Stihl MS290 using up bar oil - but no oil going to bar

[JimRB]

My MS210 uses less than an oil tank for each fuel tank, not lots but less. I have a MS310 but have not used it much so I do not know the bar oil consumption. I always add chain oil after adding fuel.

As a quick audit I start up the saw and rev the engine a bit while the bar tip is pointed at a clean piece of cardboard. If I see a bit of oil slinging I hope that it is enough oil. Note of course that different brands of bar and chain oil have different flinging characteristics. I used Stihl oil for a while with the new MS210. I got some Tractor Supply oil and fussed that it was thinner. As little as I cut I have a while longer before I get back to the Stihl chain oil.

 

[LD1]

On my old 031 the dealer told me one fill of bar oil for 1 fill of gas. Is this still true for the 290?

Sort of. All depends on bar lenght. Always good to top oil off every fill-up. But if you arent running the maximum length bar, and have the oiler all the way up, you should still have some oil left when you gas it up

 

[BethelHntr]

This plug that Jshan talked about fell out on my stihl ms390 also. The bar oil comes out to the left of the muffler making one heck of a mess, My local stihl dealers only fix was to drive a screw in where the factory plug had come out, So that's what did with a bit of lock tite. Been fine ever since. Good luck!

 

[JimRB]

I forgot part 2 of my MS310. There is a screw on the bottom of the case to adjust how much oil it uses. As LD1 was suggesting my saw is rated for a 16"-25 inch bar. I guess you want more oil to dribble out when you have the long bar on and do not need as much if you have a 16" on. No screw on my baby sized MS210. Folks mention making sure you make sure no paint or wood chips are blocking the oil ports of the bar.

 

[dfkrug]

I ran a 24" bar on the MS290 I mentioned. I also run a 24" on my Husky Rancher 455. These
saws are about the same size and it seems that with the oil pump on the max setting, they
are barely adequate for a bar this big. I suspect that is another differentiator between the
"pro" saws and these mid-grade homeowner/rancher saws. The pro units can be set to
put out more oil. I see that Husky does not even sell any saws less than 60cc with a 24" bar.

On the max oil pump setting for either saw, I run out a full tank of gas before the oil tank
is empty. BTW, I use clean used hydraulic oil for my chain lube.

I was just cutting with another saw with a 24" bar, a 65cc Poulan. This pro saw has a manual
oiler (only) and can be made to put a lot more oil out to the bar.