Glad for Amazon!

[foakes]

7 years ago, I was needing a mid-sized chain saw since there was a need to drop, remove, and process around 110 Ponderosa Pines that were beetle-killed and a fire hazard as well as a falling issue.

Had a Stihl 460 with a 36" bar, plus a little Stihl 170 with a 16" bar.

Found a Stihl 036 with a 28" bar on CL.  Checked starting, cranking compression, general condition.  It was a solid saw.  Paid $300.  Picked up a couple of new square chisel cut skip chains, spark plugs, air filters.

Got it home, cut steadily well for a week, or so —- then it wouldn't start.

Narrowed it down to a lack of spark —- then narrowed it further to a faulty magneto.  Called the local Stihl Ace Hardware —- a Stihl magneto was $132!

Checked on Amazon, China manufactured magneto was $18 with over 2000 5 star ratings.  Ordered it, it arrived 2 days later, installed it —- started better than it ever had before.

Adjusted carb settings and low & high idle and run screws.

It has cut over 80 cords of wood.  Not one issue.

5 months ago, a neighbor gave me a Husqvarna 145BT backpack blower that had set out for a Winter.

Finally got around to putting it up on the bench last Thursday.  Compression was good, cleaned the air filter, wiped off the crud, poured gas mix in the tank.  It came out the bottom of the carb as fast as it could.

OK, checked the carb —- the return gas line was off the tank, and the primer-bulb was cracked completely.

Checked on Amazon again —- could have bought the parts possibly needed separately, plus a new spark plug —- would run around $42.  That sounded OK, but there is always something that is missed when doing these kind of repairs.

So I look a little further down the Amazon page —- and find a complete new carburetor, gasket, (2) primer bulbs, a full gas line kit with a filter and a spare, plus a new spark plug —- for $15.95 with nearly 1000 4.5 to 5 star ratings.  Ordered it, free shipping scheduled to be here tomorrow, showed up a day early.

The Husqvarna kit was 8 times this price —- and it was also made in Asia by Kawasaki, as is this one.

Should work.  I will report in a few days.  If not, no big deal.  Worth a shot.

Best, Fred

[oldmanjoe]

       I have been buying them this way for years .  It is ridicules  to buy a primmer bulb and fuel line .for what they want for them    Try to find diaphragm kit for the carb  .   The local small gas engine shops are disappearing , was nice to pick up 6 bulbs and 4 foot of fuel line to keep on hand .
                 These kits are reasonable priced ,quick swap and one of the few time`s ,I done mine seeing  parts leftover .

[foakes]

Swapped out the carb, installed the new gas lines, installed the new primer bulb, installed a new spark plug, and also a fuel pick-up filter.

Runs strong and perfect.

Took about 30 or 40 pulls before it started.

I think I didn't know how many times to prime the bulb, and might have flooded the carb.

Then I fine-tuned the screw adjustments.

But now it starts on the first pull.

Also verified and lubed the trigger, stop switch, and wiring back to the plug from the stop switch to make sure that wasn't the issue.

I think it sat out in the snow for about 3 years.

Not a hard job —- and a good result.

I still need to order a couple of air cleaners.  This did all of our cement, deck, driveways, leaves, steps, etc. —- in about 15 minutes.

Best, Fred

[MarkT]

In addition, if you don't know how to service something, there's probably a YouTube video that will walk you through it.

[boon]

I'm a bit torn. I have a little Honda stationary engine (GX270) and I have spent far more on genuine Honda parts to recondition the carb than a complete chinese clone carb would have cost me.
But then I would be supporting a business that does nil product development, and has just copied the Honda item, to unknown tolerance, specification, metallurgy etc. Would the chinese clone product probably do the job perfectly well? I would say there's a very, very good chance it would. But until the price difference becomes eye-watering, I will endeavour to use genuine parts.

EDIT: This does not apply when one can find out the originator of the genuine part, and buy it direct at a major discount with different branding. That's just being smart.

[JasonGotaProblem]

I'm a bit torn. I have a little Honda stationary engine (GX270) and I have spent far more on genuine Honda parts to recondition the carb than a complete chinese clone carb would have cost me.
But then I would be supporting a business that does nil product development, and has just copied the Honda item, to unknown tolerance, specification, metallurgy etc. Would the chinese clone product probably do the job perfectly well? I would say there's a very, very good chance it would. But until the price difference becomes eye-watering, I will endeavour to use genuine parts.

EDIT: This does not apply when one can find out the originator of the genuine part, and buy it direct at a major discount with different branding. That's just being smart.

I had a somewhat different Honda motor I was very particular about. It was in my 07 civic SI. I only used Honda parts. The difference is you and I likely both bought these things at or near fair market value.  Fred was given this one, with the implication that it was dead. Very different investment incentive.

[foakes]

I'm a bit torn. I have a little Honda stationary engine (GX270) and I have spent far more on genuine Honda parts to recondition the carb than a complete chinese clone carb would have cost me.
But then I would be supporting a business that does nil product development, and has just copied the Honda item, to unknown tolerance, specification, metallurgy etc. Would the chinese clone product probably do the job perfectly well? I would say there's a very, very good chance it would. But until the price difference becomes eye-watering, I will endeavour to use genuine parts.

EDIT: This does not apply when one can find out the originator of the genuine part, and buy it direct at a major discount with different branding. That's just being smart.

I used to feel the same way.  But, at least in my case, there are other factors to consider.  Factory magneto for my 036 Stihl chainsaw was around $130, compared to $18.

This tuneup kit for the blower was also 10 times the price of Asia.

Nowadays, with our homeowners insurance tripling, gas at over $5 a gallon, food prices up 45% across the board, and prices just at crazy levels on nearly everything —- we can't really afford to provide cut-throat corporations with obscene profits.

Not going to happen in our house.

Unfortunately...

Best, Fred

[boon]

I hear ya, Fred. It's easy to get on a soapbox about things like that until it's time to part with your hard-earned cash, and as you say these days there are plenty of other things competing for it.

[Midway Tommy]

I hear you Fred, it's absolutely ridiculous how costs have gotten out of hand the last two to three years or so. Those of us that tried to plan ahead for the "Golden Years" have really gotten a wakeup call and a big chunk taken out of our butt! 

On a little different note, I've got multiple small gas engine repair shops around my vicinity, probably 25 or so, but at $200 an hour shop time it has to be a pretty high dollar piece of equipment to justify taking it in for repair, and if you want to buy parts from them retail costs are ridiculous. I needed to buy a Cub Cadet snow blower auger belt so I got a supposedly correct (#s matched) aftermarket belt. It was a little wide, rubbed the guide and squealed & smoked like crazy. I got a genuine belt from the repair shop and that little sucker was $28 with tax.    At least now I have a sleeve with the genuine part #. If I ever have to buy another it sure won't be from the repair shop!