Repairing a Stihl MS 250 Chainsaw

[Newman]

I've written a few posts about my experiences repairing my Stihl MS250 chainsaw. I love this saw, so it was important for me to repair it correctly. Please read below to learn how to fix your own saw.

Replacing Starter Rope on Stihl MS 250 Chainsaw​

Last week, I was in the middle of a wood cutting project. I had a tree on the ground. I was cutting right along when I ran out of gas. The saw died, I walked out of the woods into the shed and filled her up with gas. When I went to pull the starter rope – snap. I held the chainsaw in one hand the the starter rope (pull cord) handle in another. It’s times like these people wish they had more starter rope on hand.

I began wondering what type of rope I had laying around that might get me through this troubled time. I remembered that I had dozens of feet of magnificently strong paracord, so I went ahead and replaced the starter rope in the chainsaw with the paracord. I really thought I was onto something. It worked and I continued cutting for another day.

Unfortunately, after about 10 or so pulls with that rope, it began to shred. The outer layer broke and all that was left was the inner strands. Lesson learned – don’t use paracord as starter rope.

A few days later, my wife and I happened to be at the hardware store in town. I figured that since I was there, I would pick up four feet of real starter rope. I did and then replaced the paracord with the starter rope. So far, it’s been working great.



Now, I’m not sure how long that rope is going to last. I’m already starting the chainsaw a bit differently in attempt to keep these things from breaking. The original rope lasted almost seven years, so I’m probably not doing anything wrong, but instead of throwing the saw to start it, I’m now resting it on the ground and holding it with one foot and my hand. With the other hand, I’m pulling the rope.

I don’t want to have another occurrence of not having starter rope on hand, so I ordered 100 feet of “True Blue” starter rope from Amazon. It showed up yesterday. I think it’s good stuff. As long as it’s solid and isn’t made with strands in the middle and an outer shell like the paracord, I should be in good shape. Here are a few pictures:



Wondering how to change the starter rope on a Stihl MS 250 chainsaw? If so, I’ve got the perfect video for you. Have fun – it’s really easy.

 

[Newman]

Stihl MS 250 Chainsaw Engine Bogging Down​

This started happening towards the end of last Summer. My Stihl MS 250 chainsaw engine would bog down at the strangest times. I can’t say there was one time in particular, but I guess mostly when I put the saw under a load. When I started cutting with it, it would bog down and then I would stop and rev the engine. I would get it going again and the same thing would happen. Since it was the end of the season, I put the saw in the garage and hoped it would heal itself by Spring.

Well, I had to use the chainsaw the other day. Guess what? It had the same problem. My sharp senses told me what the problem was. For some reason, I knew I had to clean and re-gap the spark plug.

When I took the spark plug out of the engine, I took a glance at the gap. The side electrode and the center electrode seemed to be pretty close together. Since I had absolutely no idea what the gap is supposed to be for a Stihl MS250 chainsaw, I looked it up. I found out that the spark plug gap is supposed to be .020 or 0.5mm metric for the Stihl MS 250 Chainsaw. Yep, I was right. When I measured the gap with my spark plug gapper, it was too small.

Now, .020 gap is pretty tight. It’s actually the smallest size on my gapper. Good thing too. I re-gapped the spark plug and gave it a quick cleaning. Then, I reinstalled it in the chainsaw. I started it up and problem solved. I love it when a plan comes together. Now, the saw is nice and strong when I cut through wood.



PS – I wanted to write a quick note about trying to diagnose small engines. For some reason, people seem to love jumping into the fuel system. I am not sure why this is, when the easiest thing to check is the spark plug. Take out the plug, clean it, re-gap it and see how that works. Don’t take out the carburetor and rebuild it if you don’t need to. Most of the time, this is unnecessary.