My Stihl MS 290 died after less than 60 days...

[TomSeller]

Have they given you a date for when they expect an answer? Asking for a loaner might encourage them to get on the ball.

 

[nikdfish]

I thought they were going to hear from Stihl on Friday, but it apparently didn't happen. Hopefully things will get nailed down on Monday. We've been doing other things while sawless, spent the last three trips to the rental removing & breaking down bamboo that had come in from a neighboring yard over the last few years. The circular blade (chain saw style tooth shape) mounted on the FS90 trimmer does a great job on bamboo, BTW...

Nick

 

[Renze]

I am no expert, but I thought newer gasket materials are fine with ethanol blends but the absorption of water is the problem. Cars don't sit for months typically such that they collect as much proportionally? I run ethanol free mid grade fuel only in small engines.

I have the same problem with my tractor. Yesterday cleaned the prescreen in the glass bowl, the filters and the tank. There was snot in it, probably because i took a can of fuel from the local gas station instead of an agricultural diesel supplier. Here, 10% biodiesel is mandatory blended in, but subsidized so some privately held gas stations have their wholesalers blend in more biodiesel to get more subsidy. (you do 100km less on a tankfull compared to what you buy from Esso, Shell Aral or any other major brand)

Oh, and when i put a rag around the air pistol and put it on the fuel cap opening to get it to flow a bit harder, the smell was horrible, smelled like dead animals. Biofuels are hygroscopic which means they absorb water, which makes it possible for bacterias to grow inside. When they started adding biodiesel, customers at work had several serious Common Rail system failures, both on Bosch systems on Cummins engines as well as Denso systems on Deere engines: All customers who took a 1000 liter tank with them to a construction site where they stayed for some weeks, so the fuel had a lot more time to attract water and grow bacterias. when you get fresh fuel at the gas station its not a problem, but with small engines, or hobby tractors, they sit for extended periods of time, in which the fuel can grow bad.

 

[murphy1244]

I thought they were going to hear from Stihl on Friday, but it apparently didn't happen. Hopefully things will get nailed down on Monday. We've been doing other things while sawless, spent the last three trips to the rental removing & breaking down bamboo that had come in from a neighboring yard over the last few years. The circular blade (chain saw style tooth shape) mounted on the FS90 trimmer does a great job on bamboo, BTW...

Nick

Bamboo is very hard to control. Don't just cut it, you must treat the ends too. Get ahold of your County to find out what product is good for your area.

 

[nikdfish]

Okay, finally got a decision. The dealer indicated the mix was bad - foreign material & water.

That totally floored me. I brought in the mix jug & compared the material they collected from the saw with what I had in the jug - totally different in appearance. My Stihl mix looked just like what they used in house - light greenish tint to the fuel mix. What they indicated came out of the saw looked like it had been mixed with black ink - not opaque but definitely blackish and with about a third of a teaspoon of water rolling around at the bottom of the bottle.

It was something I have absolutely no explanation for - from the time we got the saw home, the only fuel used came from the jug we bought as the same time as the saw. Only two batches of mix have been done in that jug, each mix consisting of two gallons of 93 octane direct from the pump into the jug with two 2.6 oz. bottles of the Stihl Ultra HP oil & a tablespoon of Star Tron for alcohol mitigation. The saw never got the "dregs" of the mix jug & I have fueled our Stihl FS90 trimmer & Stihl blower from this same jug multiple times with no adverse affects.

The up side is that they are fixing the saw at no cost even without going through the Stihl warranty process. The service manager said they wanted to take care of a good customer & that he believed that I had not knowingly done anything to abuse the saw. I really appreciate a business that goes the extra mile!

Regarding the bamboo harvest, we took the Aluma over to haul off the canes. Carried them over the the acreage & put them on a old fuel oil tank frame.

Plenty of cane poles for the fishing pond... (or tomato stakes - or bean poles - etc.)


Nick

 

[TomSeller]

Well that is really good news but the fuel story doesn't make sense. It might be a jar of fuel they trot out every time they do a "good customer" repair for free. Haha.

 

[cqaigy2]

Maybe there was something in the tank before you put your fuel in? Sure seem weird though. Glad they're taking care of you and fixing up the saw!!

 

[s219]

Hmm, doesn't make sense, but I'd say be darn sure you have the fuel situation worked out. Had a neighbor trash a brand new 441-CM with bad fuel, and it was a similar situation. Maybe ethanol reared its ugly head....

 

[nikdfish]

Yeah, I think I'm going to be pretty fuel paranoid from now on. Probably start emptying equipment that has been unused for any period of time before fueling rather than topping off before a job & then eyeballing what comes out and what is going in each and every time....

Nick

 

[Bluegill2]

Well that is really good news but the fuel story doesn't make sense. It might be a jar of fuel they trot out every time they do a "good customer" repair for free. Haha.

It happens.

I leave mix in my saws and trimmers year around, but it is eth-free mixed with good oil... No problems here. Have also had year old mix that looked and smelled fine...