Couple of things....might have been already said. First to those who would "mod" them. If there is an inclination to deck the cylinder, its one of those "you see this one, but didn't see that (left jab)" deal. It was all over the INTERNET about the clearance issues with the transfer cap....try dropping the cylinder .020" and they hit in a couple of places.. ( the down side of Cad/Cam is being able to do interference checks with solids and some surface modeling...they DO that and use space more efficiently ) What I haven't seen in on line wisdom, but equally an issue is you typically only have .010-.015in clearance between the "skirt" and the cases too. So drop the flange .020...it actually goes the .015 and leaves a .005 or more gap between the cylinder base and the cases.......a leak soon to follow. Also have seen where folks followed an online "recipe" for the transfer cap clearance, missed, had those jammed and yet another leak. I've seen a couple already that failed because of leaky cylinder base gaskets because of some hot shot mod shop seeing one but not the other clearance issue. Bottom line? simple base gasket builds are out. If a person doesn't have the tools to cut the flange & skirt...they need to keep things stock. Period. If they are trying to do "production" mods....thats another issues because each one is an individual. Bad finish on the cylinder bases will also result in a leak....there is a reason, but I'll not go there in this post.
First clue? CST has given the dealer some feed back in the form of "error 13 & 16's".
Second. You KNOW what I think about Nylon caged bearings....and heat. One of the things that strikes me seeing these is the obvious design intent on capturing heat in and around the transfers ports. The transfers wrapping around the exhaust. The way the muffler deflects the exhaust gases down towards the cases. That has to add heat to the cases and sure enough one of the issues was hot start where the gas was boiling creating a vapor lock...hence hot start issues on some if the hoses and primer circuit rubber aren't perfect. They run hot. Intelligently modded mufflers and covers help with the heat issues. And the later ones HAVE some changes already. I was successful with an early 5 screw case version to make a build that hasn't leaked and doesn't have a hot start issues so if I can..the better builders can certainly do even better.
CST...those who would develop mods and don't have one....
Missing a lot of clues. Yeah conventional things are going to work. But those carbs are tiny, and their ability to deliver fuel has limits. A CST gives clues to that and will help immensely during the development of modifications. SO...buyer beware...
Back to "stock" saws:
Early ones had five case screws and it wasn't unusual to see the case gasket fail under the muffler. Later ones had an additional screw and that went away...although using "1184" and an OEM case gasket would also solve that issue.
The latest ones have more venting in the top covers and a few other details that seems to have solved a lot of the issues on "stock" saws. And as I believe spike60 has pointed out the reliability is way better than the original ones.
Dealers who have a lot of them also learn them. Spike60 sees stuff many lower volume folks simply won't until the feed back goes through the service bulletin cycle, and many don't keep up on them! Less important now with the more "updated" saws. Was VERY important earlier in the product life of these. Dealers like Bob saw and solved issues in their own and had an advantage over those who either didn't see many or for other reasons didn't follow the service bulletins.
Last...CST. That too has changed. I'm a novice on these but can tell immediately that without one or knowing how to use one, the mechanic working on these is shooting in the dark. SO much feed back available to the intuitive...but not a cook book for those less so....blessing and a curse. The error codes help, the "tuning" data also is very helpful.
Much of the online commentary on CST's was based on the early version...
Have to say some dealers never progressed past that therefore their customers never got the benefits of both a more knowledgeable dealer on the relevant updates and even more importantly the benefits of updated firm ware. It DOES matter. So like I said, with these saws more than ever a good dealer is really important.
Part one of a three part rant on these saws! Have to say I like them. More so now. Not "Hand grenades". But bottom line is you have to have a good dealer for certain with the older ones. Not a bad idea with the newest ones either..
( Part two and three will not be shared in a general thread) Bet Stihl will go through the same type of deal with their new saws...
Last but not least....have to remember, like usual; generalizations are just that...and usually only right in a small sample set. No reason why these saws shouldn't have a long and productive service life. But to those who have to buy a modified saw...careful who you spend the money with please.
