Stihl MS250 Chainsaw Teardown

[oikosecosnomikos]

I got one of these saws for free (a neighbor was giving it away). He gave it away for a reason. Found your videos and took the saw apart to find that the piston head had a hole blown through it and was really deformed. Looks like he had no oil in the fuel—the cylinder looks burned, not shiny. Everything else looks great on the saw. Two questions: I tried tapping the flywheel off as you show, but no luck. What's the trick? And where do you order a replacement piston head and cylinder? Thanks.

[donyboy73]

@oikosecosnomikos you can find a flywheel puller on ebay and also an aftermarket cylinder kit, the oem parts from stihl are much better though

[tcrew08]

In ur vid u say u never seen a bearing that bad, well i have the EXACT same saw with the same bad bearing. I bought the saw new 3years ago and maybe cut 15 cords of wood and this happened.I now am running a MS280,but im gonna repair the 250 myself with the help of ur vid. as my Stihl dealer is a CROOK. Anyway, thank u 4 ur vids.

[zigZag776]

I have a Craftsman 3.7/18 that my grandpa found laying in its case full of water. I cleaned and rebuilt the carb. put new fuel lines, cleaned the gas tank, and just basically cleaned everything. It's hard to start cold without starting fluid and when it does start, it bogs down and dies if I try to give it throttle. Do you thing the carb. is bad or maybe I need to replace the crank seals? How could I check the crank seals without a vacuum testor?

[mazzieboy]

Please help anyone. I cannot for the life of me get the piston clips out to get the piston out. Any tricks of the trade? BTW great videos. I have this exact same saw that a repair shop wants like big bucks to work on.

[donyboy73]

@mazzieboy use needlenose pliers

[damionparker]

on my ms290 im rebuilding it about how much should i bore to be able to put a 044 carb on it

[damionparker]

it shout the heck out of my hand but i pulled the plug and pulled but i couldnt see fire?

[damionparker]

I have a stihl 290 great saw! But it started messing up. It would run but no power no it won't fire I changed the plug and cleaned the coil what could it be?

[donyboy73]

@damionparker does it have spark?

[RoncoShop]

@damionparker THE MUFFLES MUST BE DIRTY TAKE OUT THE MUFFLER AND CLEAN THE MUFFLER AND THE HOLE WHERE IT SHOWS THE PISTON CAREFULL NOT TO SCRATCH THE PISTON AND FOR PARTS CHECK RONCO CENTER . C OM

[brandymc2003]

Chain adjuster screw is broken on MS250 wondering if you have a video on this? or something showing how to get down to the area I need to replace it?

[donyboy73]

@brandymc2003 i have one here so i might be able to make a quick vid

[MegaNicky007]

my stihl MS180 turns over and works fine but when i try to turn it off it won't turn off at the "0" position I have to put the lever down to cold start position to shut it off. What is wrong with it and how do I fix it?

[abedj1220]

Thanks for all you great videos. I finally got around to fixing my Stihl 026 after watching carefully your videos and Q&A videos. I pulled the cylindar off and see one of the rings is frozen and the piston and cylindar is scared on the back side. I will get a new cylinder and piston. When parts looking I see 44 MM bore and 44.7 MM bore. is there a way I can tell on mine which bore I have so I am sure to order the right part? Thanks agian for all your effort.

[nathanmeitzler]

Wouldn't bother replacing it as long as it has full compression. My dad has the same saw that he just bought $300 yeah If it doesn't have full compression it might be worth fixing sthil saws are great!

[donyboy73]

@nathanmeitzler YES THEY ARE NICE SAWS

[damionparker]

help me great

[tribulation138]

i think the top of the piston resulted in heat damage due to lower quality metal. I know older saws had stronger but heavier crankshafts and pistons

[hottie1415]

did you soak the cylinder in muriatic acid?

-ac

[Liamautomechanic]

aye,uve got to bite the bullit ,lol

[Liamautomechanic]

not too bad dony 73,140 dollars= about 80 euros,not out of the way,i blew that on beer there on saturday night, just recovering there today,lol

[donyboy73]

@Liamautomechanic you go to work to recover..LOL

[Liamautomechanic]

how much for the piston and bearings for the stihl 250

[donyboy73]

@Liamautomechanic $100 for just piston and rings, bearings are around $40, expensive!

[Liamautomechanic]

not a bad price,

[Liamautomechanic]

MS 260in northern ireland is 640sterlin,uk currency=750 euros,and the republic of ireland 640, euros,how much in canadain dollars????????????

[donyboy73]

@Liamautomechanic $574 in CAD and 13% tax

[donyboy73]

@Liamautomechanic i was curious because i know some people like me ship them to folks in Ireland

[Liamautomechanic]

ill find out on monday,the cost of the MS 260,

[Liamautomechanic]

the same here,buy,i from the dealer as well,expensive tho,i wonder would the chinees parts, be up to standard???????

[donyboy73]

@Liamautomechanic chinese parts aren't the same quality. how much is an MS260 in Ireland?

[Liamautomechanic]

where do u source ur parts,for the stihl???????????

[donyboy73]

@Liamautomechanic i have to buy them at the dealer

[donyboy73]

@Liamautomechanic do u need parts?

[seasonedtoker]

is there any chance of stripping cylinder bolts with the rope technique? do you have to hold the cylinder down just in case?

[rphaigh]

Thanks for posting !

[Liamautomechanic]

not enough oil in the gas??????????

[suchfunstuff]

Eh, I'm more of an 028 fan. Not a bad idea that Stihl had with that modular crankcase design, though. Saves a few steps, compared to the older stuff. Splitting the case is a chore.

[chslobosrock]

Awesome video; thanks for all the quality, detailed shots

[Karlos77777777]

Ya the dealer i went too had 18's on all of their 250s so i was going to go with that or you think that would be under powered and i should ask for a 16"?

[donyboy73]

@Karlos77777777 18 should be fine, they should know

[Karlos77777777]

What size bar you think i should get the 16 or 18?

[donyboy73]

@Karlos77777777 i think it comes with 16"

[Karlos77777777]

Nice vid buying a 250 this week

[donyboy73]

@Karlos77777777 u will like it

[frbarnett]

Thanks for the vids, after watching this it gave me the confidence to strip down a MS180 to replace the cylinder and piston, quite a similar procedure to this saw just a few small differences. Great work keep the vids coming.

[donyboy73]

@frbarnett i have some ms180 vids up. the 180 and 250 are quite similar when taking the cylinder out

[khodeshe]

Thank you veeeeeeery much for this video.

[donyboy73]

@khodeshe i will be repairing this saw so another video will be up soon

[khodeshe]

Oh, that's fantastic. I love your viedos because you explain everything very simple, but it is competent and professional.

[ronchil]

Great video. I currently have a MS230 and suspect that the chain oiler is not flowing properly. i suspect this because i am not needing to fill the chain oil as frequently as i used to (substantially less). i dismantled the saw to the point where i accessed the worm gear and the gear appeared to be functioning properly. If there is a clog in the line, how would i diagnose this and then repair it? thanks again for the video.

[donyboy73]

@ronchil u would have to remove the oil line and check to see if it is clogged or punctured. i'd have to make a vid, it's too legthy to explain

[steffturtle]

@donyboy73 hi, could u please make a video of the oil pump replacement and even how to check to see if the lines are blocked, i cant find any visual help anywhere. but thanks for the videos, there great!!!

[donyboy73]

@steffturtle hi, i don't have the saw anymore, if u pm me ur email i can send u a parts list

[Apache1974]

Does this seem to be a common problem in the MS 250? I was thinking about purchasing this saw for use around my home.

[donyboy73]

not a common problem and i would buy one of these saws

[Apache1974]

Good news. Thank you. I've narrowed it down to either the Echo CS-400 or the Stihl MS 250. I've seen the Echo in store and I'll be looking at the MS 250 tomorrow. I'll have one by the end of the day tomorrow :)

[donyboy73]

I prefer the Stihl ms 250

[Apache1974]

Thanks again. Always nice to get advice from someone that works on these things. Makes my choice a lot easier :)

[Apache1974]

Ended up getting the Stihl MS 290. Love it so far :)

[donyboy73]

that's great. you should make a video so we can see it. let me know. how much are they there?

[Apache1974]

Got it from a local dealer for $395 US dollars. Went in asking about the MS 250 and they were out of them so the guy suggested the MS 290. It has 56.5cc and it came with a 20" bar. Seems like a great saw so far but it'll get a good test next week when I use it to cut up about 5 or 6 trees. I'll get a video up at some point to show it off.

[Smallgasengine1]

@Apache1974 i recommend the echo cs 400 it has better features like adjustable oiler and cold and warm carburetor settings and digital ignition for easier starts

[GarrettJDB]

5***** i usually dont like working on 2 strokes but you make it seem like a piece of cake great work

[Smallgasengine1]

i always wanted a stihl ms 250 they are good engines

[VE9REJ]

+5 for rating Dony , tell me why those bearing failed like that , is it lack of lube ?

[donyboy73]

i went to the Stihl dealer and 2 mechanics looked at it because it is unusual. apparently it's a bearing defect. the ball retainer on it broke off.

[donyboy73]

thanks for the rating