Oil Cap fell off (Stihl ms290), what a mess

That'll work, but you could do the same thing with a degreaser like Simple Green or Purple Power and rinse with water; no need to use fuel. This isn't a big deal. If you want to make sure you don't have any water remaining in the tank after flushing it clean, swirl a few glugs of rubbing alcohol around in there, dump it out and leave it open to dry for a few minutes.

I'd just use a shot of diesel to swish it out.

Yep, that'd be fine too. I think it's probably good to use something less explosive than gas. Diesel or kerosene would qualify. It won't be a high-stakes operation; all there is in the tank is a rubber hose with an intake strainer on the end of it.

Jon1270 said:

Yep, that'd be fine too. I think it's probably good to use something less explosive than gas. Diesel or kerosene would qualify. It won't be a high-stakes operation; all there is in the tank is a rubber hose with an intake strainer on the end of it.

Click to expand...

Explosive? Explosive has a widely recognized legal definition and gasoline certainly doesn't fit...

I'm also a bit confused... people routinely put oil in the gas tank and gas in the oil tank, the gas tank is located about 7 inches from the oil tank. Now may I'd be a bit hesitant to use gasoline if I were standing inside a ring of fire, or if fireworks were going off all around me, but just swishing it in the tank? I don't see any greater risk in doing that than filling the saw with gas and yet we don't hear people telling how explosive and dangerous it is to refill the gas tank...

FWIW, it's just a pet-peeve of mine when people over-blow the "explosiveness" of gas. People that believe that have been watching WAY too many movies.

CountryBoy19 said:

Explosive? Explosive has a widely recognized legal definition and gasoline certainly doesn't fit...

I'm also a bit confused... people routinely put oil in the gas tank and gas in the oil tank, the gas tank is located about 7 inches from the oil tank. Now may I'd be a bit hesitant to use gasoline if I were standing inside a ring of fire, or if fireworks were going off all around me, but just swishing it in the tank? I don't see any greater risk in doing that than filling the saw with gas and yet we don't hear people telling how explosive and dangerous it is to refill the gas tank...

FWIW, it's just a pet-peeve of mine when people over-blow the "explosiveness" of gas. People that believe that have been watching WAY too many movies.

Click to expand...

Gas vapor is highly explosive is it not?

In any event, I'd rather keep something with a lower flash point and more volatile vapors away from hot areas. My handle is much cooler than my muffler, and yet it's only 6 inches away.

I'd clean it with whatever is readily available and cheap. If have no problem swishing gas in and dumping it. I got bitten a while back for saying that I cleaned my air filter with gas. Supposed to use blown air but I have yet to find a compressor out in the woods.
I should do a Lincoln ad, I'm not a red neck and not politically correct.
BTW, did the same thing once but the oil got all over the ground. Looked like I had gutted a squirrel.

saskwoodburner said:

Gas vapor is highly explosive is it not?

In any event, I'd rather keep something with a lower flash point and more volatile vapors away from hot areas. My handle is much cooler than my muffler, and yet it's only 6 inches away.

Click to expand...

Actually it's not explosive, that's the point I'm making. Gasoline burns by deflagration, which is a subsonic flame propagation, very different from an explosion, which has a super-sonic propagation. People need to stop throwing around flashy words to exaggerate things. Highly explosive? It is highly combustible and at the right AFR can deflagrate, that is all.

Regarding the hot muffler, I don't believe anybody is advocating firing the saw up to get it good and hot before dumping the gas in the tank. Goodness, lets use a little common sense (getting harder and harder to find). Just as any proper refueling procedure, let it cool down a bit before you do it. It's not that difficult, and it's not that dangerous...

Gasoline ... diesel ... either would work. As mentioned saw should be cool ... which should not be an issue since you are cleaning it out ... not running it.

When I was riding dirt bikes I used gas to clean the sticky oil off the foam air filters , actually soaked them in gas. Worked like a charm. Then I used the same gas to get the sticky oil off my hands from handling the filter. Then I used a rag soaked in the same gas to wipe any grease or sticky air filter oil I may have gotten off the bikes frame , air box , etc. Worked like a charm.

I don't see any harm in using gas to clean out the oil tank . Like others have said just do it when the saw is cool.

Just my opinion.

CountryBoy19 said:

Actually it's not explosive, that's the point I'm making. Gasoline burns by deflagration, which is a subsonic flame propagation, very different from an explosion, which has a super-sonic propagation. People need to stop throwing around flashy words to exaggerate things. Highly explosive? It is highly combustible and at the right AFR can deflagrate, that is all.

Regarding the hot muffler, I don't believe anybody is advocating firing the saw up to get it good and hot before dumping the gas in the tank. Goodness, lets use a little common sense (getting harder and harder to find). Just as any proper refueling procedure, let it cool down a bit before you do it. It's not that difficult, and it's not that dangerous...

Click to expand...

Time for decaf big fella.

Had this happened when running my husky 266xp.......... Noticed it pretty quick because it dumped all over my leg.

Wait for the saw to cool down use what is available clean her up and get it ready for the next cutting. When I'm done cutting I tear my saws down and clean them it out like you said a good weekend job. Have fun.

Well sure, gasoline will work and the risk wouldn't be very high, but I generally try to avoid unnecessary risks when it doesn't cost me anything to do so.

I probably shouldn't go poking at the other thing, but a quick Google search makes it clear that explosions can involve sub-sonic combustion (deflagration) or super-sonic (detonation), or even both. Maybe people inclined to throw around fancy semantic assertions should be careful to get it right?

Nothing wrong with a little detonation now and again.

Wow this thread got heated quick. When I cleaned mine out recently I just used wd-40. Plus has the added benefit of being a water displacement product hence the wd in the name! Either way whatever u use should be fine.

jb6l6gc said:

Wow this thread got heated quick.

Click to expand...

People suffering from cabin fever.

Jon1270 said:

Well sure, gasoline will work and the risk wouldn't be very high, but I generally try to avoid unnecessary risks when it doesn't cost me anything to do so.

I probably shouldn't go poking at the other thing, but a quick Google search makes it clear that explosions can involve sub-sonic combustion (deflagration) or super-sonic (detonation), or even both. Maybe people inclined to throw around fancy semantic assertions should be careful to get it right?

Click to expand...

You do have me on that, I started off discussing the use of explosive in reference to gasoline and that is untrue, but "explosions" can certainly happen sub-sonic or super-sonic. That doesn't make gasoline an explosive. Either way, that is off topic, the actual point that caused me to bring that up is the actual risk of using such a chemical in the context of this thread.

No matter what way you see it I think we're being a bit ridiculous when we set off the alarms and run around waving our arms in fear because somebody suggests using gasoline to flush out the oil tank. Primarily because gasoline is simply not that sensitive, or "explosive". It's not nitro-glycerine, or some other super sensitive chemical. It's a flammable chemical and nothing more. Yes, it is to be respected, but no, it won't make your car blow up and throw it 100 feet in the air like hollywood depicts. That being said, in the context of this thread lets use a little common sense and some critical thinking skills (severely lacking in most people today). #1, Having the oil tank just a few inches closer to the muffler than the gas tank isn't somehow going to miraculously make this magnificently more dangerous, especially if we follow standard precautions and let things cool off just a bit before doing it. #2 People routinely get the gas/oil mixed up when refilling, I've never heard of a single incident of a chainsaw exploding after somebody got them mixed up, and most of them even start the saw and it runs for a little bit which spews some gas out onto the bar. Has anybody else heard of an exploding chainsaw due to that?


I guess we can sum this whole thread up really easy.
For people with brains and common sense: Use what you have available to you. Use the appropriate precautions to do so safely.
For people lacking brains: Throw the saw away and buy a new one because every possible thing you can put in that tank has some level of risk associated with it. If you think gasoline is too explosive to use as a solvent you clearly aren't capable of evaluating the risks and implementing appropriate risk mitigation steps to ensure your own safety while using chemicals so you must eliminate all chemicals from your life immediately.

^^^^lol