Plastic ChainSaw won't start

[john_eckels]

I got my wife a Hitachi chainsaw for christmas. I think it is made by Tanaka. I got it from Woot and it was around $70 after rebate. It wont start due to lack of spark. I tried another plug out of something that runs and still no spark. I checked the switch to make sure it functions properly. I am guessing that the coil is bad. Are there any other quick checks I can perform?

 

[splitshot]

Warranty?

 

[Junk]

Will it fit in the trash whole or do you have to break it up?

Had a husky for a few years. Thing ran like crap all the time if I could get it started at all. Bought a Stihl and never looked back.

 

[john_eckels]

cost to ship it is more than it is worth. It may be worth checking to see if they will send me parts for free. Is there a way to check the coil with an ohm meter?

Warranty?

 

[D'Animal]

There is no way to check the electronic ignition modules with an ohm meter. The old coils that worked with Points you could, but not the electronic ones.

Make sure you are getting a good ground on the sparkplug and look real close for the spark. Many have a very slight ark, turn the lights off in your shop to see it if you have to. As much as you would love to get the neighbor kid to hold the sparkplug wire while you crank it, please refrane from doing it. Some of those modules put out 28kV. They will make that poor unexpecting neighbor kid scream and piss down his leg.

Next remove the starter assy and find the ignition module. There should be the high tension lead (spark plug wire) and since you mentioned the saw had a lot of polymer there should be two other wires coming out of the module. Unplug the other two wires and then recheck for spark.

If you have spark, that means that the wires have grounded themselves out some where on their journey to the switch. One wire is a Ground wire. The other wire has the electrical Juice running through it.

Good luck

 

[john_eckels]

Thanks Dan. Tried all that and still no spark. I emaild Hitachi describing the problem and asking them to send me a new coil. Sears Parts Direct sells it for $24. BTW, I will probably be purchasing a new gas hedge trimmer this season. Is there a particular Stihl model you recommend?

 

[john_eckels]

Almost 3 months later, Sears Parts Direct finally sent the ignition coil. Put it on tonight and it started on the fifth or sixth pull . I have a total of $105 invested now.

 

[D'Animal]

Glad you got it going. Set the air gap as close to the flywheel as you can for the hotest spark. A thin business card works great. .006 - .008 is ideal.