anyone else having hard time starting a ms361 stihl

The decomp valve is for your benefit only...reduces effort to start but doesn't really help the saw any.

Sounds like you are doing it right...but there may be something off with the saw. Mine takes about 1/3 of a pull when warm to fire up. You might have a fuel issue (bad line, clogged tank vent) or weak spark that's making it hard to start.

Next time after you run it for a while, shut it off, open and close the gas cap and try again. If still hard, pull the plug and check to see if there's any noticable fuel. Check for spark too. If you have spark but no fuel, then might be time to start trouble-shooting the carb and/or fuel lines.

CTBurner said:

yes props to Rob, and i lean heavy on interwebs for repairs to all my toys and tools

Click to expand...

Glad I could help.

It turns out the problem was hardware related, not pertaining to the method in which I was starting it.

There is a cylinder in the saw that can (and did) fracture. While it is able to start cold, when it's warm the pieces of it expand very slightly which makes it unable to start with any consistency.

I'm posting this in the event that people run into the same issue.