Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I have a Stihl 026 which has been seeing a lot of service recently, I've been going through about 10 tanks of gas per weekend for the last three weekends, genrally in -10C to -20C weather, I use fresh gas that was mixed  recently and a new spark plug. The problem is that after running through a tank or so I start having problems starting and idling. I've put a new air filter on and that seemed to clear the problem up for a while. I also brush the filter out whenever I refuel. I've even cleaned it using hot hater and soap. Each thing seems to help for a while but the time frame is getting shorter and shorter. One time this weekend just past when I was having trouble starting I took the filter up and it started on the next pull. When I put the filter back on it was fine for about 1/2 tank. At about $30.00CDN per filter I don't want to have to buy more of these things. I've cleaned the old one and am going to give it a try as well. I'm also going to do a more thorough cleaning in the area around the air filter since that is where the ignition cutoff switch is and I've had a couple of problems recently with it as well.

Does anyone have any suggestions about something I might be missing?

hirschallan - Thanks for the info. I was gong through the 026 owners manual and they mentioned the spark arrester screen inside the muffle. It can get clogged which impedes the exhaust and has the same effect as a clogged air filter. It also turns out that when operating below 10C they recommend changing an internal flap which will direct warm air from around the exhaust into the carburetor. There is also a cold weather kit for operating under -10C.

I'm going to investigate your suggestion first since and then look into the others.

They also have a so called "Arctic" version now.

Its funny, I can remember using a dinky little Pioneer chain saw years ago in 3-4 ft ( thats how long ago , Canada was imperial measurements at the time) and it would get so hot the gas would start boiling. If was a nice little saw but would be considered dangerous now since it didn't have a chain brake of any sort.

  im not real familiar with stihl saws.  how old is this.  we had one similar in the shop and it turns out we had to replace the condesor.

Its about 10 years old and generally runs extremely well. Any problems have always been due to me doing something dumb, like doing maintenance on the air filter once every 10 years or so.

I have:

1. Checked the spark arrestor screen, it is clear and was not clogged;
2. Vacumned the 3 week old air filter
3. Completed a general cleaning of the power head;
4. Put the air preheat shutter into the "Winter" position, ambient temperature is about +5C, the shutter is supposed to be in the "Winter" position at or beloow +10C;
5. Examined the spark plug, There was some black on the outter ring however it was mostly grey, the gap was correct, I did not replace it.

Upon testing the engine started easily and ran with no problems for about a minute. It would not idle and restring required using the throttle lock. I could keep it running by reving the engine but it would not idle properly.

I've run out of time for today.  I plan to try testing with the air filter off to see how the engine performs without it.

I won't have time to test things today. I did talk to the local L&G and the only thing they could suggest was to reset the carburetor settings. If that doesn't work then they suggested dissassembly and cleaning of the fuel system.

I also have a stihl 026 which has run fine for several years.  It has recently been serviced by the local stihl dealer.  I started experiencing the same problem last week.  It starts fine, runs fine but after shutting it off, it is very hard to restart.  I pulled the plug which was dry, cleaned the air filter which was fine.  Any ideas?

Check the thread, I posted all the things that I checked and "corrected".

The first thing I get suspicious of when it was easy to start and then hard to start after running is a heat problem. That's what I mentioned the "winter" setting. It could also imply a fuel/oil mix problem.

Have you used the saw much since it was serviced? If so I'd check the air filter. If not maybe the dealer will have suggestions.

The main suspect for my problem was the air filter, since I started cleaning and rotating between the two the problem seems to have gone away. I expect to test it out in the next month or two since I have about 3 cords to cut up.

Good luck.

I've been having a problem with my chainsaw: My chainsaw won't start, it has spark and my fuel mix is good and the carb is good. The only thing I can think of now is the compression or the ignition timing. Can anyone help me?

Konman94 wrote:

or a fuel related issue meaning the carb not letting your gas through