Switched Stihl MS170 to Amsoil Saber, now white smoke?

[bchannell]

I'm not a fan of Amsoil for several reasons, so might not help any, but I'd use a good brand name oil like Stihl or Echo. There's really no need for exotic oils in 2 cycle engines. I'm not even convinced there's a need in any well maintained, decent condition engine. Take a look over on the arborist forums and you'll see an awful lot of chainsaws maintained with "normal" branded oils, and those guys use their saws more in a week than most here do in several years. I used to cut firewood, for over 30 years, and I never had a saw puke itself on me and I never used any exotic oils.

 

[JimmyChainsaw]

So obviously oil specs matter more than performance.Stihl do not claim any spec for their oil,but experience over many years has proven that their oils perform extremely well.The only test I have seen was carried out by Stihl to highlight the cleanliness of Ultra over other 2 stroke oils when used in the 4180 4mix engines.These engines are prone to carbon deposits.Obviously Stihl Ultra performed very well,but so did Amsoil Sabre and Shindaiwa One.If my memory serves me right the other oil tested was Echo Powerblend,which wasn't so good.
Every week we see machines with blocked exhausts and piston scuffing caused by carbon.In every case the oil was purchased from a box store or automotive parts outlet.For best results stick with the industry oils
Just a note about the MS170,the carb jets are fixed so you cannot adjust the mixture.This is a good feature on a cheap saw like this.

 

[FZ1]

Have a 3 year oil MS170 stihl chainsaw. I finally used up all of the Stihl oil that they gave with me when purchasing it. I filled up with Amsoil Saber 50:1 ratio and now I have a bunch of white smoke when I open the throttle up.

Any ideas on what is causing this? Is it clean up some deposits? Should I drain out and refill with something else? Just caught me off guard since it was supposed to be smokeless (albeit 100:1). I only ran it for a few minutes after refueling.

Edit: my OPE gets stabil marine treated premium 91E0

You mixed it wrong. You can get a mixing bottle at your local Academy.

 

[volk06]

You mixed it wrong. You can get a mixing bottle at your local Academy.

I mixed it to 50:1, which is the recommended ratio. I didn’t mix it wrong. Mixing 50:1 isn’t difficult to measure and mix with markings on the bottle - pretty simple. You are supposed to be able to mix saber at 100:1 but you don’t have to and can run normal ratios.

 

[volk06]

Update: I fired up the saw tonight and no more white smoke. Weird. I wonder if there was some excess fuel since I had the saw upside down/on its side adjusting the chain and cleaning up the oil/dust after I refueled it.

 

[Gillsy]

Stihl oil doesn't meet the requirements for some of my newer echo stuff. Trying to go down to only 1 oil.

THAT!
I prefer Echo Red Armor. Last I knew the Stihl oil was JASO FC, and the Echo is JASO FD. Echo meets a higher standard for engine cleanliness.

 

[volk06]

I think the stihl website still Lists it as FB.

 

[wag123]

DO NOT run your equipment at 100:1, I don't care whose oil it is.
Use Echo oil, mix at 50:1, run it in both of them, and call it a day.

 

[Warlord]

You were probably just watching more closely for smoke cause you made the switch. A bit of smoke while it’s warming up is nothing to worry about.

 

[JimmyChainsaw]

Hey guys use the Echo Red Armour with confidence.It has been formulated for outdoor power equipment and that is what matters.Most general 2 stroke oils were developed for use in motorbikes and the operating conditions are quite different to OPE.
Please don't claim that one oil is better than another because it has an FD rating.The only way to say one is better than another is to conduct a long term trial to test durability and cleanliness.This has not been done to my knowledge.

 

[Warlord]

JASO rating is the only reliable test standard we have to go by. It’s a good starting point to know an oil will be at least decent.

 

[FowVay]

Here's some trivia for those interested - the Stihl HP Ultra is a vegetable oil made from palm kernel oil. It's a bit dirtier than some of the other offerings but is still (no pun intended) a fabulous product.

Here are two pictures from Amsoil's testing of their 100:1 Saber when compared against Echo's oil. I post two pictures of the Amsoil engine just to show how the lean mix ratio affects the detergency of the fuel. Can you tell which engine was run at 100:1 and which was run at 50:1?

 

[Fordiesel69]

Let me tell you about a little secret.............buy echo red armour and be done with it.

I dont know or care what is in the oil that makes it so good, but mixed at 40/50:1 whatever you like best will at times correct a poorly running piece of equipment.

My brand new PB-9010H cylinder and piston look like brand new after several tanks of this stuff, almost like it was only test fired.

 

[1blkc5]

Been running Amsoil sabre mixed 100/1 for 10 plus years in my toro weedwacker remembering only changing the plug one time .

 

[TheDriver74]

JASO FD.

and Jaso FC too.
Stihl Ultra is ......ugh.....terrible. the only thing it seems to work right in is Stihl 4mixes.

 

[TheDriver74]

I’ll buy a can of 50:1 premix and see what happens.

i use VP 40/50:1 from walmart in my weed wacker and also my 3 clone saws. works great!

 

[Alain2]

You chainsaw is smoking because it is running rich. I bet you could run Saber 25:1 without smoke if tuned properly.