Hey guys, I picked up a minty 51 a month or so ago. Did a muffer mod and retuned - ran great. Notice a leak from the tank vent about 2 weeks ago - ordered a vent and installed today. After first start (started easy), saw ran well for about 30 sec then started to hesitate and then died. After restart, same thing. Then cracked the gas cap and re-tightened - ran excellent again for about 30 second and same problem - saw would do this over and over - run great, then die - pretty much classic tank vent failure problem, but with new vent. Thought it could be a faulty vent (but unlikely), so grabbed my Husq 50 which I put a new vent in last fall - took this new vent out and put in the 51 - same problem. So, I'm now thinking the fuel line is collapsing under negative tank pressure - even with a good tank vent - line feels a little soft (fuel filter looks brand new - but I'll change that too). Only thing that has me wondering is that the saw ran excellent about 3 weeks ago for some cutting - no issue at all - seems strange that the line would have fouled so quickly - but, of course, it's possible. I'll be putting in a new fuel line and filter to see if this solves the issue - but wanted to hear thoughts of other issues. Exhaust is clear, top end spotless and pulling 165 psi, air filter new. A carb kit is probably in order - I'm sure it's the original diaphragms - so will order a kit as I do the line and filter. I'm guessing all will be well after replacing/rebuilding, but thought I'd see other thoughts and at least put this out there as an issue to post the solution after I fix it. Cheers!
If the leaky vent flowed too much it would not create enough vacuum to collapse the line as you suspect. My guess.
Thanks lukem - the leaky vent was replaced with new vent - then, after the problem, I tried another new vent from my other saw (Husq 50) - the problem first appeared with the two new vents installed (no leak) - this is why I thought the additional vac was collapsing the line. Cheers!
It might take a bit of time under pressure to toast the fuel line. ..so I could see it working fine for a while. I'm still guessing here.
Yeah - thinking the leaky old vent might have been able to reduce tank vacuum enough to keep the old line from collapsing, but with the new vent installed with better seal, it allowed the old line to finally start to fail (collapse) - just my thought right now - haven't fiddled too much - but I think this is the likely culprit - other systems seem fine. Cheers!
Hey NH, my first inclination would be to swap out the newer fuel line and filter from the 50 and see if it behaves any better.
Hey FredRed - yep, I almost did, but figured I'd save time and just replace the line (it's old) - but, that would have been the thing to do to better figure this out! Cheers!
Just a quick update - replaced the fuel line today. When I pulled the line from the tank it just snapped in half at the grommet - real bad line. New line and running line a new saw - easy peasy. Figured things like this are worth posting for others looking for fixes to easy problems. Cheers!
Me too Fuzz - she's a nice little saw - fun and light to use - I think I'll keep her for a while. Woods are still open enough to get out and cut - hoping for some trigger time next week! But, I may open up the muffler a little more by then to see how she responds. Wish I was trying out that 266 of yours!! Cheers!
