Stihl 011 frozen up

Baby Grand · Apr 21, 2012

I have a Stihl 011 that won't spin. When Pops retired to Maine, in 1998, he traded his beloved Jonsered 2186 to Tom the Saw Guy for the little Stihl. He used it to get his 1/4 acre retirement home all cleaned up and then a few times after storms before he got too weak to use it. Actually, he would have kept using it, but Mom put up such a fuss that he knew he was better off trying to convince her that smoking his pipe was good for his health. Anyways, it sat in the shed for several years, and now I have it.

Pulling on the cord is very disappointing - nothing moves. Is there a penetrant that you guys recommend to free it up enough to get it spinning again, or do I need to do a complete tear down?

Thanks,
-Jim

koho · Apr 21, 2012

Baby Grand said:
I have a Stihl 011 that won't spin. When Pops retired to Maine, in 1998, he traded his beloved Jonsered 2186 to Tom the Saw Guy for the little Stihl. He used it to get his 1/4 acre retirement home all cleaned up and then a few times after storms before he got too weak to use it. Actually, he would have kept using it, but Mom put up such a fuss that he knew he was better off trying to convince her that smoking his pipe was good for his health. Anyways, it sat in the shed for several years, and now I have it.

Pulling on the cord is very disappointing - nothing moves. Is there a penetrant that you guys recommend to free it up enough to get it spinning again, or do I need to do a complete tear down?

Thanks,
-Jim

You will almost certainly need a engine rebuild. Never use ethanol gas . Always use the best oil and never let gas sit in the unit over the winter.

Treemonkey1000 · Apr 21, 2012

Pull the plug and pour or spray some WD40 or diesel in there. Let it sit up right so that the lubricant is on top of the piston. Let it sit like that for a day or two. Then give it a crank with the plug out and see if it has loosened up at all. If it hasn't find a wooden dowl. Try to get that through the plug hole. Tap on it a little with a hammer to see if you can get the piston to move. If you can put some more WD in there to help keep from scratching the walls. Tip the saw upside down to dump out oil and rust if you can or if you have pressurized air blow it out.
Put in a new plug and fresh gas and see what happens. You can run these after they have seized up often.

PS: if you get it moving again it may take a bit of flushing to get the crud out so that you don't foul the plug. Like the other guy said fresh gas and don't let it sit with gas in the tank or carb for long periods.

Baby Grand · Apr 21, 2012

Thank, guys. I'm going to give it the Treemonkey treatment and pour some diesel in there, tip it so the cylinder's upright, cross my fingers and walk away from it for a day or two. I really don't need this saw, but it was Pop's saw, so if I can get it going again that would be nice. Never hurts to have a spare saw ready to go. If it's toast, then so be it.

Treemonkey1000 · May 6, 2012

Any luck on getting your saw moving again?

Baby Grand · May 7, 2012

Dang! I Knew I was forgetting to do something all weekend long. Got preoccupied with first firings of 2 wood stoves, one upstairs & one down. Also clearing a bunch of storm damaged trees. Tonight, when I get back from work, I'll pull the plug and fill the chamber.

Treemonkey1000 · May 7, 2012

Well shoot here I figured you were all up and running already!

No problems just was curious if it was working or not.

Baby Grand · Jun 4, 2012

Finally tried the Treemonkey Cure. Worked like a charm. About a 1/4 cup of diesel in the spark hole & 24 hours to let it soak in. Pulled the cord and it spun like it had never been frozen. Put a new plug in it, drained the old gas and refilled with a mix that was heavy on the marine Stabil. For a saw that hasn't turned in probably 7 or 8 years, she runs nicely now. Need to touch up the chain and try her out on some small stuff next weekend.

Thanks for the help! That's why I love this place - it's a warehouse of knowledge.

-Jim

Treemonkey1000 · Jun 4, 2012

Awesome I am glad it worked. A guy from work brought his saw in that he had loaned out. It had been left in the rain with the compression release on top of the saw open. They put in the shed not knowing it had water in the piston so it sat for 8 months and froze up from rust. I took out the plug and squirted WD-40 in there and pulled off the muffler and squirted some in there as well and the carb hole. There was only about a teaspoon of water in it. Before I did that I used the shop vac to suck out rust.
After sitting for 24 hours it was still jammed up where I couldn't get it to turn over with the pull starter. So I took of the side cover where the flywheel is and used a socket wrench to wiggle the flywheel back and forth until it freed up. Sucked out the WD-40( I didn't have any diesel at the house at the moment). Put some fresh gas in it and fired it up. It's running great now. He is happy not to have to replace piston and cylinder head.

Baby Grand · Jun 19, 2012

Had a chance to tackle some pin oak limbing this weekend.
That saw is a little tiger. Cuts very nicely and the engine seems to be 100%.
Thanks again, Treemonkee.
Jim