I have a stihl 044 we bought used, it seems fairly old but lightly used. I was using it one day for most of the day and it worked great. The next morning I fired it back up to finish the job and it started normally, idled good, revved up good with no load, but every time i touched it to wood it would fall on its face and die. I googled it and every forum had a bunch of people saying check compression. I haven't done that, I don't think my gauge will fit, but the pull cord pulls as hard as ever, which is really hard. Any more compression and I don't know if I could start it. I tried running it with the air filter removed and had no improvement. Cleaned the plug, no improvement. My thought is a fuel delivery problem, but I wanted to check if anybody knows of a common problem I should look for before tearing it apart. Any thoughts? Thanks.
A hole or a crack in the fuel line, maybe some gumminess in the carb preventing proper fuel?
Probably needs a new carb and line.
I had an 028 that did that. Fuel pump. Pull the stamped steel cover off the carb and you'll see a diaphragm. Replace that and clean it while you're at it.
You can usually buy a complete chinesium carb off Amazon for $28. You can try the carb, but it likely won't work well in my experience. The secret is to use the parts out of the new carb to rebuild yours, and they come with fuel lines and filters.
If it has a spark arrester muffler, it may be clogged. This is a common issue with 2 cycle engines where they idle OK with no load but either won't rev or die under load. Stihl spark arresters are a very fine steel screen that screws into the muffler. You can remove it and clean it. Look up on you-tube and you'll find videos on how to clean them with a propane torch. Not sure the 044 has one, but it's worth taking a look.
Mr_Asa
Dork
5/19/20 11:40 a.m.
stukndapast said:
If it has a spark arrester muffler, it may be clogged. This is a common issue with 2 cycle engines where they idle OK with no load but either won't rev or die under load. Stihl spark arresters are a very fine steel screen that screws into the muffler. You can remove it and clean it. Look up on you-tube and you'll find videos on how to clean them with a propane torch. Not sure the 044 has one, but it's worth taking a look.
Second this. Dad has to take his off every couple years to clean it.
I had carb issues with my 028. Finally, the shop found the problem and said the carb was warped, so it wouldn't seal/vacuum leak when it got hot. Carbs were NLA. Clicky-clicky Amazon delivered a new one for like nothing and it's been great since.
This: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLIEYvHMS8U
is a good video on tree dropping, posted here elsewhere, and if you'll note, they all have Stihl or Husky saws, and man, what saw chains. Go through those trees like butter.
gearheadmb said:
I have a stihl 044 we bought used, it seems fairly old but lightly used. I was using it one day for most of the day and it worked great. The next morning I fired it back up to finish the job and it started normally, idled good, revved up good with no load, but every time i touched it to wood it would fall on its face and die. I googled it and every forum had a bunch of people saying check compression. I haven't done that, I don't think my gauge will fit, but the pull cord pulls as hard as ever, which is really hard. Any more compression and I don't know if I could start it. I tried running it with the air filter removed and had no improvement. Cleaned the plug, no improvement. My thought is a fuel delivery problem, but I wanted to check if anybody knows of a common problem I should look for before tearing it apart. Any thoughts? Thanks.
I've said in the past if you post a question like this on the internet you should be required by law to post what the problem turned out to be so here I am.
hopefully you can see it. The fuel line is twisted and swollen and just plain messed up. I hope this may help someone if they find this thread when they Google their issues.
