Stihl caps....

[heffergm]

So I have a friends tree service over dropping about 30 oaks all very close to the house. I'm cutting up what they dropped out front while they work out back. They go to lunch, I gas up and keep cutting rounds until I look down... WTF. Gas cap is hanging out, tank nearly empty (no gas cap has that effect). Now, I'd put this down to me being a clown, but this is the second time in the month I've owned this saw that it's happened.

The guys come back from lunch and ask how the saw is, to which I reply great except for the freaking gas cap... And all their faces light up and they say they've got the same problem with theirs! They were running a 362 and a one hand little saw, and they regaled me with several stories about being up in the bucket and getting gas or oil rained down on their heads.

I was ready to head to my dealer because I thought it might be busted, but go figure.

 

[smokinj]

I have had it happen but only once there is a little nack to it.

 

[velvetfoot]

I've had problems with oil cap. As I recall, if you fill the oil to the top it's hard to get the cap to lock. It also broke (I forget exactly how, but it was something plastic). You may have to check the locking before restarting.

 

[heffergm]

So here are a couple pics of how my gas cap sits. For some reason it just doesn't seem to fit quite as well as the oil cap, and I was wondering if anyone with their saw handy could tell me if this looks right. This is the cap correctly seated and locked. I'd swear there's a bit of broken plastic on the tank, but perhaps that's just how they look.

 

[smokinj]

That looks a little crooked to me but I go by touch I can fill it in my hand when its right.

 

[heffergm]

On the plus side, the 260 was great to cut with. I'm running an 18" bar with a full chisel chain. Went through almost 2 tanks and I think the saw's finally about broken in. Need to do some carb tweaking (wants to stall when it drops to idle after its warmed up... should just be a tweak of the LA screw I think), but overall I was quite happy: good power, although I can see wanting a little more, nice and light (I'm a pansy, but when you're working bent over a lot I'm happy to trade the weight for a little power). I can see why the 361 is held in such high regard, it's just more than I need on a regular basis, so I'm happy with the 260. The only marginally annoying bit (other than the cap) was starting the damn thing. Sometimes it wanted to fire right off, other times it took forever. I've been starting it using the decompression lever, but I'm wondering if that's just making things more difficult. It's not like it's hard to pull a 50cc saw, so I'm not sure why they even bothered with it.

 

[raybonz]

I have an old Stihl I bought back in 92 and that doesn't happen in fact I need the screwdriver on the scrench to loosen it lol.. The old ones have a slot to use the scrench but I only need it to loosen it.. Both the oil and gas have same design..

Ray

 

[smokinj]

On the plus side, the 260 was great to cut with. I'm running an 18" bar with a full chisel chain. Went through almost 2 tanks and I think the saw's finally about broken in. Need to do some carb tweaking (wants to stall when it drops to idle after its warmed up... should just be a tweak of the LA screw I think), but overall I was quite happy: good power, although I can see wanting a little more, nice and light (I'm a pansy, but when you're working bent over a lot I'm happy to trade the weight for a little power). I can see why the 361 is held in such high regard, it's just more than I need on a regular basis, so I'm happy with the 260. The only marginally annoying bit (other than the cap) was starting the damn thing. Sometimes it wanted to fire right off, other times it took forever. I've been starting it using the decompression lever, but I'm wondering if that's just making things more difficult. It's not like it's hard to pull a 50cc saw, so I'm not sure why they even bothered with it.

when it gets real cold decompression valve is nice,and around 5-10 tanks of fuel where it will break in. It will have a whole different sound to it. It will be more like a motor cross 2cycle when letting off the WOT.

 

[CrawfordCentury]

I don't like those flip caps. Never had a spill, but (being used to the old skool caps) overfilled the oil and messed up the way the cap seats.

There are 2 moving parts to the cap. Unscrew it and inspect. You might notice that the 2 parts are misaligned. Holding the top (the flippy part) firm, twist the bottom...and they should realign. Not always. Your o-ring might be the culprit too.

If all else fails, your dealer will be more than happy to sell you a replacement cap. At about $10 apiece, stihl's got a pretty good racket goin on.

Bottom line is don't overfill and you'll be fine and this unneeded and overengineered aspect of the saw's design won't cause you any problems.

 

[Kong]

I'm just trying to get used to the flip caps, it takes me some number of years to adapt to new innovations. I think I've had the caps come off of ever saw I've ever owned at one time or another; I immagine if one had a cork pounded in with a mallet I'd still find a way to have it come out sooner or later. It doesn't happen very often, but then it does, and then I pay more attention, and then it doesn't happen very often again.

 

[PJF1313]

At work, we have Stihl saws, back-pack blowers, brush cutters/weed-wackers.

The caps are nice when you have gloves on to get them open, but you still have
to get the white latch up so that you can turn it.

So far, the brush cutters/weed wackers are the worst for loose/missing caps.
Granted, during the seasons, they get used 8+ hrs/day and re-fueled the most,
but never had the problems with Echo or Red Max with the screw-on caps.
I ordered an extra 20 of them - to keep on hand when they start to leak, break
off the "lift" handle, or just plain gone...

KISS - why doesn't Stihl understand that?!

 

[struggle]

I like the flip caps on my farm boss and hate the screw caps on my 019.

I carry spares for the 019 as I have often over tightened them and they crack in colder weather.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

The key is after fueling up, watch when you close the cap. Watch the inside part; when it is right (in the notch) and you keep turning, the bottom part of that cap will not move but the top part does. When this happens, you have a good close.

Yes, I had it happen just a couple days ago and wondered why so played around with it. Hopefully that will be the last time it happens.

 

[Rickochet]

I love the "Flippy Caps", but you have to study them a bit to understand how they lock. Take one out and twist it and you will see how it operates and then you should not have any more troubles.