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T/F: Stihl Warranty and MotoMix

husky46cc

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Greetings from a brand new member. I would like y'all's (useful southern U.S. phrase) opinion on the following exchange I had yesterday with the the manager/mechanic at a local authorized Stihl repair center.

Me: Is it true that buying a can of Stihl Motomix at the time of purchase of a Stihl product extends the warranty?
Stihl person: Yes. From one year to two years.
Me: But some repair centers, I know for a fact, have refused to work on a Stihl item that won't start, saying to the customer, "You ran ethanol in it. We're not going to repair it, even though it's true you bought Motomix at the time of purchase."
And then the shocker, from the Stihl person: "If it's fluid related, Stihl will not warranty it. Period. And that's nationwide."

Is this true, in your experience? And if so, what good is the warranty of the $30 gallon of Motomix? My personal opinion is that it's just not right to imply is a true warranty. No matter what the fine print says.

BTW: This particular Stihl gentleman is honest and fair. I like him and I like the dealership. I just feel bad for the many, many homeowners who have had an unpleasant surprise regarding this warranty.

Thanks,
Tom

PS: What a wonderful forum!
 

lehman live edge slab

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I don’t know how they could deny warranty when the owners manual says minimum of 89 octane and up to 10% ethanol. And it isn’t just that motomix that adds warranty a six pack of Ultra will also. Saws is 1 double to 2, weed trimmers go from 2 to 4. As long as it wasn’t old stale gas or more than 10% ethanol I honestly don’t know how they could not fix it. And I would expect it to get repaired or replaced.
 

husky46cc

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I don’t know how they could deny warranty when the owners manual says minimum of 89 octane and up to 10% ethanol. And it isn’t just that motomix that adds warranty a six pack of Ultra will also. Saws is 1 double to 2, weed trimmers go from 2 to 4. As long as it wasn’t old stale gas or more than 10% ethanol I honestly don’t know how they could not fix it. And I would expect it to get repaired or replaced.
I don’t know how they could deny warranty when the owners manual says minimum of 89 octane and up to 10% ethanol. And it isn’t just that motomix that adds warranty a six pack of Ultra will also. Saws is 1 double to 2, weed trimmers go from 2 to 4. As long as it wasn’t old stale gas or more than 10% ethanol I honestly don’t know how they could not fix it. And I would expect it to get repaired or replaced.
Dear Lehman,

THANK YOU for letting me know I'm not alone in the way I'm thinking! What I believe in my heart is that its's just not right to imply a warranty when there in fact IS NO WARRANTY! And I assure everyone that I'm not hallucinating. This nice man said, outright, clearly, no ifs ands or buts, that Stihl's nationwide policy is, and I quote, "If it's fluids related, Stihl will not warranty it." And he made it eminently clear that he got that directly from Stihl USA, to him in his role as the manager of a Stihl authorized service center.

I'm old now and sensitive to the difficulties of other older folks. What I want is to somehow inform other older folks: You must excercise Caveat Emptor with any Stihl warranty, expressed or implied. With 2 stroke engines, by their very nature, most problems are fluids related. Stihl has quietly informed all its hundreds of authorized service centers nationwide that it will not reimburse any fluids related repairs. Unfortunately, this information is secret, not public. I should know because I have spent a great deal of time getting to the bottom of this unfortunate secrecy. I finally found an honest, forthright man who would tell it like it is.
 

lehman live edge slab

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I still think the dealer can fight to get it covered it would all be in the way they conveyed the problem to stihl and what the root cause was. I’d say your vent stuck and created a vacuum starving the motor causing a lean mix but it was just a fluke and started to vent again it would be tough to prove cause of failure. Was it that perfectly fine oxygenated 89 octane with stihl mix oil or something else that caused the issue. The dealer not knowing for sure if it was a temporarily stuck vent or bad gas could handle it one of many ways and I think this is where you find out who’s a good dealer and who just wants your initial sale.
 

lehman live edge slab

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Warranty covers any flaws in the product, not to cover whatever piss the customer pours in it.
I understand that also and wouldn’t expect it to, have seen dealers blame the wrong gas or oil so they can not have to fix it. I’m not saying dump 3 year old gas in it and when it blows expect it to be fixed. But if it can’t be proven it was fuel and could be something else it should be covered. Shouldn’t just blame the fuel and wash your hands of it. Pretty easy to blame it on the mix for lots of things. Bad batch of fuel filters that came apart ant plugged carb saw blows up. Tech just figured bad gas mix blames on that and no warranty fix because it’s your fault. That’s all I’m saying is gas is blamed without checking at times.
 

lehman live edge slab

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I completely agree with denial of warranty if it has no other issues when looked over and it was for sure old or improperly mixed gas
 

Fish

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Bad batch of fuel filters?
 

lehman live edge slab

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Yep it was, brand new ms 170 I was smart enough to know to shut it down when it started to run lean. Some people would have burned it down and never been the wiser dealer found some kind of fibers in the carb. Only thing we could think was the filter came apart and partially plugged jet. Could have very easily been blamed on bad gas mix if nobody dig into carb and found fibers. Saw was saved and they put new carb on it under warranty was only on 2 tank of gas
 

Fish

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Yep it was, brand new ms 170 I was smart enough to know to shut it down when it started to run lean. Some people would have burned it down and never been the wiser dealer found some kind of fibers in the carb. Only thing we could think was the filter came apart and partially plugged jet. Could have very easily been blamed on bad gas mix if nobody dig into carb and found fibers. Saw was saved and they put new carb on it under warranty was only on 2 tank of gas
Kind of hard to prove,
eh?
Bad gas, and a customer that kept running it......
 

dmb2613

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Stihl will not warrantee ignorance of the owner. If the owner is responsible and does as I tell him or her at the time of sale , they will not have any fuel related issues. If on the other hand they leave it for 3 months with 10% ethanol mix in it then run it they will have a fuel related problem. I tell everyone that buys a new Stihl gas unit How to mix the fuel and to drain it out when it will not be used for more than a month and to pour in a small amount of Moto mix and run it until the carburetor has had time top pick up the fuel. We have very little trouble since I have been doing that.
If you think you can pour fresh gas in after it messes up off of old bad gas and the Stihl tech will not know , you have a poor Stihl tech.
David
 

kfd518

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Most certainly do have a piss poor tech if they don’t at least pop the metering cover to check the fuel in it when the customer is adamant about having run mixed fuel in it.
I got pissed at a dealer that showed me a bad cylinder that obviously wasn’t straight gassed. He had saved the pin bearing and piston. Both of them had oil on them, bottom of piston had a nice coating of oil, and behind the rings still had oil. Oil in the exhaust port. He was so Pig headed saying it was straight gassed that he wouldn’t fight for the warranty. The manager actually ended up refunding the customer the cost of the replacement saw afterwards
 
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