MS 361 build will not start

[Wonkydonkey]

As I was reading throu,, I had a thought were just maybe it’s the on/off/fast idle/choke leaver..

as it was known prob with another saw, 660 iirc. The choke not fully closing thus no burp and not starting...or was the butter fly not opening well somthing like this, maybe someone else who had the prob could explain it better...

edit, as silly as it sound,,, do you have compression? Just maybe a ring is broken or something

 

[Spladle160]

I had a kit 660 that wouldn't start due to the on/off/fast idle/choke leaver. Does the lever seem to function correctly? does it go to choke, fast idle and run and stop?

 

[MustangMike]

With either of the two above problems, he should get a kick after he puts fuel down the carb. Since he says he has spark, that kind of narrows it to the spark timing is not correct (IMO).

 

[429p]

thanks to everyone for putting their mind's around this problem. I need a couple of days to get all this done, and regroup. thanks

 

[429p]

another thought I have thought about is the thinking that the Farmertec parts are suspect, inconsistent, and not durable. The other side of this thinking is that Farmertec sells a assembled saw that is operational with Farmertec aftermarket parts. So it is possible to a get working saw with a Farmertec kit parts. Maybe the Farmertec assembly workers are better at getting the saw to work with Farmertec parts. I would certainly agree that the Farmertec assembly workers are better than I am at assembly of the saw.

 

[MustangMike]

Don't count on that, I'd rather build it myself.

My thought is they must have improved some of the parts to start selling working saws.

Problem is, I don't know if the working saws use the same parts as the kit saws.

 

[429p]

Don't count on that, I'd rather build it myself.

My thought is they must have improved some of the parts to start selling working saws.

Problem is, I don't know if the working saws use the same parts as the kit saws.

that would be sneaky if they used different parts for the kit saws and the good parts for the assembled saws.

 

[429p]

ok, the ms 361 showed some life today. I velcro'd the throttle switch wide open. I got a couple of burps, and then it ran for about 5 seconds. I had to leave, so I could not work with it any further. Does this mean there is a problem with the throttle linkage, or the plastic bar that controls the choke, and throttle positions as described by "afleetcommand" in one of his videos?

 

[huskihl]

Means it was flooded

 

[MustangMike]

Could be any of the 3. Take off the air filter and make sure the choke is working and that high idle is working. If they are the saw was likely flooded as Kevin says.

There are also other possibilities, but these 3 are the most likely.

Why did it only run for 5 seconds? Change the fuel filter immediately and maybe replace your fuel line (or impulse line).

Also, if it only ran for 5 seconds, there is still a possibility that your flywheel is rotating and was just temporarily in the right position.

Keep plugging, remember, the difference between success and failure is often persistence!

 

[van462]

I built a 361 kit as well and had a tough time getting it started. I ended up putting in a new metering spring and a carb kit. It fired up pretty quickly after that and setting the metering lever height. I ran that setup for around a year and then went to the MS391 carb and it ran great as soon as I bolted it on. Buying the 391 carb was cheaper than the spring and gasket kit.

 

[I Know Something]

I have read about flywheel key shear. I would think you would not be able to crank the saw. The flywheel would just spin on the shaft. Can the nut and the tapered shaft hold well enough to turn the engine over with a sheared key?

I've personally sheared a few keys there and it just spun a bit and was out of its spot

 

[429p]

I checked out the flywheel. The key was not sheared. I checked the pressure and vacuum again. No leaks on pressure, it holds a vacuum, and the vacuum goes up and down when I rotate the flywheel. I reassembled the saw. I could not find anything that really looked bad. I think that I was not getting a good seal between the carburetor and manifold.

Here is a video of the saw working. As you can tell, I am inexperienced in setting the carburetor hi and low settings. I am concerned about the hi setting. I think I have the low and the idle set ok. Thanks to all for the help.

 

[429p]

i get this message. no video right now.

 

[429p]

here is a link to a youtube video. thanks

 

[MustangMike]

Don't run it with the Hi too lean or you will burn it up.

 

[429p]

Don't run it with the Hi too lean or you will burn it up.

To run it rich, you turn the adjusting screws counter clockwise, right? Thanks

 

[huskihl]

To run it rich, you turn the adjusting screws counter clockwise, right? Thanks

Yes.

 

[MustangMike]

The Hi should always be set rich enough so that it "4 strokes" (breaks up a bit) when at full throttle out of the cut, then cleans up immediately when in the cut. If it does not clean up right away in the cut, it is too rich and that can foul your plug and result in too much carbon over time.

 

[67L36Driver]

Hello all. New here. Been lurking for a while

Had this exact problem on my 361 build and discovered the spacer that goes around the intake boot the carb bolts up against was a whisker too thick and prevented the boot from sealing to the carb properly. Thinned it a bit on a belt sander (I know the implications of mentioning a belt sander around here but don't worry, no cylinders will ever get near it....) and problem went away.

Worth trying. And btw it runs quite well for something with no oem parts. It's my loaner saw so I'm not too fazed if it craps itself.

Oh and the tank vent needed a hole made in it as it was fully sealed..

Thanks for that. [emoji106]

I have a 361 I built near two years ago and just shelved it because of the start/run issues.

Gave a full refund to the fellow who bought it and it wouldn’t start for him.

I’ll drag that turd out and give it another shot.

[emoji1696]