Seems impossible to get Stihl parts quickly

[Jon Farley]

I've had a Stihl 390 chainsaw for about 5 years now. I've maintained it well but I had my first experience with needing a crucial part ASAP and found that there seems to be no system in place to do this.

I need a new muffler assembly and none of the Stihl dealers within a reasonable distance stock the part, and they all gave the same story - "it will take us about a week to get it in from Stihl." There is also no online ordering of Stihl parts and from what I found no aftermaket parts. One dealer an hour away graciously offered to take a muffler off a new saw for me, but would not mail it (45 minutes away).

In the meantime I'm out of commission as far as cutting up bowl blanks and firewood for a week. This is really frustrating. Anyone know why this is so hard or know if I'm going about this the wrong way?

Jon

[Mike Heidrick]

Log onto http://www.arboristsite.com/ forums. Those boys can get you just about any part you need.

The MS390 is not in Stihl's Pro series so getting replacement parts is not a priority for them.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Jon, although a week seems like a long time when you need the part, it isn't unreasonable.

Your dealer would have to place an order, the supplier has to receive and process the order, package the part and ship it out.

Then the dealer receives the part, contacts you, and completes the transaction.

It all takes time, in my opinion one week isn't unreasonable.

Regards, Rod.

[Matt Meiser]

I'd agree that 1 week is reasonable for a non-expedited order. But in today's world you should be able to order something before a cutoff time and get it the next day assuming it is in stock somewhere in the country. You should expect to pay a hefty shipping/handling charge to do this but it should be possible if you feel it is necessary.

[Todd Ferrante]

1) Buy new saw.
2) Move part from new saw to old saw.
3) Order new part.
4) Receive part in 1-2 weeks.
5) Install part on new saw.
6) Return new saw to store.

[Ed Labadie]

The delivery time depends on the dealer. IIRC Stihl has a minimum order ammount.
The closest dealer to me can take up to 2 weeks since they are low volume. Big dealer further away can get parts in 3 days.

Ed

[Bruce Brurud]

Jon, you are looking at this problem all wrong. This is the perfect opportunity for that second back-up saw! Who can resist an excuse for buying more tools? :D It doesn't have to be big and expensive. I've got an old 011 that goes wherever the 041 goes, just in case the 041 has a problem, and it has saved the day at least a couple of times.

[Dave Lehnert]

1) Buy new saw.
2) Move part from new saw to old saw.
3) Order new part.
4) Receive part in 1-2 weeks.
5) Install part on new saw.
6) Return new saw to store.

Oh! thats nice. The very reason places are starting to charge a restocking fee to return something.

[Michael Wetzel]

Do you want to pay for next day air for the part? I order a lot of stuff at work and you pay for what you get. I can get a part sent ground for free, but if I wanted it yesterday I need to accept the fact it could cost me a small fortune for next day shipping. That is the name of the game, surely with the cost of shipping going up because of fuel prices.

[Loren Hedahl]

I've got an old (approx 30 years) 041. Still starts easy and runs strong after all those years at approx 4 cords of firewood a year.

I was told that parts are no longer available. Perhaps you know of a source.

Just wondering.

[Harley Reasons]

Or you could just do like some of the HD BORG's customers do.
1. Buy new tool
2. Spend 30 days building new project
3. Put crappy well used tool back in box
4. Have wife to return to store
5. Upon arrival at BORG have wife to tell big LIE " It just didn't do what he wanted it to do".
6. Look at the face in the mirror the next morning and congratulate yourself on what a smart honest MAN you are because you outsmarted a BORG while having your wife tell a big fat LIE.

[Brandon Shew]

Sounds like most other things from Germany. I have had a part for my Audi on order for 2 weeks. Same goes for my VW. I have a Bosch dryer that had a bearing go bad about 3 months after we bought. It took 6 weeks to get the part.

[Chase Gregory]

Yes, high volume dealers can get the parts in a couple of days because they order enough for free shipping. Small dealers don't want to pay the freight and most customers don't really want to pay the premium. It's sort of a catch 22.

If I need something fast my dealer will order some blowers and such to hit $2000 for free freight. He moves enough stuff to do that.

Surprised that no-one has a 390 to pull a muffler off of - new or out in thier seized up chainsaw pile.

I'd use this as an excuse to buy a 361 :rolleyes:.... fantastic saw...but a muffler is certainly cheaper.

What happened to your muffler? Did it get crushed? It doesn't take much of a muffler to keep going as long as you don't run too lean.

Chaser

[Chase Gregory]

I've got an old (approx 30 years) 041. Still starts easy and runs strong after all those years at approx 4 cords of firewood a year.

I was told that parts are no longer available. Perhaps you know of a source.

Just wondering.

Cheapstihlparts on ebay has a lot of stuff. He's a friend of a friend but I don't know him personally.

Go to arboristsite.com and ask in the chainsaw forum if 041 parts are still available from dealers. There are several dealers there who will know and will probably take care of you.

041's are excellent firewood saws, no doubt.

Chaser

[Jon Farley]

What happened to your muffler? Did it get crushed? It doesn't take much of a muffler to keep going as long as you don't run too lean.

Chaser

The muffler almost seemed as though it melted at the point where the interior components attach to the outer box-like housing (at one of the bolt locations), leaving loose pieces of metal rattling around inside the muffler.

[Chase Gregory]

The muffler almost seemed as though it melted at the point where the interior components attach to the outer box-like housing (at one of the bolt locations), leaving loose pieces of metal rattling around inside the muffler.

If there is anything loose in there I'd definitely not run it as you don't want to get something back into the cylinder.

Did you take the saw in so the dealer could pull the muffler and find what is loose? He should be able to verify very quickly what the problem is and also make sure the mixture screws are adjusted properly.

You can, of course, do this yourself. Pull the 3 nuts off the front and pull the front cover and spark screen. Then you can remove the bolts that hold the muffler on.

Just take it off and check it out for what's rattling.

If it's running so hot that things are melting the screen may be getting clogged or you may be running too lean.

Saws of the last 10 years or so have much more restrictive mufflers and tend to run pretty hot. It's an EPA thing.

Chaser

[fred woltersdorf]

here you go http://cgi.ebay.com/MS-290-310-390-Stihl-Muffler-Assembly-029-039-New-2_W0QQitemZ360047264360QQihZ023QQcategoryZ20538QQc mdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1713.m153.l1262#ebayphotohos ting

[Chase Gregory]

That's Curt Bailey - of Bailey's Chainsaws.

Top notch guy!

Chaser

[Bruce Brurud]

I've got an old (approx 30 years) 041. Still starts easy and runs strong after all those years at approx 4 cords of firewood a year.

I was told that parts are no longer available. Perhaps you know of a source.



The only time I've needed parts for mine, I was able to get them at a small saw shop here in town. I don't think the guy has thrown anything away since the day he was born. E-bay is the only other place I know of for stuff other than tune-up parts, chains and bars.

[Nancy Laird]

Yep, getting parts for anything from any of the European countries is a pain. I have a friend who spent 9 MONTHS waiting for a taillight lens for his Masarati several years ago--in the meantime, he got lots of tickets for his taillight problem.

[Chase Gregory]

My gut feeling is this didn't happen in south Georgia...for three reasons...

Masarati -

Ticketed for broken taillight lens -

Didn't repair the lens with red tape after the first ticket -

Chaser


Yep, getting parts for anything from any of the European countries is a pain. I have a friend who spent 9 MONTHS waiting for a taillight lens for his Masarati several years ago--in the meantime, he got lots of tickets for his taillight problem.

[Josiah Bartlett]

You will probably want to tune up the saw once you replace the muffler- melted exhaust parts are a symptom of long-term lean burning, and you probably should richen up the fast mixture before you melt something inside the cylinder.

[Nancy Laird]

My gut feeling is this didn't happen in south Georgia...for three reasons...

Masarati -

Ticketed for broken taillight lens -

Didn't repair the lens with red tape after the first ticket -

Chaser

Yep, he was more of an intellectual, not a mechanical-type person; I don't think it ever occurred to him to put red tape over the lens.

[Chris Kennedy]

Jon,

I understand your frustration. Here is a possibility:

http://www.cnrentals.ca/parts.php

They say that they can overnight Stihl parts. I KNOW NOTHING about these people. Moreover, they are in Canada (British Columbia). But my feeling is that it is a start. You might try contacting them, see if they are willing to act as middlemen for your part, or if they aren't, they might know someone in the States who can do this. But if they can overnight a part, they must know of a mechanism to do it (regardless of how many of your children you are going to have to sell to pay for it).

Another solution -- could you rent one for a week? My local tool rental (not a borg) has good rates, especially if you compare it to the cost of overnighting a part.

As to the general philosophy as to why you cannot get the part . . . a lot of retailers are doing this as a means to cut overhead. If you don't stock the part, you don't have to pay for it and can make interest on that money rather than having it tied up in stock, which also requires space. I worked for a company that made industrial filters where the accountant insisted on this practice. In the end, it cost the company a fair bit of business since the clients could get the same part on their own without dealing with the company mark-up and the lead-time was the same.

I also had this frustration recently. My Nissan had a headlight go out. So I called the dealer, said I needed a new one and set up an appointment. Took the car in, my wife rearranged her schedule to pick me up after dropping it and take me to work, and once at work, got a call from the dealer saying that they didn't stock the part and it would be a SPECIAL ORDER. A headlight bulb, and after I had told them what it was I needed. The manager gave me a long story about that they needed to see the car in order to determine exactly what type of bulb was in it. I gave him a long story about how VIN [sic] number works, how it encodes the options packages on the car, how it has the serial number, and how he can look it up on his computer. Suffice it to say, we haven't gone back to that dealer.

Oh, one other thought. When I was at the filter company, if we needed a tool or part on short order, we used McMaster-Carr and Grainger. They might be worth looking at (you'll pay for it though).

Good luck,

Chris