Makita DCS510

[alecs]

Hi,
I have a Makita DCS510 (made by Dolmar) that I bought new in 2010.  It's been a good all around saw for my needs.  Was using it yesterday and it was running great- except...  It would start fine, then run fine with plenty of power, good idle speed, and no issues.  Then I'd shut it down, and maybe 10-20 minutes later, try to restart it but it wouldn't restart consistently.  Let it sit for a while longer and it would start again on the first pull.  Haven't had this problem before with this saw.  I was guessing maybe it was flooded so I took the air cleaner off and let it sit with the choke open to see if that would allow the gas to evaporate.  Couldn't tell if that helped at all - sometimes it seemed to do the trick, and other times, nothing.

Usually when I re-start the saw, I set it with the throttle partly open.  On this saw, the choke is set by moving the on-off switch to the choke position, but then if you move back to the run position, the throttle is automatically set to partway open.  If you don't go to the choke position first and simply put the switch to "on", you are at idle speed.  Maybe I need to try starting it at regular idle instead of with the throttle open?

Because I don't use the saw every day, and we can't get non-ethanol gas around here, I use the premix 92 octane 50:1.  It's expensive, but I was having problems many years ago when I was mixing my own using ethanol gas after letting the saw sit for any length of time.  

Thanks for any tips on this!

[lxskllr]

My only suggestion is to try starting it at idle speed. That's my default for saws that have been recently shut down. I consider fast idle a hack to get a warm saw started, and it indicates a problem with the machine. If your idle is a little on the low side, try bumping it up a bit to help get it going. Keep it just below where the chain spins.

Otherwise, the carb may need some jets twiddled with. I can't help you there. I can get a saw tuned eventually, but I'm not good at it. I have to do it over time as I use it.