housing failure

[donpate60]

I have a Ryobi 10532 chainsaw. Used 1 time. Starter housing nylon gear teeth are bending the metal catch arms flat. It appears there is so much compression the starter housing can't take it. I removed the spark plug and it worked fine. Reinstalled the plug and had the same problem again. Any suggestions?

[Mark]

Hi Don,

There should not be enough compression in the cylinder to require that kind of force on the pull rope. It would make me think that maybe something in the cylinder is rubbing. I would start by removing the muffler and inspecting the piston for any signs of wear such as scratching.

My only other thought would be a badly plugged muffler but I have never seen one plugged bad enough to cause the compression to elevate that much.

I hope this helps with your repair!

-Mark

[Gregg ry10532]

I have the same problem with my chain saw, stripped teeth on the starter housing and bent lever arms on the flywheel. It also has the same starting pull problem listed above. Could this be a ignition timing problem? It seems to jerk hard while pulling the starter rope.

[Mark]

Hi Gregg,

Timing issues would not cause this on a 2-cycle engine. There are no valves like on a 4-cycle engine. The timing is set by the location of the ports in the cylinder.

Excessive compression is almost always caused by cylinder / piston damage or a plugged exhaust. The exhaust could be plugged by the saw being flooded as well.

-Mark