I Paid Too Much For A Saw To Act Like This!

We would have people bring their bikes in and say "it says on the internet that its blah blah blah wrong with my bike" we would always say then go plug into the internet and let it fix your bike...this was before most bikes/quads were EFI...point is, still no substitute for a knowledgeable mechanic.

 

I was pondering this saw last evening. Can you narrow down what conditions the saw was running when shut down and will not fire?

What coil is on the saw? 4701?

 

I was cutting an ash log, about 40" in diameter, into 16" rounds. After each round I shut the saw off and got on my BX and used the loader to break the round loose then move it out of the way. Then I started the saw by depressing the throttle and setting the switch to 'Start' per Stihl instructions. The shutdown time for each was about 5 to 7 minutes. This procedure worked fine until the 10th round. I followed the same starting procedure but it never even gave a pop.

What was so usual about this was the saw started 9 out of 10 times. Most of the time I get 2 or 3 starts before it refuses to start.

I've tried starting the saw in the run position and it will start...2 or 3 times then nothing. Seems no matter which way I try to start it, with the exception of the otber dsu I get 2 or 3 starts then I have to leave the saw sit for a couple of hours before it will start.

What coil? What ever came with a new 661. I'm kinda like the character Oddball from the movie Kelly's Heros "Oh baby, I just run 'em, I don't know what makes 'em work."

 

Mr. Ralph ,
As someone else said ... check the solenoid . Next time I'm down at the dealer , I'm ordering one just to have as a spare .But , also check your wiring ,in particular the spade connectors . They are mechanically crimped ,and not particularly well at that . Hit the connectors with solder to ensure a solid bond . Not saying that the crimps are causing yourparticular problem . But , bad connections make openings for gremlins to cause mysterious and intermittent failures .

 

Good advice, thanks.

 

Did you take it back yet....crazy, surely they would have a recall on these....everytime I read one like this, it seems to be the solenoid....

But yes you paid to much to deal with this for sure....take it back, they will make it right!!

 

Going back at the end of the month. I'll be taking a bicycle tour and won't need it for a month.

 

Okay the mystery may soon be solved it's in the shop. The down side is they're 4 weeks behind. Tis the season ya know.

 

Did ya get you a splitter yet ?

 

Yep, I did as a matter of fact. I've only used it once and split more wood in an hour than I would normally split all day! We have company for a few days so no wood work for now.

The splitter is a County Line 25 ton and has split some ash rounds in the 50"+ range and so far its seems like it will take anything I can manage to drag or push under the wedge.

Pictures to follow soon.

 

That's good , your body will thank you
Even with hydraulics those biguns are not easy work
Hydraulics = more time other things

 

It's very common for some dealers to not see big saws. If there in a suburban area at an equipment shop frequented by loafer wearing big shiny truck driving suburban dad's that have to have the "best" tools, and buy a "big" stihl...a ms250 or the Farm Boss. This may not be the place where the pro tree service guys go who is the 661 clientel, very few firewood cutters as a percentage have 90cc saws...We're all the exception .

Around here most of the trees are cut back to about 10" or so and then they leave the rest. They just clean up the messy top for me to get to the main part where some progress and decent firewood yielding wood come from.

 

How about until you take it in just get it running and leave it running till time for gas or done.

It would do your blood pressure and frustration level good.

Sure it doesn't fix it but you said not till the end of may or something will you take it in.

 

Took 2 months to get my husq 55 back from the shop , If I ever need to take a saw into a shop again I'm not takin it there

 

I'm curious to hear what you find out on your 661. I found out mine did not like being stored on it's side (flippy caps up as bar oil was sloooowwly leaking out as it usually does with flippy caps)... it flooded big time laying like that and I had to pull the sparkplug and let it dry out before it would start.

 

The Stihl dealer phoned me yesterday to tell me my 661 is ready. I'm in Columbia County, NY until this Sunday so it will be a while before I get to try it out.

They "cleaned the carb", don't know why because it's only had ethanol-free high test fuel and Stihl synthetic 2-cycle oil in it, and not much more than 7 or 8 tanks full at that. But the main problem was a solenoid was bad. I don't kow what solenoid because my hearing aids don't like cell phones. I know so little about the mechanics of the saw that I don't even know if there is more than one!

I believe there is a fuel control solenoid which is most likely what was replaced.

The repairs cost me a C note and change. We'll see in a week or 10 days if it fixed tbe problem.

 

Shouldn't that be under warranty? IE, zero cost to you? It's a new saw, no?

 

I thought it was under warrenty?

I beleive there referring to the one that controls fuel? I can't remember if that is what was giving problems to others. I don't follow this saw that much so I can't say for sure?

 

I typed the same thing but opened my phone again and saw I never hit send. Haha.