I am having no end of trouble with my Stihl 026. Here's a basic chronology of what's gone on so far.
I bought it about a year ago, used. It clearly had been around the block (and, weirdly, had the chain on backwards) but had 150psi compression, ran great, and once the chain was properly installed it cut wonderfully.
I didn't know how sensitive 2-stroke equipment was to gasohol and old mix, so instead of putting the old mix in my truck and making new, I used the old stuff. That was where the trouble started, which ended up with, wait for it, the engine eating itself (scratched piston and cylinder).
I cleaned out the jug, installed a new Meteor piston, replaced the oil seal on each side, replaced the fuel line and impulse line, replaced the membranes in the carb (not a full rebuild, though - local saw shop sold me this kinda minimal kit), and fired it up. It ran poorly and the engine was starting to eat itself again. Grr. Clearly my attempt at a pressure and vacuum test was not adequate. I figured the problem was most likely either my attempt at a partial carb rebuild or that I hadn't tightened the hose from the carb to the jug adequately.
So I cleaned up the piston and cylinder, and in doing so busted a ring. Grr. By this point my Hutzl stuff had arrived from China - I hate to order Chinese stuff but I figured if the engine was going to eat itself one more time, it had better be with a $30 p/c kit and not the expensive stuff. So I put on the Hutzl p/c (which used different rings from the Meteor), rebuilt the carb with a proper Stihl kit this time, and ... ran poorly. Shut it down before it could eat itself.
Put on a new Walbro WT-194, on the grounds that some people said some carbs just weren't 'right' even if rebuilt properly. At this point, it idles, but it revs really poorly and then dies. After dying, it willl take several tries to restart, during which it gets closer and closer to starting. To me it sounds like I'm not getting fuel to the engine. But the fuel line is brand new and is supposed to be original Stihl (came from the Stihl dealer).
I have a video of the saw running, attempting to rev, and stalling. It's on Youtube at (I would have uploaded it here, but it seems like the max size is 3mb and the file was 85mb)
Thanks in advance for any input!
I bought it about a year ago, used. It clearly had been around the block (and, weirdly, had the chain on backwards) but had 150psi compression, ran great, and once the chain was properly installed it cut wonderfully.
I didn't know how sensitive 2-stroke equipment was to gasohol and old mix, so instead of putting the old mix in my truck and making new, I used the old stuff. That was where the trouble started, which ended up with, wait for it, the engine eating itself (scratched piston and cylinder).
I cleaned out the jug, installed a new Meteor piston, replaced the oil seal on each side, replaced the fuel line and impulse line, replaced the membranes in the carb (not a full rebuild, though - local saw shop sold me this kinda minimal kit), and fired it up. It ran poorly and the engine was starting to eat itself again. Grr. Clearly my attempt at a pressure and vacuum test was not adequate. I figured the problem was most likely either my attempt at a partial carb rebuild or that I hadn't tightened the hose from the carb to the jug adequately.
So I cleaned up the piston and cylinder, and in doing so busted a ring. Grr. By this point my Hutzl stuff had arrived from China - I hate to order Chinese stuff but I figured if the engine was going to eat itself one more time, it had better be with a $30 p/c kit and not the expensive stuff. So I put on the Hutzl p/c (which used different rings from the Meteor), rebuilt the carb with a proper Stihl kit this time, and ... ran poorly. Shut it down before it could eat itself.
Put on a new Walbro WT-194, on the grounds that some people said some carbs just weren't 'right' even if rebuilt properly. At this point, it idles, but it revs really poorly and then dies. After dying, it willl take several tries to restart, during which it gets closer and closer to starting. To me it sounds like I'm not getting fuel to the engine. But the fuel line is brand new and is supposed to be original Stihl (came from the Stihl dealer).
I have a video of the saw running, attempting to rev, and stalling. It's on Youtube at (I would have uploaded it here, but it seems like the max size is 3mb and the file was 85mb)
Thanks in advance for any input!
Just had a round with a FS90 that had the same symptoms....
