Stihl MS500i cylinder and piston

[Maintenance Chief]

I would definitely guess that there's lubrication problems in those 500s as well , the frequency of problems that occurred with 3 of them is just to high to ignore.

 

[TINYHULK]

I ordered the parts to fix one of them today. The guy I deal with said that he believes steel overhyped the 500i’s. Their new pricing catalog just came out and stihl now says the highest recommended bar size for the 500 is a 28 inch bar when it was a 36in before. I love my 500’s but they have there quirks like anything else

 

[TINYHULK]

Also, what tight of acid are you using when doing that? I would hate to use something and end up damaging the plating lol.

 

[Wonkydonkey]

I’m saying the mastermind way using a flap wheel is gooder, but to check that I got all the aluminium off the nakasil I used hcl aka mutraric acid
Read this thread, you will see there’s always different options and of course opinions

https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/muriatic-acid-and-nikasil.124781/

 

[Moparmyway]

Got the 500i today.
Plan is to get into it this weekend, pictures will follow soon

 

[woodfarmer]

I would definitely guess that there's lubrication problems in those 500s as well , the frequency of problems that occurred with 3 of them is just to high to ignore.

I have two of them and no issues, so I think it the idiots running the saws.

 

[Moparmyway]

I have two of them and no issues, so I think it the idiots running the saws.

Maybe idiots, maybe not ?

If the manufacturer is telling people to use their product with a specific standard, and that standard isn’t good enough (define: good enough if you are the manufacturer) for us …….. we then find ourselves right where we are at now. …..:
1. Oil in exhaust is bad
2. Emission are bad
3. All saws can run on 50:1
4. No more OPE or gas powered cars in Cali by 2035


Notice anything ???

 

[TINYHULK]

Most of our 500’s are spent pulling a 36in bar. Stihl just changed the maximum recommended size to a 28in bar. Do longer bars create more wear on the engine? Like is there an increased load when pulling more chain?

 

[Maintenance Chief]

A two stroke is designed to make an optimal amout of power in a specific RPM band, it could be that they discovered that the longer bar was pulling the rpms down out of their band that the saw was designed for .
Honestly if long bars destroyed saws in a way that you experienced,every idiot who puts a 28" on there 029 Super farm saw and 455 racher would blow their saws up daily!

 

[Wonkydonkey]

This may or may not seem odd, but stihl uk has it listed as it can take a 36” bar.

I wonder if and what reasons why they still have it listed.

 

[Moparmyway]

WARNING:
Photo heavy posts coming up.
This 500i has been well used indeed, some weaknesses have allready begun to show up, but nothing major yet. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves and comment here/there.

Id also like to thank @TINYHULK for sending me his saw to put up here as we go through this process !!!

 

[Moparmyway]

Some of the damage from normal use in a daily worked environment.

 

[Moparmyway]

When this gets bent like so, it’s best to replace it or try to get it straightened out, took some muscle to remove it and it’s eventually going to wear a hole in the

 

[Moparmyway]

 

[Moparmyway]

 

[Moparmyway]

Looking pretty dry so far, had to stop here and take my 8yo to her softball game, nothing like 57, drizzling, and 30-40 mph winds from what’s leftover from Ian to make me appreciate Merino wool !!!!

 

[Nutball]

I wonder how hard it gets run? The guys at one tree company I worked with would lean on a saw until the clutch slipped, back off a bit, then repeat.

 

[Wonkydonkey]

https://opeforum.com/attachments/350047/
i got this far and thought “grey and fugged piston”

then I got to the bark box pics and it’s lean.

correct me please. Do you have to reset the saw when adding the bark box, or does it automatically retune ? ..

 

[Moparmyway]

I wonder how hard it gets run? The guys at one tree company I worked with would lean on a saw until the clutch slipped, back off a bit, then repeat.

@TINYHULK
???

 

[TINYHULK]

@Moparmyway i don’t run the saws like that but my guys that are still learning have been guilty of it. I’ve been teaching them about listening to the RPMs of the saw and applying enough pressure to create an efficient cut but not bind it up. Not to say they weren’t doing it anyway the day my saw went out. I was in a 140 excavator clearing trees while they were processing other ones too far away to see them