Two 310's have blown in a month

[huskystihl]

Fog,

Thanks for the detailed followup. It just seemed like the initial assertion was a bit vague and was targeting the MS290, 310, 390 series in particular -- sorta in generalizations for those of us not quite as informed on the EPA stuff.

I still say anyone who blows up two 310's in a month has bigger problems than not understanding how to re-tune for E10!

Thanks again.

Poge

I gotta go wth straight gas as well or very bad gas. I wouldn't say the 310 is the greatest saw going but I know a guy who runs one on his crew and they do take a beating. 2 saws, within the same month purchased more than a year apart tells me the problem lies in his fuel can and not the saw.-

 

[Fog1965]

Poge,
I guess I should have said that those numbers apply to any engine (2 cycle or 4 cycle), but the thread was about the 310 and I was thinking about the 290/310/390 series. I got a bit po'ed when my saw died and started doing some reading about the EPA "stuff" and found that info. My background causes me to do research on various technical topics. And racing for over 30 years leads you down a lot of paths on engines, carbs, exhaust, and fuel/oil. Sometimes you forget that not everyone does those things.

Before I ever ran my new 361, I dumped the gas that the dealer had put in it and replaced the caps with some X-Acto brand and set the carb. I use a whole different fuel mix than they do and don't care for the EPA settings. I checked the settings before I changed them and my new saw would have been dead in no time. With E10 being the law of the land, they really need to change the factory settings or see a lot more dead saws. In talking to a number of dealers in the Houston area, there are already a number of dead saws from the E10 in our area.

My saw problems have not been in vein though, my 290 is now better than it was new and makes more power than a stock 390. I am even looking around for a 390 cylinder assembly to see what I can get out of the saw. My racing partner an I have been having fun with these little engines and I keep telling him I need a chrome liner for it - we'll see.

Fog

 

[PogoInTheWoods]

Re-directed the ethanol aspect of the thread to Mod New Saw for E10?

So while we're waiting for Bluto's pics of the roached 310's, I copied the essence of the 'mod for E10 discussion' and dumped it out there for a broader discussion (again?) without restricting it to two 310's.

I found Fog's contribution very interesting and convincing, but it posed as many questions (for me, anyway) as it did answers. Not the least of which is, "Why do manufacturers build saws that they know will blow up if tuned to mandatory EPA specs out of the factory when run on E10?"

Sounds like a legit question to me and I'd be interested in a few more angles than were discussed in the 310 thread -- not that they didn't have their own basis and merit.

"To mod for E10 and void the warranty on my brand new saw, or not to mod and surely blow it up on E10?" -- as many will assert is the certain outcome if not modded.

Again, sounds like a legit question to me.

Soooo.... Let's get ready..., to get ready!!!

Poge

 

[huskystihl]

I know ethanol sucks but more than anyhting it goes stale faster. I'm not saying that a-lot of points in this thread aren't valid but I am loaded with epa saws that see many many hrs of abusive run time and have only modded 2 saws, my 260 and 270. Not beacause of meltdown fear but more because the powers blew. Now not to say that some saws just aren't set right but I disagree with the statements that all saws are doomed. If that was in fact the case i'd be without a saw and 99% of mine were right out of the box and tuned correctly from the factory but then again my saws are ran under load and not just being watched to see how fast they turn.

 

[ckelp]

opcorn:

 

[jcork]

I have a question on this topic ...

Has Stihl gradually changed the tuning of the 310 over time to meet tightened EPA requirements?

Or does Stihl leave the tuning of a saw alone once it's introduced to the market?

I have a very recent 310, that I hope to keep a long time ...