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Stihl ms170 chainsaw will not start

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dayleh
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 5 Quaker City, ohio
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2008-08-24          156272


I had my chainsaw out last week and it started and ran great. I got it out this week and it wouldn't start, not even fire. I pulled the spark plug and cleaned it, no help, tried using starting fluid to start it but still no fire. I bought a new spark plug but still nothing. I held the spark plug against the top of the cylinder and turned it over. There is a small blue spark at the spark plug. I have also taken the carb. apart but it looks clean. Any ideas what I have missed??

thanks in advance for the help.
dayle




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kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2008-08-24          156273


Did you fill the tank with the same fuel you used last week? It sounds like old fuel or plugged fuel filter. ....


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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2008-08-25          156283


Check the exhaust for insect clogging it. kt ....


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DennisCTB
Join Date: Nov 1998
Posts: 2707 NorthWest NJ
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2008-08-25          156284


Make sure you are using new gas.

Take the air cleaner off and pour 1 tablespoon of fuel into the carb with the plate open.

Try to start, repeat process as needed :)

If you get a bit of a start this way but it dies you know that the electrical is good.

Replace in tank hose and filter.

....


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dayleh
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 5 Quaker City, ohio
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2008-08-26          156325


Ok

this was the same tank of gas that I used last time. I tool the muffler off before and cleaned the spark arrestor screen.
I have just tried putting gas directly into the carb. about three or four times but it still will not fire at all and the front of the muffler is wet with gas.

any other ideas?

thanks
dayle ....


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DennisCTB
Join Date: Nov 1998
Posts: 2707 NorthWest NJ
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2008-08-26          156327


After pouring the tablespoon of gas down the carb throat are you setting the throttle to choke or run? Try it on run instead of choke so you get more air. Spark, gas and air should equal explosion :)

Hard starting can be frustrating. ....


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Chief
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 4297 Southwest MiddleTennessee
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2008-08-26          156334


I have a Stihl ST420 blower/sprayer do something like this when I first got it. Turns out the magneto/coilpack went bad. This could also be a problem with the mag pickup on the flywheel. The spark may be intermittent. If you tried ether, it should have at least sputtered if you had any spark. ....


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dayleh
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 5 Quaker City, ohio
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2008-08-26          156338


I have tried both choke and run but neither made a difference. ....


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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2008-08-27          156349


My chain saw is a Shindaiwa. It will not crack if has weak gas or gets flooded. If it were my chain saw I would drain out all gas and buy new gas and new oil mix if I had confidence in the spark being there. Check and see if you have any water in the gas. Even fresh gas could. Never had any problem with our Stihl leaf blower execpt when insects blocked the exhaust ports. That machine will set for a couple of months between uses. Sometimes a reasonable shop fee is cheap. kt ....


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Justus
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 179 Justus, Pa.
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2008-08-27          156354


Did you have the proper oil to gas mixture? ....


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dayleh
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 5 Quaker City, ohio
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2008-08-27          156366


I have mixed new gas at the 50:1 ratio before trying any of the other stuff. ....


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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2008-08-28          156381


Unlike many other brands, Stihls are sold only by shops that service them, so if all else fails you can bring it in. ....


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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2008-08-29          156390


dayleh, based upon my own experience, if you have let your saw sit a day or so since last trying it, put in a new spark plug and then use the normal process to start it. Don't vary anything from the way it has always worked such as number of pulls with choke on or such. Has worked for me a few times. Sometimes having a problem we will change the way we have always started a engine and miss something as simple as switching it on or priming it. Last fall one of my son in laws borrowed my saw, after a couple of hours he came back with it and it will not start. Have pulled it and pulled it and will not even fire. I had used it just like you a few days ealier and no problem and I failed to start it also. Changed plug with no effect. Let it sit for a few hours and amazing it started and ran fine. I really believe you can get such a build up of fumes and oil in there some 2 cycle engines just need to air it out. Back in the days of carbs on car engines have seen that also.

Years ago one of my brother in laws and I were cutting fire wood. We stopped for refueling and his saw would not start. He pulled and pulled it and even when ask is it on, yep! I switch and it was off. He took my saw and pulled and pulled and failed to start it to which I asked again, if is off, yep! Humous as it could be he had pulled for several minutes on two different saws with both being switched off even when asked on each saw. Hate to say I have done the same also. ....


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Woodie
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 109 Michigan lower
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2008-08-29          156405


My brother and I have run Stihl saws for about 20 years. "Knock on wood" - we have had only a few 'minor problems" but nothing to say major problems (spark plugs now and then,normal wear /tear items and once the saw stopped-somehow sawdust got builtup inside the clutch area and would not allow turn over). My saw is about 25 yrs old with 40:1 mix ratio and have used 87octane and have had not problems starting...my brother recent bought two newer models and has found-- The ONE BIG change is GAS! - Read the owners manual.. they call for Premimun grade for the mix... yes it makes a difference .. We were cutting with a friend who had a brand new one week old Stihl he refilled with a batch he made with regular 87 gas and his saw would not start. we dumped his mix out and refilled with the 'higrade mix' took abit to work it thru the carb etc but his saw started...
The service shop keeps telling me its okay to switch my old saw to the 50:1 mix -but i'm like hey the saw has run this long with the old diet and it has not given me any complains.. just me having to measureout the oil dosage for the right proportions...no premeasured bottles for me...darn... he he ....


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Cheymax
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 31 Ohio
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2021-03-19          200145


I have some tree work ahead of me. Been a while since I started my Stihl 026 Chainsaw.

I usually start it after long periods of none use by doing what was said pouring alittle gas directly into the cylinder by remiving the spark plug. Also putting ne plu in cannot hurt.

But it has been so long I do not look forward to it at all.

It is weird because I have a RedMax Blower which is made by Husqvarna and it is dream to start never ever a problem and it is 30 years old wheras the Stihl 026 is about 20, and has honestly been rough after the first year or two.

Wondering if anyone here has the same good luck with RedMax Husqvarna and Bad luck with Stihl ? ....


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Chief
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 4297 Southwest MiddleTennessee
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2021-03-19          200146


Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheymax | view 200145
I have some tree work ahead of me.Been a while since I started my Stihl 026 Chainsaw.I usually start it after long periods of none use by doing what was said pouring alittle gas directly into the cylinder by remiving the spark plug.Also putting ne plu in cannot hurt.But it has been so long I do not look forward to it at all.It is weird because I have a RedMax Blower which is made by Husqvarna and it is dream to start never ever a problem and it is 30 years old wheras the Stihl 026 is about 20, and has honestly been rough after the first year or two.Wondering if anyone here has the same good luck with RedMax Husqvarna and Bad luck with Stihl ?


I feel your pain and sense of dread Cheymax. About a month ago, I decided to cut some firewood from my pile of paper logs and got out my Stihl O-66. It has specific steps that must be followed for it to start and even then is not the best at being responsive, especially on cold days when it has gotten very cold.

I did my usual start steps and it fired right up for about 10 pops and died. After that, it would not start no matter what I did, including removing the plug to make sure it was good and not soaked.

After doing battle with the pull rope for about an hour, I finally threw in the towel and got a can of ether. I removed the airfilter and gave the girl an EVER so small wif of either. I loath using ether to start anything and only do it when I absolutely have to, especially with diesels. In any case, after giving the old girl a small wif of either, she fired right up on the second pull. At 63 years old, I prefer not to spend an hour pulling on the start rope until I am exhausted and sometimes, discretion is the better part of valor. ;-)

IF you have the cash and don't mind another saw, you might want to consider the Stihl MSA 220 C-B. It is a haus of a saw for an electric/battery powered saw. I think it will cut almost a cord of firewood on a single charge depending upon what kind of firewood you are cutting.

While in the Stihl shop, looking at the battery powered saw, the guy working there saw me looking at the MS 261c and I asked if they had something just a bit bigger like the 261 and he told me they had an MS 441C in the back that a customer ordered and never picked up. I couldn't resist. It has the compression release, so I will give it a try and see how easy it is to start. I haven't tried it yet.

I may still get the MSA 220 C-B to take with me when I am out on the Kubota RTVX 1100 or atv and come across a tree down on a trail.

....


Link:   Stihl MSA 220 C-B

 

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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2021-03-23          200168


The best advice I can give on starting any of the newer gas tools is to follow their directions to the letter. On my sthil I believe is something like two but no more than four pulls with choke on if engine is cold. Then bump choke off of full choke to guess called fast idle. I know if you flood my sthils you might as well find another job for at least thirty minutes for the gas to clear out.

As to the older power tools cranking easier, the sthil I use and I have discussed that in depth. He said it is due to the epa rules. The newer ones run so much leaner and that makes them harder to crank. Ok seems contrary to the flooding issue. As to Red Max being made by Husky years ago, not what I thought. Not saying I am wright just repeating what my Red Max dealer told me when I bought Red Max about a year ago. He said Red Max was bought by Husky due to Red Max was meeting epa standards and Husky was failing to. He went on to say Red Max was to become the professional line and Husky would be the consumer line. NO WAY AM I CERTAIN HE IS correct but he seemed very confident in what he was saying. Red Max and Husky did use two different types of connections on their split systems and last year they became the same which makes it seem they only recently became one company.

Oh first thing I have really learned to do on any small engine, pump the fuel bulb till it is tight. I don't care how many pumps it takes. If you don't forget two or four pulls to crank the engine. ....


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Cheymax
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 31 Ohio
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2021-03-25          200171


Quote:
Originally Posted by kthompson | view 200168
.....As to Red Max being made by Husky years ago, not what I thought. Not saying I am wright just repeating what my Red Max dealer told me when I bought Red Max about a year ago. He said Red Max was bought by Husky due to Red Max was meeting epa standards and Husky was failing to. He went on to say Red Max was to become the professional line and Husky would be the consumer line...


KT thanks so much. You saved me from going down the wrong path thinking RedMax and Husky were the same, only in name now. When I bought the Red Max the dealer touted that all the landscapers swore by them not at them.

I think my Dad breifly had a Poulan at one time or Poulan private label, it was awful anyway, hard to impossible to adjust the the chain tension. The Stihls were a dream by comparison.

For whatever reason I find the gas bulb tools start easier than the ones without, and as you say keep on squeezing that bulb.

I was not thinking that a brand new saw would be a pain becasue of EPA regulation making them hard starting, great point.
....


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charlieK
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 136 kentucky
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2021-05-06          200297


my stihl ms170 has been at the shop 1 month and not yet finished ....


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Handson
Join Date: Apr 2020
Posts: 28
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2021-05-07          200301


Quote:
Originally Posted by charlieK | view 200297
my stihl ms170 has been at the shop 1 month and not yet finished


I wonder if it is that they are short handed or as things get back to normal they are swamped with stuff to repair or Both! ....


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