Strike three I'm out.
I put some starting fluid in the plug port and tried to start it, no spit, sputter or any hit of starting.
I put some starting fluid thru the carb with the air cleaner off and tried to start it, no spit or sputter either.
I waited an hour and squirted a little mix gas into the plug port and pulled the starter, no spit or sputter. I tried squirting some mix gas down the carb and pulled the starter cord and again nothing.
Not even a spit like it wanted to start.
I pulled off the starter side and connected my reversing drill with a 1/2 inch socket and pulled the trigger. The little engine turned over dozens of times without a single spit or sputter from it.
I'm almost ready to toss them both out my barn door.
I'm beginning to believe the shop repair videos on the internet, where the guy opens up a long sitting chainsaw and does everything I've done twice, are not really true.
I have repaired four other engines this year without any issues. I replaced the carb on a Honda pressure washer. Replaced the carb on a smaller Tecumseh pressure washer. Replaced the interior governor shaft of a 5K generator and cleaned out the carb on a Troy-Bilt string trimmer. And they all run great.
These chainsaw engines have stopped me in my tracks.
I have a good spark and I have fuel but I have no fire.
What else could it be?
Compression is everything on a two cycle engine. A quick check for compression, is to set the chainsaw on the floor, grap starter handle, pull the chainsaw off the floor. With good compression the chainsaw will come off the floor as high as the handle is, as the weight of the chainsaw over comes compression the chainsaw will drop one revolution and hit compression stop and then drop again, doing over and over until the rope runs out. If the chainsaw just drops to the floor real quick it has low compression and will never start. As one person said remove the muffler, with the piston down look in the cylinder and check for scoring and galling of the cylinder wall, stuck rings, and check the piston what you can see for the same conditions. If all looks good the engine may be flooded, with a dry spark plug installed, try to start the engine, then remove the spark plug and see if the plug is wet, the engine is flooded. Now this is a trick I have used to help unflood a engine, you must very careful, you may or may not want to try this. Take a match, a small torch, or a piece of twisted paper. Remove spark plug, put the flame to the spark plug hole and lit on fire, sometimes the flame will jet out so keep fingers out of the way as well as flammable materials out of the way. Don't crank the engine over as this will also create a flame jet.
