Continuing to battle with my Stihl 026 to get it running correctly. I replaced the carburetor after a number of issues a while back, replaced fuel lines as well, and seemed to start up and run OK but I never actually put it to use, just started up for a few minutes at a time. I got the saw out Saturday and was planning to use it, it seemed to only want to start with the chain brake disengaged, and if I got it started without the chain brake, then engaged the chain brake it immediately stalled and cut off. I also found that the pull start saw was extremely hard to pull - I could barely hold the saw still while I pulled on the string because I had to pull so hard. Anyway, decided to pull the bar off and look at the clutch just to see what things looked like, and the shroud that sits over the clutch was very hard to remove. I finally got it off and saw that the needle bearing underneath had disintegrated, just a few rollers were left intact. So I plan to order a new clutch and needle bearing. Seems easy enough based on some YouTube videos. Is it necessary to grease this needle bearing on re-installation or does it get lubrication from bar oil?
Clean up the end of the crank with some fine sandpaper and remove any grit from sanding. Apply a small amount of grease to needle bearing and install ( clean up inside of clutch drum as well and wipe clean ) Reinstall the clutch drum , you might have to rotate it to get the drive for the oil pump to line up with the notch in outside of the drum. Do not over grease , otherwise it could get on the clutch shoes. Put an occasional cleaning and grease on your preventive maintenance list in the future. Bearing is not lubricated by the bar oil.
Thanks for the info! Is there a standard grease to use? I am an engineer in my day-to-day work so normally I am specific about which types of greases are used for which application, generally speaking.
I just use a good quality wheel bearing grease , I happen to be using Lucas Red & Tacky at the moment. When I was racing karts we actually used petroleum jelly but those clutches were serviced weekly or sometimes even daily , a lot more often than a saw clutch will ever be serviced.
I had the same thing happen to my MS290 (no longer owned) a couple years ago. It suddenly stalls and very hard to pull the rope. I thought it had seized!? I later found a washer like ring on the ground and when i took the bar off found remnants of the bearings. Did some research and found it to be a relatively common problem and easy fix. Simple fix. $10 from my OPE dealer for new bearing and some grease and i was back in business. Let us know how you make out pcable89
Thanks for the info. I had planned to replace the clutch as well because I was worried about remnants of the needle bearing floating around in it somewhere. I guess I could just start with replacing the bearing and at least have a clutch on hand just in case.
That bearing should get a periodic greasing. I like a good quality synthetic grease that can withstand a little heat. That red and tacky is good stuff IMO.
Looks like everyone has ya covered. I use a NLGI#2 grease. Blow out the clutch area with air if worried about bearing remnants. Good luck.
Finally got this new clutch and needle bearing in, greased the bearing with some high temperature red wheel bearing grease, and seems to fire up and run now like it's supposed to. Gave it a quick test run through a 4" log just to see how the newly sharpened chain was working. We'll see how it holds up when I use for an extended period, but seems to be "normal" now. Thanks for all the help and advice, I *hope* this finally resolves the issues I've been having on the saw.
