Sad Day "Now with a Happy End"

[dancan]

was cutting with my ms361 and it quit  :-[ . i checked the usual culprits and everything points to a dead coil .
does anybody know what the resistance readings are and have a coil for sale ?

[beelsr]

fyi.  coil has a lifetime guar. from stihl for original owner.

[dancan]

bought it used and have been told that it only has a 2 yr warranty from manufacture date of 2004
didn't realize how good and smooth it ran till i had to grab my 034

[Kevin]

Primary should be around 0.7-1.0 ohm.
Secondary should be 7700-10,300 ohms.

[beenthere]

Welcome to the forum, beelsr

I'm interested in anything that can happen to an MS361.  So far, so good with mine.

[joe_indi]

Easiest way to check if your coil is actually dead is to use a digital tach like the stihl edt.

Pull off the stop lead.Remove the spark plug.Hold the tach near the ignition lead
and pull the starter slowly, then slightly faster ....increase the speed of your pull gradually.
If your coil is working you should get a minimum rpm reading of 100 - 120.
Anything higher your coil still works.
If its still higher, its weak.
If there is no reading its dead.
If you get a reading of 100-120, reconnect the stop lead and check again.If there is no reading, check the stop lead for a brak in the insulation.
This is usually the case and it occurs most of the time at the grommet just behind the coil.
When I say a higher reading what I mean is the speed  at which you get a reading.
Lifetime warranties on Stihl coils are there no more.

[dancan]

Thanks for the specs kevin

what led me to the coil after it quit was the smell of gas (thought it flooded)
i pulled the plug and checked for spark (found none) swapped the plug still no spark
installed screwdriver in spark plug boot , held on the metal shaft , clenched  my jaw and pulled the cord (high tech testing  ) ,not even a tingle  :'( i took the plastic off and traced out the switch and wiring but no faults to be found so it all points to the coil .
now i can check the resistance before i spend the hard earned $$ :'( :'(

[Cut4fun]

I seen a used 361 coil in the $40's the other day, wonder what a new one cost?

[Tom]

Holy Cripes!!  You held onto the metal of the screwdriver.  Just thinking about doing that makes my....

[dancan]

new ones are 80 to 85.00 $$ cnd
yes there is one forsale on somethingbay but buy the time it gets to me it'll be close to the same .

Holy Cripes!!  You held onto the metal of the screwdriver.  Just thinking about doing that makes my....

hair stand on end ?
wet the handle first and then pull the cord really fast  :D  :D :D it gets the juices going ... really

well , maybe not , i start real slow  just in case and then pickup the pace

[Tony_T]

Check the cheap/easy stuff first.  Make sure the kill switch and /orwire is not shorted out.  Happened on an 038 of mine.

[beelsr]

installed screwdriver in spark plug boot , held on the metal shaft , clenched  my jaw and pulled the cord (high tech testing  ) ,not even a tingle  :'(

Do you pee on electric fences too?   :D

If you know the guy you bought it from, he's local and you have a Stihl dealer, buy him a beer to take the saw to the dealer.  The coils _are_ lifetime for the original owner.

[beelsr]

Lifetime warranties on Stihl coils are there no more.

Don't know about India but they are here in North America.  Andy posts this regularly on AS.

[dancan]

picked up the new coil at 7:30 am got back to the shop and was making noise by 8:00 am 8) 8)

[sawmilllawyer]

 8) Beeslrl, when I first got my MS 361 the saw would'nt check just about everything. No go. Took it into the dealer, replcaced coil, no problems since, been about a year and half. Don't know if it's common with this saw or not. Other than that saw has worked flawlessly, very happy with it.

[sawmilllawyer]

I meant Dancan, soory.

[arojay]

Dancan,  Make sure you are using a resistor plug.

[SawTroll]

8) Beeslrl, when I first got my MS 361 the saw would'nt check just about everything. No go. Took it into the dealer, replcaced coil, no problems since, been about a year and half. Don't know if it's common with this saw or not. Other than that saw has worked flawlessly, very happy with it.

Not usual at all, according to the Stihl dealers/techs at that unmentionable site.......

[jokers]

Lifetime warranties on Stihl coils are there no more.

Don't know about India but they are here in North America.  Andy posts this regularly on AS.

Maybe Andy is warranteeing them himself out of pocket because the Stihl warranty is two years. Look it up. Or maybe Andy just hasn`t had to warranty a coil in a while and doesn`t realize this has changed.