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

[s219]

I have heard of people overheating saws when flush cutting stumps, since it can reduce airflow through the cooling fins substantially, and some stumps take a while to cut. Though, it's normally only an issue on smaller saws (which can easily get blocked up) when tackling big stumps. It doesn't sound like these were big stumps or that you were going at it for a long time.

Another possibility is that the saw was simply running lean and cooked itself (would also jive with your idle problems assuming they weren't due to later piston damage and loss of compression). Not sure how Stihl views that. A brand new saw should have the carb adjusted by the dealer. At some point within a couple months, that probably becomes the owner's responsibility, though I can't say I check carb tune on my saws that often. Mostly, it's a seasonal thing -- I make sure the saw gently 4-strokes at high RPM with no load before I sink it into a log, and adjust as needed.

You will lean out an oil/gas mixture with too much oil or too much additives. It means that for every unit volume of liquid flowing through the carb, less of it is actual fuel. This effect is more along the lines of throwing out your tune a little, and not something that should cause an extreme lean condition. I can't see how a tablespoon of Seafoam would do that. (BTW, Stihl Ultra oil has stabilizer added, so no need for additional stabilizers, and nothing will really offset ethanol problems anyhow).

Finally, there's the fuel/oil mix. 60 days is pushing my comfort zone for ethanol fuel used in chainsaws, but it really depends on the weather and conditions of storage. I try not to use ethanol fuel in chainsaws past about 30-45 days (generally I burn through a gallon tank before then) but 60 wouldn't scare me if I knew the fuel was stored in good conditions.

It's important to shake up any fuel/oil mix that has been sitting around for more than a week or so, to redistribute the oil, and that goes for mix stored in the saw itself or an external tank. There's a possibility that if your oil mix settled out, maybe the saw was sucking up less oil than it should have

Anyway, just brainstorming here. Nothing really jumping out at me yet. Will be very curious to hear the diagnosis.

 

[crankshaft21]

I had a Ms 210 c/b , it did the same . The saw nothing but a piece of crap from day one. It was always something wrong with it. The last time I tried to use it , acted like it had now power. I thought it might be the clutch so I took it to the dealer. They put 70 dollars in parts and 30 dollars labor in the saw. The next time I tried to use it , wouldn`t crank. I took it back to dealer and asked if something they did could keep it from cranking, he no. They looked at it then came back and said the saw has had it. The piston was cracked. He told me that it looked like I had ran saw without oil mixed, I said and you would be wrong. Then he said somebody did, I said and your still wrong, no one but me has run this saw. what kind of oil do you use, I said stihl. He then offered me 25 dollars for it, I told him I did not need 25 dollars that bad, that I would get more pleasure throwing it away. The saw was junk from day one. Then he said he would sale me a ms 290. I said no thanks, I will not buy another stihl . I bought a echo 450 and its a great saw. AS for the warrenty, it depends what the dealer tells them.

 

[Coyote machine]

If you need to complete the tree cutting I'd ask your dealer to give you a loaner or rent a saw from them or a rental store while they fix your saw.
FWIW, you can make a case with your credit card company, IF you bought it that way, if you get nowhere with the selling dealer. For future reference it is good to seek out non E-10 gas; as stated some premium is, depending on location. Gas cans are now going to no vent to help prevent atmospheric moisture from entering the can, all E-10 related. Whether using E-10 or not shaking stored gas and saw's gas is a good idea, as said, but it bears repeating. Saws run so lean due to EPA burning one up is definitely a possibility if the mix oil has a chance to settle out to the container's bottom.

I own and use seven different Stihl saws and have had virtually no issues with them regarding running, carbs needing adjustments, etc. Minor things like 'no tool' chain adjusters coming apart on one saw that I called my dealer for my wife to pickup at the store, not knowing when I bought it the tool-less adjuster was on the saw, or I would have bought one without that feature.

BTW, I would not tell them you used the Startron in the saw- you don't need it- the Stihl Ultra oil already has E-10 protection.

 

[grsthegreat]

i only run non ethanol in every small engine i own....jet skis, snow blower, riding mower, mantis tillers and chain saws. I have had to rebuild too many carbs and replace too many fuel lines with ethanol blends over the years. Since switching to non ethanol 3 years ago, ive had ZERO maintenance issues.Worth the extra $1.00/gal it costs

 

[Bluegill2]

Non ethanol is all I use and it is available everywhere, but it is not always easy to find.

 

[scesnick]

I actually put the gas in the front once when not paying attention and in a hurry. I had no clue why the darn thing would start. It ran fine just before that. I even went as far as taking the saw to the dealer for service . Luckily I thought about this and went back and grabbed the saw before they looked at it. The dealer is a friend of mine and I would have never lived that one down.. lol.

I never claimed to be the brightest...ha ha.

I have used and abused my Stihl MS310 Farm Boss. I have dropped it off my UTV multiple times at speed, dropped a treee on it and accidentally buried it in a snowbank when my son put it in the bucket of the tractor without me knowing. I had to get my BIL's metal detector to find it in the snow bank. ...... It fired up after every "Incident" And still going strong.

 

[nikdfish]

The service manager seems sympathetic & did not feel I had abused the saw when I laid out how I used/maintaned it and described the last day of use. He is concerned about how Stihl might respond ... he described getting a warranty repair denied on a 30 day old carburator because they felt the failure was due to a fuel issue. On the plus side, my purchase of their HP Ultra mix oil is on the same receipt as the saw.

It sounds like I should get a decision by tomorrow sometime.

Nick

 

[TomSeller]

The service manager seems sympathetic & did not feel I had abused the saw when I laid out how I used/maintaned it and described the last day of use. He is concerned about how Stihl might respond ... he described getting a warranty repair denied on a 30 day old carburator because they felt the failure was due to a fuel issue. On the plus side, my purchase of their HP Ultra mix oil is on the same receipt as the saw.

It sounds like I should get a decision by tomorrow sometime.

Nick

Stihl themselves will have no way of knowing if the Ultra is not in the fuel. If they say it was not, it would be the dealer that told them that. The dealer can check the fuel I am sure.

 

[Member]

Non ethanol is all I use and it is available everywhere, but it is not always easy to find.

Fuel that doesn't contain Ethanol all I use as well but why do I have to use it? I think some say it has something to do with the material used for fuel line and gasket material in small engines, that larger auto engines use materials that are impervious to Ethanol? Why don't the small engines just use that then? Or... is it that fuel that contains Ethanol absorbs water? Again, then why don't they just construct small engines in a way that tolerates that? It looks like these additives are here to stay so I don't know why this is still a problem for new small engines.

 

[murphy1244]

Fuel that doesn't contain Ethanol all I use as well but why do I have to use it? I think some say it has something to do with the material used for fuel line and gasket material in small engines, that larger auto engines use materials that are impervious to Ethanol? Why don't the small engines just use that then? Or... is it that fuel that contains Ethanol absorbs water? Again, then why don't they just construct small engines in a way that tolerates that? It looks like these additives are here to stay so I don't know why this is still a problem for new small engines.

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