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?

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