Echo Chainsaw- No Compression

[RJK70]

I bought a chainsaw from a TBH'er several months ago. The saw looked in like new condition and it started right up when he showed it to me. He said that he used the premix fuel only. Shortly after I take it to my property and cut down an Oak stump. The saw ran for maybe 5 minutes and did it's job great. After that it sat for probably 2-3 months with out use. Recently I tried to start it up to cut down a few limbs and it just would not start. I assumed it was a carb issue so I took it to a local repair shop and put down a deposit for them to look at it. The shop left me a VM yesterday saying the saw only had 20lb of compression when it should have over 100lb of compression. Needless to say I was shocked and am wondering how this could happen when the saw just worked great and was not abused in that time frame. The shop said it would cost more to fix it than it's worth and I should put that money toward a new chainsaw.

Should I cut my losses and buy a new saw? Or take it to another shop and risk wasting another $40 deposit to get them to look at it?

It's an Echo Timberwolf so a decent size saw that wont be cheap to replace.

Also, I am not claiming any wrong doing by the TBH member.

[Walker]

Put your finger in the sparkplug hole a pull it. You should be able to tell if it has compression.

[CabezaBlanca]

Put a set of rings in it yourself. Very easy to do.

[wytex]

Check and make sure the muffler is tight, had that issue one time.

[locolobo]

Reed valves maybe?

[Walker]

Reed valves don't effect compression. And if the rings gave up they probably scored the cylinder.

[JhuntsAlot]

It happens. I have had several small engines do that to me. Might have held some moisture in the cylinder and rusted.

Very easy to repair. Should be able to buy new rings and piston for a decent price.

Might be able to get away with just running a hone on the cylinder.



J

[gonehuntin]

Pull the muffler and see if the piston is scored.

[Traildust]

Gummed up. Pull the plug, fill cylinder up with Sea Foam, let it sit for a couple days, drain, add fresh gas. Try it. If it doesn't work, trash it

[chaseh]

Put a set of rings in it yourself. Very easy to do.

I agree, not much to them.


The timberwolf is worth about $450, so I think it would be worth tearing in to. I work at a Echo repair and warranty dealer. Shoot me the serial # and I can check warranty status of it, as they have a 5 year warranty.


What did they quote you for repair?

[Bucknaked]

Which pre mix had they been using?

[tdwinklr]

I've had the spark arrestor on mine foul up and be completely coated that it would not run. Cleaned it all off and it ran like nothing had ever happened.
Might want to take a look at it first.

[Big_gun]

does that model have the decomp lever? wonder if they checked comp with that lever on? I would pick it up and do your own comp test...

[twistedmidnite]

$35 for piston and ring on Amazon. Buy a cylinder hone at O'Reillys.

[Bard]

Beware of premixed fuel. Many failures due to inconsistent mixes in the can. Good advice on here from check decompression plug, pull muffler off (T25 torx) and you can look at the piston to see if it is scored. Compression needs to be over 100 psi for sure to run. They do have a 5yr warranty. Spend the $ to fix or sell cheap and let someone else fix it.