Stihl chainsaw almost locked up-?

[WBWI]

WBWI, What engine does it have? Is it stored level or tipped? What is the oil level? Did your fuel level drop durring storage? You are getting excessive oil or fuel on the piston. It is either coming from below the piston up past the rings or in the intake and valve. It is probably as simple as turning off your fuel when you store it. (small carbs often have leaky needle valves.) Or draining the oil and filling to the correct level. (I would do that anyway if you had fuel leakage.) Nothing major is probably wrong with it.

Mike

Mike,
the mower is 10-15 years old, has a 6.75hp engine. Only mfg info on it is Sears/Craftsman. I have no idea who made it for them. It was stored tipped. I added oil the last time it was running and the level was at full when I checked it. I can't say if the fuel level dropped during storage. It had been a couple of weeks since I used it last. I'll spend a little time with it this weekend and see if I can get it cleaned out and running.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

WBWI that makes sense if the mower was tipped for any length of time that oil can get into the cylinder. Pulling the plug and cranking on it to blow out the oil will help. You will have to clean the plug or replace it it is saturated very much. Blow some starting fluid down the carb and see if it will start. Sears I believed uses Tecumseh and Briggs and Stratton motors

 

[WBWI]

Ok, thanks for all the suggestions. Gotta love a place that knows tractors and more

 

[johnk]

Pick up some "Sea Foam" and add to your gas. In addition to being a stabilizer, it works wonders at clearing up fuel delivery problems.

I was having the same exact problem with the rope unbearable to pull and stumbled onto this thread. I pulled the muffler off and it was fairly carboned. Cleaned it up and still the same problem. Pulled easy w/ plug out but w/ plug in it was a bear. Went to Napa, bought a bottle of Seafoam [after trying PB Blaster etc.} and dumped some in the carb and some down the plug hole. Gave her a few pulls w/ plug out. Then put plug in. gave a few pulls and it fired up. While running I used a top off a spray bottle and stuck it in the seafoam jug and gave her a couple squirts in the card while running. All I can say is that it solved the problem. I think the problem originated because i was mixing 40:1 instaed of 50:1 in the jug because I was milling with my Husky 385XP so it ran a little cooler. I used many tanks at 40:1 through my 55 Rancher and that may have gummed me up. All said and done, thanks to the seafoam tip on here all is well..

 

[Jstpssng]

yet another educational thread for me. Glad to see the OP solved his problem.

i have to admit that I cringe when I read about spraying things such as WD-40 or PB Blaster into the engine though. Years ago I was using WD40 to clear snow out of the air breather on my new Husky brush saw: before long I found myself replacing the crankshaft, NOT warranteed, as the crank case was full of silicone. And while PB Blaster is the best at freeing rusted bolts; I'm not sure how much good it would be for the carburetor parts. Just my $0.02, though

 

[Gary Fowler]

Funny thing that I was just yesterday reading on a can of WD40 and it said silicone free. I guess they must have changed the formula. I never new it had silicone in it to start with.

 

[MJPetersen]

WD-40 does not have silicone. It is a "less harsh" starting fluid for 2 cycle engines and a great vacuum leak checker on other engines. It has some lubrication for the engine that regular starting fluid does not have and is therefore a whole lot easier on the engine.

At any rate--glad that the OP got the machine cleaned out and started.

Now the mower--I believe that mostly Sears used Tecumseh, but if it were tipped it definitely could have oil above the piston--my Honda mower will too. Clean it out with the plug out, put a new or very good plug in it, some fresh gas and give it a go.

Mike

 

[WBWI]

Well thanks to the brain trust on TBN I was able to get the Craftsman lawn mower started again. I pulled out the plug, cycled the engine a few times to blow out the old crud, sprayed some carb cleaner in the cylinder, cycled the engine a few more times then put the plug back in. The mower started on the second pull. I added some sea foam to the gas and let it run for a while. Everything seems fine now!
Sorry to hijack the original topic but it seemed like the same symptoms that I was having.

 

[MJPetersen]

That is good to hear. Glad it is back up and running.

Mike

 

[Georgeaxe]

Hello,

I can barely pull the starter cord on my small Stihl (model 009). It will turn over once with a hard enough pull. Air filter is clean and it turns freely with the spark plug removed. Worked ok the last time out- maybe 3 yrs ago. I was hoping to use it in the morning. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

JOhn

I have the same problem with my Stihl 032. It is a newly-developed problem; it was pulling OK, then started breaking the pull rope, but was occasionally difficult to pull once or twice, then pulled OK. After last repair of pull rope, it is now VERY difficult to pull, as though it has WAY too much compression. I removed the spark plug and it pulls OK. I removed the chain & bar, to make sure it was not jammed. No change. It is NOT the plug, as it has not been changed, and was pulling OK. Also, (possibly related?) it would not idle, needed to be restarted any time I tried to idle the engine. I have cleaned the carb (it did not seem dirty at all) and the air cleaner, but can't start now due to difficulty pulling engine over. Any ideas???
Thanks. George