So I have grandpas old 031av. I got it not running and dropped it at a local stihl shop for service. That was back in 2001. The saw came back running like a top. It felt like twice the saw the new 026pro was. Long story short after a little use the 031av was put in a cedar chest in the garage and forgot about. Bad news is the garage roof leaked in that corner and the saw was in a damp environment for years. It didn't rust bad, the recoil needed to be worked over but it has no spark. It does have compression. Because it was grandpas I'd like to get it going again but our local saw shops won't touch it. They say no parts. Probably needs new stator etc. What do you guys think? Where should I start?
Personally, I would start by taking a look at all of the ignition parts and clean them up - everything has to be clean and conductive for spark. If the recoil side got wet and stayed wet for some time there is a good chance you have some corrosion in there. Maybe you'll get lucky and it's just a matter of cleaning the points. If you run into any trouble let me know, I have a nice parts saw here that I'm almost certain still has all of the ignition components as well as a very nice recoil assembly.
Clean the points for sure. Old saws that sit for long periods of time get a layer of oxidation on the points that prevents them from operating as they should.
Often times the old wax based condensers dry up. There must be at least a hundred threads on the Internet about the points type 031 not having spark?
