Stihl 026 Chain Saw -Won't Start

[csutton88]

Good afternoon all,

I have a Stihl Chainsaw 026 that is about 6 years old. It was given to me by my grandfather who hasn't used it in 3 years because it is now getting heavy for his use as his age catches up.

I am fairly handy mechanically and I am unable to get this started. It does not even fire at all. I have taken the spark plug out and cleaned it up. It looks like new. The gas is fresh. I am not sure if it has something to do with the master control as I inspected it further and it appears that it is not the greatest setup. I assume that metal to metal contact between the master control and the other metal tab is so stop the engine. When it is in the cold start position no contact with metal is made.

Everything looks clean. Could it be that the carburetor needs to get cleaned out? What is the best way to trouble shoot this further? It looks very tough to get to the carburetor bowl to even drain that.

Any assistance and tips would be appreciated as I really could put this machine to good use and I know it will last forever.

-Chris

 

[Willl]

Are you getting spark ?

 

[ToadHill]

I had the same model several years ago and when it wouldn't start I took it to the dealer. He called about 2 weeks later to say it was working and to come get it. When I asked what I owed he said nothing, it seems the ignition molule self distructed and Stihl said that couldn't happen. They sent him a new one and told him to fix the saw for free.

Maybe you have the same problem.

 

[pitt_md]

It's basically gas, spark compression. check your spark. if you have spark, put a tiny bit of mixture in through the sparkplug hole and see if it gets ignited. if it does, take about $150 out of your wallet for a new carb. They don't seem to rebuild these carbs for some reason. Compression can be felt when pulling the cord. My 20+ year old Super Wood Boss 028 is still stiff to pull.

good luck.

 

[Egon]

Chances are you will find several screws on the side that say Hi and low. Twiddle with these a bit but remember not to mark their original position. Others have also put a couple of squirts of oil into the cylinder to help increase compression.

Keep pulling!

 

[AndyMA]

I had one of these. I would guess gummed up carb unless it was run out of gas when parked for 3 years. You can try removing carb and all screws counting the turns on each for return and dowsing with carb cleaning spray.

Andy

 

[studor]

There was a recent thread in here on the same thing -- do a search on stihl -- I think it was a 290 .

 

[ihookem]

It might be the ignition module, (lifetime warranty) but most likely the carb after three years of gas in it. I have one and it starts very hard if not used for a few months. Clean the plug, choke it all the way, and pull it about 30 times. If it won't start take it off choke and pull with the trigger wide open 30 times. If it won't start then it's not going to.

 

[wushaw]

Starting a Sthil requires full choke till it fires ( it probably won't start) then put choke at mid setting then pull it another time and it should start.
If you keep trying to start it on full choke after it fires you will flood it.

If it never fires then check for spark, pull plug leave it connected to wire then ground it to case and pull her through and see if you get spark, if you do the plug may be bad to where it will not fire under compression.

 

[B2400]

If it has sat for 3 years without running , it needs a carb kit put in it. The rubber diaphragm dries out and won't pump fuel. Kits are cheap and it only takes 1/2 -1 hr at an easy pace to do!!