Stihl chainsaw

[aidank]

Last day I was using stihl chainsaw I saw smoke coming from the chain when cutting softwood 6" branches, and upon detailed examination I thought oil was going everywhere but into the oil hole in the chainsaw bar.

Its a Stihl MS231 chainsaw, powerful, but the most needy item I have ever come across in my life. Carb seals, difficult to tune, difficult to start depends on its mood, difficult to pull, pull cords wear out ........... its 6-7years old, 200hrs work ill guess done in total. Its been to the shop for a few visits too. It was bought new and we are good at keeping oil in it, and it gets good petrol

Stihl dont seem to make the MS231 model anymore, I wonder why.

Anyway took off the bar this evening for a better look and I think the oil channel housing is worn, see my pics. To the left of my red line in pic 3, chain somehow seems to have come in contact with the plastic of the mainframe and its eaten it......

Any ideas on how to repair eaten away plastic, rather than oil billowing out around the ground instead of going on the chain.

Did I saw Im not a Stihl fan, have a Stihl strimmer difficult to tune that too................... I have a Japanese hedgetrimmer and Japanese leaf blower, a breeze to start and no carb issues even though both are 20years old

 

[addjunkie]

Oil resistant epoxy will fix that

 

[aidank]

Oil resistant epoxy will fix that

had something similar to your proposal in my thoughts, great minds think alike I guess, any particular product you would recommend,

Trying to clean the area properly for the compound to have a fair chance of sticking and get the compound flat after application will be interesting.

chainsaw bar must be worn or maybe the hole in the bar is worn allowing it to rotate and do that damage. If the mounting bolt was loose then I think chain would have fallen off

 

[Barking Mat]

Was your exhaust box loose ?

That's how I killed mine.

 

[addjunkie]

Id clean with IPA, or maybe acetone. Brake cleaner would work too. I hate chain saws. Couple of guys I know who work in the forest change their saws very regularly, for a reason

 

[aidank]

Was your exhaust box loose ?

That's how I killed mine.

no its not loose, did your loose exhaust somehow do similar damage to my picture

 

[aidank]

what type of plastic would that be

 

[Barking Mat]

no its not loose, did your loose exhaust somehow do similar damage to my picture

Yep, I melted the oil channel going to the chain lubricator hole.

 

[aidank]

Yep, I melted the oil channel going to the chain lubricator hole.

and you couldnt repair and scrapped the saw ?

 

[Barking Mat]

and you couldnt repair and scrapped the saw ?

It's sat out in the shed, it's twenty years old, over the years I've replaced everything on it except the plastic chassis, so I'm ignoring it for the moment, other things more pressing.

 

[Turbo]

Not much point in repairing theat until you find the cause of the problem. Otherwise the chain will wear away the epoxy repair in seconds!

 

[Turbo]

Check for a loose chain, incorrectly set bar and worn drive sprocket as likely causes.
If a saw is correctly set up it will not wear the casing like that.

 

[aidank]

Check for a loose chain, incorrectly set bar and worn drive sprocket as likely causes.
If a saw is correctly set up it will not wear the casing like that.

+1 I have a feeling its the bar

 

[jo1010]

Hmm, I've never seen anything like that....even the home user saws don't normally have faults like that unless there is serious wear/looseness..... Chain and bar need inspection after every long cutting session really

 

[pedrobedro]

Just seen this on Arbtalk forum, something is loose or out of shape somewhere.

 

[Migmac]

I’d check the rails of your bar, if they are worn the chain will have side ways movement which could cause your wear issue.

 

[Kram]

Its a Stihl MS231 chainsaw, powerful, but the most needy item I have ever come across in my life.

Its not a pro Stihl, its a cheapy homeowner grade saw. My boss has one and its poo, then he told me it was free given by a customer, which is fair enough. He has a 462 when he needs a better saw but most if the time he just abuses his 201 on the ground.

As for repair, I had a bar for my 2511 that had the oil holes in the wrong place and a slot, making them useless. I suspect they were display only items, anyway I epoxied it up with cheap poundland stuff and it has worked well. Done a lot of cutting with that saw in the last 6 months.

I suggest put the epoxy and wait for it to almost set, a waxed match stick or similar in the oil groove. Then put a PE bag over it and bolt the bar on. The epoxy wont stick to wax or the bag.

 

[jo1010]

...., its a cheapy homeowner grade saw......

Let's not forget these retail at close to £600 now, so naturally most people think they're buying Stihl quality.......when in fact there are two levels of Stihl quality (pro and home user). I prefer the older saws for build quality and spares availability - but it can be hard to find one that's not been thrashed every day of its life doing what stihls are good at

 

[Turbo]

I have seen that wear before and it's usually caused by the things I listed above.

The better quality saws have a stainless steel plate to protect the plastic.

I just replaced the drive sprocket on a makita electric saw for somebody.

He uses it for wood carving so he runs the chain loose. The sprocket was so badly worn I'm surprised it was even driving the chain and it was failing apart.

The plastic on the saw was eaten away like yours, caused by the worn sprocket and loose chain.

It had raised a burr on the plastic, stopping the guide bar from sitting flush to the body, meaning the oil was running out past the bar.

Once I took the burr off it sealed the leak and the oil was going where it should. Might be worth trying that on your saw.

 

[Kram]

Let's not forget these retail at close to £600 now, so naturally most people think they're buying Stihl quality.......when in fact there are two levels of Stihl quality (pro and home user). I prefer the older saws for build quality and spares availability - but it can be hard to find one that's not been thrashed every day of its life doing what stihls are good at

They are living off reputation now, quality is not what it used to be and hasnt been for a long time. The only real benefit of a pro saw now is the power to weight ratio.

However China has stepped up its quality. Most people would have no problems with a cheapy import saw.