Sunrise Guy
Addicted to ArboristSite
OK, let me start off by saying that my company left Stihl behind, for the most part, years ago, and switched to Echo: Far greater reliability, far better starts in very hot conditions, more sensible engineering. That design engineering is why I'm posting this. Time and again, with Stihl products, I'd come across a feature, when I was doing a saw repair, and wonder, "What the hell were they thinking?" Specifically, today, I'm writing to ask you saw pros: Why is there a hole on the bottom metal housing of the oil tank on the HT-101? The connecting piece (#4138-353-2700) has a round molded structure that fits into that hole, from the inside, but that appears to be totally unnecessary, to me, AND because the plastic tail piece that covers that hole, on the outside, eventually curves inward, over time, it pushes the molded round structure back into the tank, a ways, and you get oil constantly leaking out of the saw. The only work around, for me, was to remove that plastic tail. Even then, the silicone rubber (?) round piece does not sock up firmly in the hole and oil can still leak out. There is no P&T relief function that I can see for the round piece, but maybe the engineers/designers, figured that if the oil pressure got high enough, the oil would find a way to get out of that hole. That's doubtful, since there is already the highly-polished oil pressure relief pinhole near the oil delivery outlet near the bar. So, please give me some insight into the why of that hole. I would like to close it, completely, using some sort of epoxy, but I know that will be impossible because of the presence of oil. Again, I see no reason why that hole exists. The aforementioned connecting piece would do fine without it, needing only a little slot of metal, inside the tank, to keep it in place. FYI, I have replaced the connecting piece. Oil still leaks from that hole. I suppose that the hole may have worn down over time, but that seems impossible, as it never takes any hits, and I just removed the plastic tail piece, today, in desperation, so it was protected, all of this time. Thanks, in advance, for your time in clearing me up on this.
