a "flocking" over wire mesh - the mesh is just a support). Asked him what he'd done to the filter - the local hardware store told him - soak it in gas and scrub vigorously with a tooth brush... he was apologizing for "not being able to get all that fluff off the wires" !!! Quick pull over and... the unmistakable click clack click clack of piston slap...
Starts, but won't rev up... smokes like crazy... The spark arrester was completely blocked. Thick tarry oil inside the muffler.. Hmmm, whip off the muffler cover, starts, revs, but runs like crap. Fuel tank - strange gray looking mix... Fuel filter gummed up.. O.k. what mix are you using? "like you told me, 50:1". He tells me he even used the small bottle of mix I gave him as a measure. Peek in the plug hole - scored bore on the exhaust side...
O.k. so you using 50:1, what mix oil are you using? "Stihl of course, like you told me..."... Damn...
Changed the fuel filter, fresh gas, dump the spark arrester, new plug, sucked through the new gas and runs pretty good (considering the slapping piston and scored bore). Even cut wood o.k.. ..
Had a long talk about filters, fuel and maintenance, with many deviations so he could tell his life story, and the "rest of the story" comes out... back in the mid 60's when he bought his 041 (the very early model) he had 25 acres of windfall to clean up on his farm. Saved money buy using old engine oil for bar oil, and by buying the "other oil" in bulk - he bought 5 GALLONS of "mix" in 1966.... decided not to buy any more as he has over half a bucket left... still using it... a 50:1... Says Stihl on the bucket...
...and, he's not sure now if it's mix or bar oil!!! Worked o.k. in his homelite zip at 16:1... (this is bound to excite raisedbywolves...)
He probably sells chainsaws.
