Nah, it’s a 5.0. But I do have the tools a and the skillz to repair the 2 valve that blows the plug and threads out of the head and the 3 valve that has the funky plugs that break off in the head.
Never , unless they are bad . I’ve not had one fail in any of my saws ,and rarely in saws I get in for work . I did encounter bad new plug . China Bosch . The saw would not idle right after rebuild . Tore that carb apart a lot of times before the light bulb lit . Now, I use Denso , and Autolite .
I myself would say hardly ever. With today's oil/fuel ratios ( I run 40:1 ) build up on a plug is minimal from oil deposits. I will change if I check and it really shows wear and this takes a ton of hours , If it fails ( also very rare ) or if for some reason it gets fouled out from fuel. Final answer = rarely.
Almost never have to change plugs in the saws here. Grew up on a dairy farm, have done plenty of milking, and plenty of cutting...never once had to change a plug during milking...never even heard of it. Run 32:1 in every 2 stroke I've ever had, have never fouled a plug from "putzing around"...a quality oil should be fine at that ratio if the carb is adjusted right. Actually, get to thinking about it, the only time I have ever oil fouled a plug it was from an autolube system that was set up too high...and I guarantee you the effective oil ratio was way more than 32:1 at that point! (probably more like 20:1) I used to back off the adjustment on autolube pumps all the time...people generally came back talking about how its never run better...don't recall ever blowing one up after either, at least not from lack of oil...
Can’t say I adjusted the carburetor much on my motocross bikes. More or less left them at factory settings, tuned for WOT all the time I did swap the jets when changing to an aftermarket exhaust though. Being that where I was riding was always changing, I never cared enough to really take the time to dial them in.
You probably just needed to lean out the low speed circuit a little for the "putzing around in the woods"...the fuel/air screw on most bike carbs controls mainly the low speed mixture...WOT is controlled by the main jet and the height of the tapered main jet fuel metering needle...that, and the setting of the float height somewhat too. Most of the time changing the exhaust by itself does not make enough difference to mandate jetting changes...sometimes, but not often. Dyno testing on aftermarket pipes proves that many of them made little to no difference...they're just louder, so most people think that it "feels faster". However, making multiple "air flow" (intake/exhaust mods, porting, etc) changes at once will more than likely mean jetting changes...
I'll be the non conformist here. I usually change plugs when I'm gearing up for a winter of cutting. Basically once a year. Been using NGK's with no issues. Not sure but pushing 25 cord or so since last fall so I just want a piece of mind. Plugs at NAPA are less than $5.
No kidding on that. I bought an old beater 2004 F250 and was bummed cuz I figured it had those devil plugs, but it turns out that the F150 had them that year but they were using up the old engines in the F250s and mine is the older style. It was right at the point of needing plugs and a coilpak was out. Dodged that bullet... But I did do the heat em up and soak em thing to avoid stripping the heads... That "design improvement" was kind of a out of the frying pan into the fire thing...
Not too often. Cars and trucks use good plugs nowadays, not like the old days. Only caveat is if it’s a cheap Chinese engine with a cheap Chinese plug. Don’t trust them and for a few bucks it’s easy to buy a better one. The little MS-250 burns up plugs fast too. It’s also possible some new engines, mostly cars are very intolerant of non OEM plugs. Here’s a crazy story I wouldn’t believe if it didnt happen to me. Girlfriend had a Ford Escort. I offered to do a oil change tune up on it. Not much to tune on these cars, just replace normal wear parts. So I went to Napa bought all the parts they recommend to change. Car ran like crap, couldn’t drive it it ran so bad. I’m looking bad here . Called the local Ford dealer and scheduled an appointment to bring it in, let them fix it. Talking to the service guy and explained I replaced plugs and filters and it then ran like crap. He asked where did you buy the plugs? NAPA. That’s it he says. Car won’t run on anything but Ford Autolite plugs. Of course I didn’t believe him. That’s just stupid. Drove to the dealer and bought the Ford plugs anyway, just in case. damm car purred like a kitten. Don’t ask me why.
I use Autolite plugs in all the race engines I build , They are their race plugs but have seemed to be the most reliable and never an issue unless it is from a bad tune up on the fuel side of things. Everything gets run on an engine dyno so when it leaves the shop there are no issues with the air/fuel ratio tune. Small engines like saws and such I run NGK. Champion I won't even use in a lawnmower... I use Autolite plugs in all the race engines I build , They are their race plugs but have seemed to be the most reliable and never an issue unless it is from a bad tune up on the fuel side of things. Everything gets run on an engine dyno so when it leaves the shop there are no issues with the air/fuel ratio tune. Small engines like saws and such I run NGK. Champion I won't even use in a lawnmower...and the Chinese plugs like the " Torch" that comes in a Predator motor goes right in the trash.
Stories pretty old I wouldn’t doubt it if they were Champion. Is that like Napa’s standard brand? Come to think of it the old John Deere MT used to kill plugs all the time. I bet they came from Napa. There’s some old car plugs in it now and they’ve been going over 12 years. I’m gonna bet they’re not Champion. I don’t look, I’m happy there’s a set still working. I’m not jinxing them.
I’m going to the saw shop this afternoon and I’ll continue to leave plugs off my supply list. I’m sure none of y’all lend out your saws, but I figured a friend couldn’t do much damage to my 260PRO. Ooph, I got it back with a hammered chain and scorched to crap bar. I filed out the damage and it’s not cutting right, so I’m going to replace the bar. It’s the original, so it served me well before dummy killed it. He has helped me with some stuff, so I won’t charge him, but he’ll never borrow a saw from me again.
I lent out a saw twice ( maybe you could say once ) ..... first and last time ! That's twice isn't it ??? When I got it back it looked like they cut the driveway to put in an invisible fence for their dog. Never again !!!! Lesson learned .
I get the Denso’s by the 10pack on eBay cheap(ish). Only spark plug problem I’ve had was a Champion. My 394 had one in it when I bought it, so I ran it. But not for long. It didn’t like milling.
You shouldn't be "going easy on the trigger" on a saw. There designed to idle or run wide open. Not really any in-between. If you cut at partial throttle your not going to be getting the cooling and fuel for lube that you need. It will not "save the motor" or " make it last longer" as some may tell you it will do the opposite. I'd run at least 40:1 and run her like you stole her.
I have some china saws I will lend out if need be. If someone needs my big saw I'm happy to help, but I come along as the operator I actually like the china saws I have they run pretty good. Kept some of the earthquakes when that craze was going around the saw forums.
