# Having trouble with Stihl customer service



## Osagebndr (Mar 24, 2014)

Ill start off by saying there isn't a better chainsaw( in my opinion anyway) than Stihl. However I bought a ms271 in feb of this year and have had a awful time with the oiler not keeping up with the saw. I'm using Stihl winter grade bar oil and cleaning the saw inside and out everytime I use it. The bar is start to show extreme signs of wear fur to over heating and the chain is a mess. Can't keep it sharp for love nor money. And to top it off the dealers in my area aren't really that keen in doing anything about it and neither it seems is Stihl. That's a $425 investment that's aggravating me something awful. Anyway enough of my rantings, has anyone else had this issue


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## cityboy172 (Mar 24, 2014)

Sorry to hear about your problems, interested to see where this goes with stihl.

This advice was probably worth what I paid for it, but my dealer advised against using winter weight oil.  He made the point that the oil tank is on the back side of the crank case, and under the exhaust.   After about 30-60 seconds of run time, regular oil is warm and no longer in a molasses state.

Edit. - you're in central Indiana. I wouldn't even consider winter weight.


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## Ashful (Mar 24, 2014)

Osagebndr said:


> The bar is start to show extreme signs of wear fur to over heating and the chain is a mess. Can't keep it sharp for love nor money.


Sorry to hear about your trouble, but your statement about having trouble keeping the chain sharp has me curious here.  A dull chain will quickly overheat a bar, much more so than you might expect.  Please elaborate on the chain sharpening / staying sharp issue.


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## Ashful (Mar 24, 2014)

cityboy172 said:


> This advice was probably worth what I paid for it, but my dealer advised against using winter weight oil.  He made the point that the oil tank is on the back side of the crank case, and under the exhaust.   After about 30-60 seconds of run time, regular oil is warm and no longer in a molasses state.


I suspect that at our temperatures (usually above 0 F), standard bar oil will pump and distribute okay, even in a cold saw.  However, pouring it becomes very difficult on cold and windy days.  Stihl winter grade on a 10F - 20F day pours just like standard grade does at 60F - 70F, which is why I use it.  Pouring standard grade into a saw on a cold winter day is an exercise in patience, that I don't care to perform a dozen times on a given Saturday.  My temperatures are pretty similar to the OP's central Indiana.


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## cityboy172 (Mar 24, 2014)

Joful said:


> Sorry to hear about your trouble, but your statement about having trouble keeping the chain sharp has me curious here.  A dull chain will quickly overheat a bar, much more so than you might expect.  Please elaborate on the chain sharpening / staying sharp issue.



Good catch.

 Don't take this personally, but is this your first season cutting frozen wood ?   I personally find that chain life is INCREDIBLY shorter in frozen wood. I went through a lot of frozen hard wood this winter, and it was real hard on my chains. And me.


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## Osage (Mar 24, 2014)

Osagebndr said:


> Ill start off by saying there isn't a better chainsaw( in my opinion anyway) than Stihl. However I bought a ms271 in feb of this year and have had a awful time with the oiler not keeping up with the saw. I'm using Stihl winter grade bar oil and cleaning the saw inside and out everytime I use it. The bar is start to show extreme signs of wear fur to over heating and the chain is a mess. Can't keep it sharp for love nor money. And to top it off the dealers in my area aren't really that keen in doing anything about it and neither it seems is Stihl. That's a $425 investment that's aggravating me something awful. Anyway enough of my rantings, has anyone else had this issue


 
Interesting--------- I just took my new in January, MS290 in for the same reason. Would cut fine in smaller stuff where it had a chance to catch up on oiling, but as soon as you tied into something big it would run dry. Had the oiler adjusted as open as it would go. Don't believe it had anything to do with a sharp chain because it would do it on a new one.
Hate to say it, but I fired up the old Jonsered, which has never let me down to finish my three year plan.


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## Ashful (Mar 24, 2014)

Osage said:


> Interesting--------- I just took my new in January, MS290 in for the same reason. Would cut fine in smaller stuff where it had a chance to catch up on oiling, but as soon as you tied into something big it would run dry. Had the oiler adjusted as open as it would go. Don't believe it had anything to do with a sharp chain because it would do it on a new one.
> Hate to say it, but I fired up the old Jonsered, which has never let me down to finish my three year plan.


I've owned a few Stihl's, and used many more.  I have also owned Husqvarna, Homelite, Craftsman, and Poulan.  The oilers on modern Stihl's and Husq's are a little more stingey than older automatic oilers, likely in some effort to reduce pollution, but they still work plenty well on my saws.  If you want to talk about "big stuff", most of the time spent with my 064 is with a 28" or 36" bar buried to the nose in green oak or ash.  The oiler has never had trouble "keeping up".

Most of the time I see someone having trouble with an overheating bar / chain, it's because the chain is dull.  The second thing I see is folks who don't clean their bar groove on each chain swap.  I've bought used saws where this bar groove is so compacted you almost can't tell if the clean-out tool is hitting sawdust or metal, when you plunge it into the groove.  Do you have one of these?


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## TreePointer (Mar 24, 2014)

Pics of this "wear" would help, too.


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## Fifelaker (Mar 24, 2014)

I use a hacksaw blade to clean the grooves. I had a 18" stihl es that would not oil to my satisfaction and the cure was to enlarge the holes it the bar a bit.


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## TreePointer (Mar 24, 2014)

I haven't had it happen with Stihl bars, but some bars have excess paint in the oil holes.  The solution is to remove the paint from the hole and in the groove near the hole.

Also, ensure that you are running the proper chain and bar combination.  It's not unheard of for a dealer to make a mistake by not having matching pitch and/or gauge on a saw.


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## Osage (Mar 24, 2014)

Joful said:


> I've owned a few Stihl's, and used many more.  I have also owned Husqvarna, Homelite, Craftsman, and Poulan.  The oilers on modern Stihl's and Husq's are a little more stingey than older automatic oilers, likely in some effort to reduce pollution, but they still work plenty well on my saws.  If you want to talk about "big stuff", most of the time spent with my 064 is with a 28" or 36" bar buried to the nose in green oak or ash.  The oiler has never had trouble "keeping up".
> 
> Most of the time I see someone having trouble with an overheating bar / chain, it's because the chain is dull.  The second thing I see is folks who don't clean their bar groove on each chain swap.  I've bought used saws where this bar groove is so compacted you almost can't tell if the clean-out tool is hitting sawdust or metal, when you plunge it into the groove.  Do you have one of these?
> 
> View attachment 130422


 
Always clean the groove when I replace the chain. A plugged groove, oiler hole or dull chain is not the issue.


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## TreePointer (Mar 24, 2014)

_Osagebndr_, does the saw throw oil off the tip?  This is a test you should perform before every time you cut with your saw.

Turn your oiler screw (bottom of saw) to the fully opened position and perform the test seen at 21:15 of this video:



If you haven't already done so, the entire video is worth watching


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## Osagebndr (Mar 24, 2014)

Plenty of good advice here . I have cut frozen wood with older Stihl saws I had with adjustable oilers and I use a lot of Stihl winter grade bar oil you just can't beat it as far as pour ability  when it's extremely cold out. Spoke to Stihl today and am going to take the saw in to have it looked at again or sent to them for  service whichever it takes to fix it.


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## TreePointer (Mar 24, 2014)

cityboy172 said:


> Edit. - you're in central Indiana. I wouldn't even consider winter weight.



I'm going to disagree with this statement.  I've had regular weight bar oil (Husqvarna and TSC) mix with chips and dust to form a slurry in the bar groove and then freeze there.  This won't happen when you first use your saw in cold temps, and especially if you store your saws and bar oil jug in a warm garage.  This can indeed happen if you use the same saw in cold weather and set it down for a while.  The bar will get extremely cold and actually solidify the slurry.  Once that happens, damage may occur, including throwing and snapping chains.  I've had it happen at 20*F.


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## Osagebndr (Mar 24, 2014)

Ill take apic shortly . The ms271 has an automatic oiler it is not adjustable from the bottom like the older saws were. As far as the oil slinging from the end of the bar it just spits it out on the cardboard no pattern like it should have


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## cityboy172 (Mar 24, 2014)

TreePointer said:


> I'm going to disagree with this statement.  I've had regular weight bar oil (Husqvarna and TSC) mix with chips and dust to form a slurry in the bar groove and then freeze there.  This won't happen when you first use your saw in cold temps, and especially if you store your saws and bar oil jug in a warm garage.  This can indeed happen if you use the same saw in cold weather and set it down for a while.  The bar will get extremely cold and actually solidify the slurry.  Once that happens, damage may occur, including throwing and snapping chains.  I've had it happen at 20*F.



Zero issues here to date. I probably run as much in the winter as I do in the summer for 7 years now.  I'm not saying there isn't a need for winter weight, I just think a lot of people use it more then they should.  Personally, I going to keep running orange jug until I have a problem with it. Knock on wood, I've only jade one snap on me to date, and that was in good weather.


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## Osagebndr (Mar 24, 2014)

As promised here are some pics


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## Osagebndr (Mar 24, 2014)

Anyway seems like a lot of wear on something I just bought 6 wld ago. Cut 9 Rick with it


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## Ashful (Mar 24, 2014)

Osage said:


> Always clean the groove when I replace the chain. A plugged groove, oiler hole or dull chain is not the issue.


Was as much for the OP as your issue.


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## Ashful (Mar 24, 2014)

Osagebndr said:


> Ill take apic shortly . The ms271 has an automatic oiler it is not adjustable from the bottom like the older saws were.


Not an old saw feature, but a pro saw feature.  Homeowner saws have fixed oilers, most pro saws have adjustable oilers.  Some exceptions to this rule, tho, like 036 (fixed) and 036 Pro (adjustable), both being pro level saws.


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## Osagebndr (Mar 24, 2014)

Didn't know that joful. My 290& 039 both have adj oilers


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## TreePointer (Mar 24, 2014)

Looks like a 20" bar, right?  That's the max "recommended" bar length for that saw.  Those ratings are more selling points than practical limitations.  In hardwoods, I wouldn't go that long on a 50cc saw.

From the wear pattern on your bar, it looks like you bite in with your dogs and lever down into the wood a lot.  If so, you could be creating a lot of extra friction (heat) that can't be handled by the B&C oil.  Try letting the sharp chain cut the wood without leaning on it.

Another test is to have the dealer swap a known to be functioning 16" bar & chain (or 18") onto the saw to see how it throws oil.  If the dealer doesn't have one of those around, leave the store and find a good full service dealer.


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## Ashful (Mar 24, 2014)

290's aren't old!  ;-)

Probably lots of exceptions to that "rule".


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## Osagebndr (Mar 24, 2014)

Lol you're rite joful 290 s aren't old  and a very good saw to boot. Ill take that under advise tree pointer i really don't bear down on my saw, it cuts very well just seems to get hot real quick compared to my others. Ill talk to the dealer tommorrow and maybe buy an 18" b&c  for it. Most of the larger rounds I cut are 16-18" max anyway. Mostly tops from where the forestry has been logged


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## Beer Belly (Mar 25, 2014)

I had my Oiler get clogged, and the dealer charged me $50 to clean it.....it was at that time I decided to start looking at this saw. I found that it wasn't slinging enough oil.....so I read the manual, and found the Oil Adjustment on the bottom of the saw....turned it all the way up, and it seems better. I'm thinking my 290 came set for a 16 inch bar.....I'm running a 20 inch, so maybe that's why the oiler needed to be cranked a bit...bigger bar ?


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## mike van (Mar 25, 2014)

I've got some Stihl bars 20 years old, cut I don't know how much wood, and none look even close to yours. Something really wrong, I can't tell what from the pics. A too-dry chain usually has wood 'welded' to the tops of the cutters, I don't see that on yours.  Maybe a chain run way too tight? Or a bad un-heat treated bar?  I don't know, from the paint loss it must have been ready to turn blue.


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## ErikR (Mar 25, 2014)

What causes the bar to turn blue-black like that... Heat from a dull chain? Oil issues... too tight?

I was over at my brother in-law's place a few weeks ago and we cut up some winter fallen oak and maple. My Husqvarna 450 was out cutting his 16" Stihl. I don't mean that as a saw comparison, just an observation. His bar had those same black-blue marks on both the top and bottom. I noticed he cuts using mostly the far end of the bar. That's where the the marks are.

I tend to rock the saw through the log with the dogs on the log. My saw is only 3 years old but it's bucked several cords of logs and almost all the paint is still on my bar, while the BIL's bar has almost no paint left on it and has big blue-black burnt looking sections. Is he running the saw too long on a dull chain? 

I should have checked out his chains for sharpness and tightness


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## Firewood Bandit (Mar 25, 2014)

I agree with TreePointer's  posts.

I can't tell from the pictures but am wondering about the height of the rakers too.  The chain should pull the bar into the wood, you shouldn't have to lever it in.

To OP, When you run through a tank of fuel, how much oil is left?


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## splitoak (Mar 26, 2014)

Those are heat marks from chain friction....ive only seen this on a bar that was run dry....that will def ruin an expensive chain....i had the same problem on ms290 brand new after a few cuts the chain would not turn...so i turned the oiler all the way up...i also use 50 /50 mix bar oil and canola oil now it helps...i think its crappy that they refuse to service an under warranty saw...if they sold that saw with a 20"..that is what the heck they should be covering...a reputable dealer would fix it..whatever it took...opening the oiler a bit or whatever..i hope u get this resolved...stihl stuff is very expensive..bars and chains...


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## Jags (Mar 26, 2014)

Just asking the question...how tight do you adjust the chain?  If you lift up on it, how high can you lift it?


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## Ashful (Mar 26, 2014)

While proper chain adjustment is important, I think it would be tough to do that kind of damage to a bar with a too-snug chain, if all else is as it should be.  Sharp chain with rakers set right, clean groove, proper chain gauge for the bar, functional oiler and sprocket nose... I don't see how a too-tight chain alone can cause that level of damage to the bar.

Has the OP answered all of these questions?

1.  Sharp chain?
2.  Proper depth gauge height?
3.  Chain gauge, bar gauge?

I do recall him addressing the oiler test (spray off nose of bar), but don't remember seeing responses to any of these other questions.


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## Jags (Mar 26, 2014)

Joful said:


> While proper chain adjustment is important, I think it would be tough to do that kind of damage to a bar with a too-snug chain, if all else is as it should be



There could be a combination of smaller issues that add up to a perfect storm.  Just asking the questions for clarification.


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## Fifelaker (Mar 26, 2014)

ErikR said:


> What causes the bar to turn blue-black like that... Heat from a dull chain? Oil issues... too tight?
> 
> I was over at my brother in-law's place a few weeks ago and we cut up some winter fallen oak and maple. My Husqvarna 450 was out cutting his 16" Stihl. I don't mean that as a saw comparison, just an observation. His bar had those same black-blue marks on both the top and bottom. I noticed he cuts using mostly the far end of the bar. That's where the the marks are.
> 
> ...


The blue -black is from the factory heat treatment. You will see that on a new laminated bar if you remove the paint.


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## ErikR (Mar 26, 2014)

Fifelaker said:


> The blue -black is from the factory heat treatment. You will see that on a new laminated bar if you remove the paint.



Thanks.


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## Osagebndr (Mar 26, 2014)

Fifelaker is right that is from the hardening process of the bar. Answers to those questions. 
1 . I sharpened the chain 3 times with a bar jig and  had a dealer do it 3 other times with his bench mounted sharpener when I had the oiler checked. Chain is razor sharp
2. Proper height of  kickers is good . I filed them and dealer ground them.
3. That was the chain that came with the saw . It better be right( I had another dealer check it out. .325 with 81 links) its right 
I've owned  3 other Stihl saws and never had any issues with them . Plan to buy another , or a jonsered lol


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## mike van (Mar 27, 2014)

There's something [but I don't know what] causing that bar damage besides raker height.  I can't tell much from your pics, but my thought is if you sharpened that chain only 3 times with a file, the rakers should not even need to be touched. Same with the dealers grinding job, unless he ground half the cutter away.   If they're too low, you get a grabby chain that catches all the time, too high you have to bear down to cut, even with a sharp chain.  I don't think thats the answer here.


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## Osagebndr (Mar 27, 2014)

It does cut well. And I'm not so sure what the issue is either. Thought maybe the spring that is incorporated with check valve on the oiler might be bad.


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## jz-h73vt (Mar 27, 2014)

Osagebndr said:


> Plenty of good advice here . I have cut frozen wood with older Stihl saws I had with adjustable oilers and I use a lot of Stihl winter grade bar oil you just can't beat it as far as pour ability  when it's extremely cold out. Spoke to Stihl today and am going to take the saw in to have it looked at again or sent to them for  service whichever it takes to fix it.


 I agree that you have received plenty of good advice (mostly). I especially like the insertion of the STIHL Chain Saw Safety Maintenance & Operation Video, I can't overemphasize the value watching it from start to finish can have for you. As the Team Lead for the Tech Support Team at STIHL your mention of having spoken w/ STIHL caught my eye and what has transpired since to resolve your issues is something with which I may be able to assist you. Can you say with whom you spoke at STIHL and the STIHL dealer with whom you are working? If needed, maybe I can help.


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## Jags (Mar 27, 2014)

Welcome aboard jz-h73vt.  Good to have a support rep from Stihl on board.  If I may... If personal info is going to be handed back and forth you may want to do that in a PM (message).  This is a very public forum.


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## Ashful (Mar 27, 2014)

jz-h73vt said:


> As the Team Lead for the Tech Support Team at STIHL your mention of having spoken w/ STIHL caught my eye...


Very cool.  Welcome aboard!


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## Osagebndr (Mar 27, 2014)

Jz- h73vt  thanks for responding. I can pm you and give you that info


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## maple1 (Mar 28, 2014)

But we'd still like to know the outcome...


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## Osagebndr (Mar 28, 2014)

It is being looked into currently. Thank you folks for the support


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