Just got these saws today for free. They obviously need a lot of work and some parts. The ladies relative said the engines were shot but from my brief assessment I don’t believe anyone went deep enough into these saws to confirm the motor is gone. Looking at the 440, I can turn the flywheel by hand and the decompression valve is stuck down by the cover and letting the air pass by (I wonder if that’s the main issue). The Ms 460 is pretty far gone. Can’t turn the flywheel by hand. Could just be the clutch damage on the other side. Figured I would post this here in lieu of y’all advice on where I should start with these. What are good aftermarket parts, advice on some of these repairs/tests. If I had to get a new cylinder head for the 460. What is a good brand to go with as well as carburetors. If you have any of these parts you don’t need/willing to part with please let me know. I have many years of automotive diagnostic experience but I’m very green in the two stroke/chainsaw world. Took apart a couple to fix them but never to this degree. Thanks for the help as always!
MS440 and MS460 Barn Rebuilds
- Thread starter TINYHULK
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stikine
Treehouser
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- #5
Yeah they were stored under a large carport so they weren’t weather tight by any means. From what I can read the saws originally came from a tool rental company. They may be beyond repair but I can atleast use them as a learning tool and as I get in to them I may be able to get some parts and make one of them live again
Altissimus
TreeHouser
I've
gotten a few old gimmees from customers and a few at the transfer station with some mixed luck ... cost and availability of the parts decides mostly
gotten a few old gimmees from customers and a few at the transfer station with some mixed luck ... cost and availability of the parts decides mostly
I'm not a gearhead, but the first thing I'd do is pull the mufflers and take a look at the pistons/cylinders. If everything's trashed, I'd likely use Chinesium parts if I just wanted the learning experience working on saws. If they looked good, I'd tear everything down clean it up good, and see what you're dealing with. Might be a lot of fatal corrosion. That would again indicate Chinesium is the way to go. I'd also work on one saw at a time so it was easy to keep track of parts and where they came from.
Jonny
Treehouser
Yup, pop the mufflers off and have a peek
I used to have an MS-440, and used to run an MS-460 at one company I was with for a few years. Legendary saws, I never should’ve sold my MS-440.
Never used the decomp on either of them. For now, I’d plug them.
Does anyone know if they both use the same recoil?
Hell of a score!
I used to have an MS-440, and used to run an MS-460 at one company I was with for a few years. Legendary saws, I never should’ve sold my MS-440.
Never used the decomp on either of them. For now, I’d plug them.
Does anyone know if they both use the same recoil?
Hell of a score!
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- #9
According to my googling all the plastics, starter assemblies, and clutch covers are the same. Gonna order those and some miscellaneous maintenance parts and start tearing in to them soon what is the better way of doing a compression test and adequate pressures?
SkwerI
Treehouser
Bailey's is a good source for some of your major components. They have aftermarket cylinder heads, pistons as well as sprocket covers and recoil starter covers. www.baileysonline.com. I rebuilt a 460 using one of their Big Block kits about 12-15 years ago and the saw ran great.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Just No. You buy a larger Jug. Big bore piston and cyl kit.
Cyl is nickle plated.
Cyl is nickle plated.
stikine
Treehouser
What he said.
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- #14
So I did a small tear down on each saw after work today just wanting to get a better idea on what I needed and here’s what I found: MS440: atleast looking in to the carb, it looked beautiful and clean. Exhaust didn’t have any excess carbon build up and was clean overall. Cylinder looked good to my knowledge. Pictures show its position at tdc, bdc, and mid stroke to show the rings. Looked like the spark plug was completely shot and Ofcourse the motor couldn’t breathe with that air filter. My biggest question is that when turning the flywheel by hand, should I be able to do that and how easily? I’m sure that’s not an accurate gauge for compression but I felt a little resistance on the 440, not a whole lot. Seemed to have more resistance on the exhaust stroke than the intake stroke (could be wrong since I’m ust to 4 stroke motors, when then piston goes down).
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- #15
So you don’t have to do anything to the block when putting a bigger piston in it? Is it one of those things where the piston is larger and the rings have a thinner diameter so it still fits in the stock housing?
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- #16
On the 460: the carburetor is probably a huge issue. The choke valve was stuck in the closed position, had to move it with a screwdriver to get it to start moving and it looked filthy. Piston wouldn’t turn by hand at all. Had to put a wrench on the flywheel to get it turning. Once it turned a few times I was able to barely turn it by hand. Seemed to have a lot more resistance/compression than the 440. Was a higher carbon build up on the top of the cylinder and you can see the side of the piston and positions at tdc and bdc.
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stikine
Treehouser
The new piston is matched to the new cylinder
stikine
Treehouser
I'm not seeing scoring on the piston or cylinder so maybe you will get lucky and not have to replace?
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #20
Oh wait 🤦♂️ This it my bad. I’m so used to 4 stroke motors I’m thinking the piston moves in the block. Being a two stroke it moves in the cylinder head. Sorry guys still getting used to this two stroke mechanics. Sounds like the 440 is low on compression then cause it turned way too easy for a saw thats been sitting in a car port for God knows how long.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #22
I’m gonna order a basis of standard parts for these saws soon. Luckily both saws have ALOT of interchangeable parts so it will be nice to buy a collection of new stuff to swap back and forth and test both saws
stikine
Treehouser
Might be worth to just remove the top end and inspect and clean everything up. If things look good you could replace the piston rings and try them out.
stikine
Treehouser
Sometimes folks put the carbs in a vibrator cleaner tub if you have access to that. Or just get a rebuild kit
