Stihl bar / chain not getting oil (MS251c)

[ilovedougfir]

I bought my first new saw and it worked great for the first year, but a year later the bar no longer gets oil. The oil pump is pumping oil just fine. If I take the bar off and run the saw I can see oil comming out, but if I put the bar on the oiler just deposits oil to the interior of the saw casing making a mess - and none gets to the actual chain. I checked the hole in the bar where the oil comes in and made sure it was clean. I ran an air compresser and cleaned EVERYTHING on the bar and saw I could hit. I tried a new chain (not sure why I thought this would do anything, but was running out of ideas).

I did try running vegetable oil for a few hours thinking it might be thinner but no luck.

Any other thoughts?

 

[stoveliker]

If oil comes out of the saw and you have the bar mounted correctly, the channels in the bar are clogged. No other way imo

 

[ilovedougfir]

thanks @stoveliker - your logic totally makes sense... I put 100 PSI into the oil intake hole in the bar and it did not fix the problem.

While $70 painful, I ordered a new bar. I dont see how that cant fix the problem.... but I am wrong about things all the time! ;-)

 

[salecker]

Thoughts...
If nothing was changed on the saw from when it was working fine to when it stopped working fine
You should be able to fix the issue without a new bar. Its got to be an issue with the existing setup.
Did you clean the bar grooves?
Does it actually oil enough for a bar when the bar is off? Or just enough to make a mess?

 

[stoveliker]

thanks @stoveliker - your logic totally makes sense... I put 100 PSI into the oil intake hole in the bar and it did not fix the problem.

While $70 painful, I ordered a new bar. I dont see how that cant fix the problem.... but I am wrong about things all the time! ;-)

I've seen quite the wood chips clogging channels, not just saw dust. If something like that is wedged in the wrong place, putting pressure on it from the wrong side won't help.

 

[Montanalocal]

Yea, I have had the oil hole plug, and the best way to unplug is to thread a small wire up through the oil hole in the bar.. That way it pushes out rocks and chips.

 

[ilovedougfir]

Thanks for all this. I tried cleaning the hole with wire but no luck. Then I tried flipping the bar upside down so as to try a different bar hole, but still no luck. I get a sufficient ammount of oil, but none makes it onto the bar.

I am starting to wonder if the oiler rubber gasket is not connecting flush with the bar and oil is leaking out the gap. Or maybe is there supposed to be some diaphram membrane that maybe fell off. Does this look normal to you all?

 

[salecker]

But did you clean out the bar grooves?
And i think there should be a bar plate over the side of the saw...?Between the bar and saw

 

[ilovedougfir]

Thanks @salecker - I did clean out the bar grooves. I think fancier models to have a bar plate but not 100% sure... but no luck either way just cleaning the saw.

I did a _workaround_ that seemed to work. Not sure how perminant of a solution this is, but I manually put oil on the bar to prime the pump, and that seemed to work? Would love to hear opinions on if folks think this is a very temporary fix or if I have bigger issues with the oiler and need to address that at some point. Made a 1 min video on youtube below.

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[blades]

There have been some reports of the hose from the pump to the bar channel becoming loose at its fitting points , have to pull clutch to get at it . Best way to clean bar is with a small flat piece of hard plastic or steel that fits into the bar groove. so you can clean its full length out. A lot of us increase the diameter of the oil holes in the bars as well.

 

[Eman85]

Keep in mind no air in, no oil out the reservoir has to be vented.

 

[bigealta]

1. Did you confirm you can see daylight thru the the hole in the Groove of the bar that connects to the hole in the side of the bar?

2. Does bar oil leak down the inside of the bar or elsewhere on the saw? If it's coming out the oiler slot it's got to be going somewhere?

 

[bigealta]

Some guys on arborsite are drilling the groove hole a bit larger and angling them toward the bar tip rather than just straight up.