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Help with a Stihl 031

trooney

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Got this saw dumped on me by my neighbor. He claims a friend of his who worked at a Stihl dealership gave it to him with the words, " you'll never get it to run". Seems it doesn't have any spark. Why he took it all apart I have no idea. Well, he gave it to me with a smile on his face. Why he was smiling I dont know, maybe he knows something about me that I dont. Anyway, dont mess with points saws. Never have as I didnt even mess with my old Iron Sportster. This is a points saw, correct? If I am going to change it to electronic ignition I need to add a module to it. Where do you mount the module? Is the wiring on the coil sufficient so all Ive got to do is mount the module to the terminal? I know the other half goes to the on and off switch.
20201206_101838.jpg 20201206_101858.jpg
 

trooney

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It seemed it had a module already. Pic below. If anyone can shed light on this I'd be appreciative.
20201206_115452.jpg
 

Yukon Stihl

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I really hate getting into already tore down saws as I dont have a mental picture of what screw went where or how it goes back together. It will just take me longer thats all.
An IPL would solve the issue of having a mental picture
 

Stump Shot

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Mount the module as close to the coil as possible, sometimes on the coil mount itself, I can't remember exactly on the 032 I did but it has to have a good ground. Wiring schematic comes with the module and is easy as pie. The wire that went to the points from the coil now goes to the module, that's it, the shorting wire stays the same from the coil to the switch if two wire, or go the module and coil if one wire. Stihl makes a module specifically for this. A Kawasaki or a Nova II should work as well. As long as you have a good coil, you'll have good spark, better than with the points and condenser. The condensers are what failed over time on these. I've tried NOS condensers and they last a few minutes and they're done.
 

redline4

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Mount the module as close to the coil as possible, sometimes on the coil mount itself, I can't remember exactly on the 032 I did but it has to have a good ground. Wiring schematic comes with the module and is easy as pie. The wire that went to the points from the coil now goes to the module, that's it, the shorting wire stays the same from the coil to the switch if two wire, or go the module and coil if one wire. Stihl makes a module specifically for this. A Kawasaki or a Nova II should work as well. As long as you have a good coil, you'll have good spark, better than with the points and condenser. The condensers are what failed over time on these. I've tried NOS condensers and they last a few minutes and they're done.


According to my local dealer the module from Stihl has been discontinued. Im waiting on an aftermarket one to show up for the saw I have here.
 

Stump Shot

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According to my local dealer the module from Stihl has been discontinued. Im waiting on an aftermarket one to show up for the saw I have here.

I tend to favor the Kawasaki style over the Nova II as it only has the one wire.(No extra grounding wire)
 

Stump Shot

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Here's a vidja of it running first and last as it's sitting on a shelf at Randy's right now and hasn't been run since. So no long term knowledge was gained.
 

trooney

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@Stump Shot its an 031 AV, doesnt say electronic. So I assume its a points module. The guy from mymowerparts says the kawasaki ignition module will work with the electronic ignition model but not with the points model. Does a points model come with that condensor? It looks like I've got to find a chip for the points module.
 

Stump Shot

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@Stump Shot its an 031 AV, doesnt say electronic. So I assume its a points module. The guy from mymowerparts says the kawasaki ignition module will work with the electronic ignition model but not with the points model. Does a points model come with that condensor? It looks like I've got to find a chip for the points module.

I don't understand needing another module on a coil that already contains one. I can say that I've used a slew of both Kawasaki and Nova II modules on saws over the years and have yet to have issue and keep them in stock as they really do make a saw run that much better. Here's a vidja on your saw specifically so you can see that the modules will revive these old saws.

 

markds2

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When I converted my 031 from points to aftermarket electronic I had to advance the timing a whole keyway width for it to run right. And as Steve above, I haven't had enough time on the saw to know if is a long term runner.
 

lehman live edge slab

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Yes they need to be advanced if it’s a points saw if it was originally an electronic one they run fine as is because keys in different position. I had both flywheels at my house and the electronic one is basically one full fan fin advanced from the point saw.
 

Stump Shot

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Yes they need to be advanced if it’s a points saw if it was originally an electronic one they run fine as is because keys in different position. I had both flywheels at my house and the electronic one is basically one full fan fin advanced from the point saw.

That would entirely depend on which brand of ignition system the saw had Bosch or SEM. The 032 I did ended up way advanced from where it was originally. There was two different locations shown on the flywheel and only one was broached. The saw went from a one start pull to a three start pull, I can't remember the exact timing any longer but it put it into a modern saw range. With all the "variables" I wouldn't cross that bridge(timing advance) until it became an issue.
 
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