MS 362C bar oiler adjustment

woodsdog2015 · April 02, 2018, 12:34:33 PM

Started my wood season this spring and got out the MS362C its running like a top but I noticed the bar chain oil doesn't seem as flowing as I'd like it. I get a few sprays up on a light colored piece of wood but I think it should be more. I tried to make the adjustment underneath the powerhead but the screw is very small and I could hardly see it. I turned it counter clockwise to open it up and it seems a bit better but I have a couple of questions for your 362 users:

   1. How much oil should be spraying out? I got some droplets but it just seems like it should be more.

   2. The adjustment range of the screw, is it very much? It seemed to "stop" just a very slight turn counter clockwise?

   3. I think I reefed on it a little too much and damaged the slot of the bar oiler adjustment screw, how difficult is it to replace this screw?

DelawhereJoe · April 02, 2018, 12:54:15 PM

I've found that the type of oil used on mine will affect flow also. The Stihl orange jug bar oil doesn't put out anywhere near as much as the tractor supply oil. I think to turn it up it was a clock wise turn.

btulloh · April 02, 2018, 03:18:47 PM

When I got my 362 a couple years ago it seemed like the chain was running a little dry like you mentioned. Took it back to the dealer and he said that's the way Stihl wants it. Seems to be enough oil, but doesn't throw as much as my older one and looks a bit dry. It has run fine for two years now and seems to be sufficiently lubricated. It's just not what I was used to.

woodsdog2015 · April 02, 2018, 03:21:12 PM

Yeah I use the Stihl Orange Jug oil in mine.

woodsdog2015 · April 02, 2018, 03:27:26 PM

Thanks btulloh,

I know what you mean if your feel the chain it feels somewhat lubricated but not "wet" it just seemed to lube a little more than what I think its doing now. The saw is cutting like a beast.

tawilson · April 02, 2018, 04:10:44 PM

I put a high output oiler on my 441 years ago. Not a major chore. And I've damaged a few adjustment screws. Doesn't take much.

HolmenTree · April 02, 2018, 09:16:56 PM

The Stihl and Husqvarna bar oil no longer has red dye in it so if you're used to the old dyed oil it will look drier on the chain.
Stihl was forced to go eco for the forest years ago. Some German biologist figured a drop of oil can contaminate a square yard of forest floor.
Bars were modified to keep more oil inside the rails when the saw was shutoff and set down, even the dye was removed because it wasn't eco friendly.

teakwood · April 03, 2018, 07:43:21 AM

The Stihl oil adjustment screws have a travel of just a quarter turn, or 90 degrees. they open clockwise, so if you want more oil turn it clockwise

realzed · April 03, 2018, 09:05:01 AM

I found when new especially, my 20" bars didn't seem to be oiling as much as I was expecting or used to seeing with other saws I had been around or used but it was around the time I started using the 'orange' bottles of Stihl oil too - so maybe it was more a visual than actual thing, since I experienced no problems with any chains or bars..
I started using a dash of cheap TSC oil in with the Stihl stuff to add a bit of color and to my mind, make it flow a bit easier so it gave me a better 'peace of mind'-thing especially when the weather got a bit cooler - I really still don't see all that much more evidence of any oil coming off the bar but I'm a little less inclined to look or worry about it now as well..
Sort of a 'Linus blanket' kind of thing I suppose, for me anyway..

realzed · April 03, 2018, 12:55:04 PM

"Stihl was forced to go eco for the forest years ago. Some German biologist figured a drop of oil can contaminate a square yard of forest floor." (quote)..
Interesting on the 'contamination zealots' bit - When I worked in the Geol. Research department of INCO years ago - we went back and looked at many diamond drilling sites both recent and quite old around here, to determine what the environmental impact aspects were from contamination from drilling activities, which Willard, you can probably relate to from your years in the Northern MB outback, quickly realizing that often the foliage was thicker and had regenerated faster than the general surroundings in many areas investigated.
Now Sudbury maybe isn't the best area in the World to base total assumptions on granted, but it was interesting how many of those messy areas (up to a point) where storage of fuel oils, drilling lubricants, and general areas that work related spillages of different types of petroleum based liquids would undoubtedly have occurred, showed nowhere near as much (if any) damage as we often suspected they would!
Turned out instead, that many of the drill clearings (or what once were) had often grown in substantially thicker and denser than the areas local to them and often trees, shrubs, and other greenery appeared healthier the closer to the actual work sites we got..
Again, Sudbury with it's acidic soil from decades of acid rain and sulfuric bombardment, may be somewhat atypical - but the degree of self-regeneration that Nature had undertaken was often quite unexpected considering.
So it just goes to show that sometimes a lot of oil dropped seems to do so little damage over time as it breaks down - even possibly some good - that maybe it makes you wonder why (aside from the 'eco-sales pitch' aspect of it) a company like Stihl would worry about the little oil any chainsaw activity might leave behind..
Sounds a lot like our present Carbon-tax fiasco - where.. if there isn't an issue create one, as an excuse to charge more..

DelawhereJoe · April 03, 2018, 01:15:25 PM

Its the same with curing disease, theres no money in it. Now treating everyone that has symptoms theres more money then you can count in that business. Same with parts engineered to break down...but thats another topic.

HolmenTree · April 03, 2018, 01:34:57 PM

Yes the drop of oil on the forest floor like realzed said got blown way out of proportion. But over in Germany and other parts of Europe the Eco activists society is a well oiled machine. Especially after cleaning up for decades after WW2.
Realzed, do you remember that PCB fiasco years ago when that tractor trailer was hauling that leaking transformer in northern Ontario?
100 miles of highway was earmarked to be ripped up and repaved.

realzed · April 03, 2018, 02:51:42 PM

I do recall that one and a few more along the way!
If they ever monitored rail lines (that coincidentally always seek out and follow lake shores and river banks for gradient logic) I'm sure they'd find all sorts of contamination that would make the odd highway spillage seem extremely minor.. but again it would seldom hit the news unless it's close to a settlement of some kind which in this 'Northern country' is a fairly low probability since everything is pretty wide open.
Back when I was a kid though, one of the first things you learned when walking the tracks was not to go down the center of the rails - especially when on a route where a lot of passenger trains were prevalent.. for obvious reasons..

woodsdog2015 · April 04, 2018, 07:23:01 PM

Thank you gentleman. I finally decided to refer to my owners manual and quite vividly illustrated in mine is a perfect diagram of the bar oiled adjustment for my saw. Me lazy and dumb!!