advice on dumb stihl oil caps

[yukon72]

Man I am onto my second oil cap for my ms200 in a year. What gives with these things. Any advice on them, Gas cap is fine and works great, bu the oil cap is a real pain in the ass

[beenthere]

Haven't had any problems. Both work the same on the MS361.

Now, forgetting to put one back IS a problem...but my fault.

Maybe the MS200 caps are different, but there is a 'keeper' on mine so they cannot get lost.

[Rocky_J]

Leave a little bit of air space instead of filling the tank up to the lip of the filler hole. And yes, they are a royal PITA. Between the overpriced, overengineered gas/oil caps and the phenominal cost of replacement service parts like sprockets and air filters, I pretty much gave up on Stihls except for the 200Ts. I just chalk it up as a cost of doing business and buy extras whenever I have to order one.

[sawguy21]

Those caps are a pain in the butt. More than once I have not ensured they are seated then poured gas or chain oil down my pant leg. Make sure to press on tightly then turn so the mark on the cap is aligned with the dimple in the housing.

[yukon72]

the problem i have is the thing twist somehow and gets allout of sync and then a major pain to get it working again. the locks dont line up and seems impossible to get em to

[beenthere]

Prolly happen to me the next time I go to put them on , but so far hasn't happened.

But I did leave the oil cap off once.

[OneWithWood]

Be sure you have the tabs lined up in the proper slots.  Each tab is a different size.  And yes, don't fill all the way to the brim.

[GASoline71]

I have never had a problem with the Stihl flip style caps.  I honestly don't know what the big deal is...

Gary

[WILDSAWMILL]

when i got my 260 pro last year the dealer said people are filling the oil tank full / not leaving air space for the cap to fit & then they break or get out of position to close
the gas cap is vented so it doesent have that problem

[rocksnstumps]

I had the same problem with the oil cap falling out on my MS250 last time out. I had to use the scrench to get the bottom part to turn enough to engage the tabs in the saw housing for the rest of the day. Later at home on the bench I took a closer look and found some sawdust trapped between the bottom portion and the flip up handle top piece. Probably a combination of a little bit of oil and the fact that this cap is near the front of the saw with lots of sawdust that causes the issue. Never had the same problem with the gas cap. After using a screwdriver wrapped in a rag to scrap all the crud away, seems the top and bottom portion of the cap "seat" closer together and the problem went away. I was about ready to just buy another one since they're only about $6-7 bucks but now as good as new........still don't like them much however

[zackman1801]

my gas caps like to leak, i even switched them over and no dice. oh well.
i have a hard time getting the oil cap to sit tight, it get it in the right spot and then i get it turned and give it a nudge to make sure its seated and it falls off. i do this untill eventually it stays put.

[sawcollector]

If any style of this cap is pushed in part way and turned without being seated it can get out of index, and to fix it just hold the bottom half and turn the top half counter-clockwise to re-index it correctly. I have seen them get twisted so hard that the top gets turned past the stops and then the cap is ruined.
This is how the cap should look before inserting it into the opening:




If it is out of index position it will look like this, with a gap just above the o-ring:




The oil tanks are worse about getting out of index than the fuel tanks. As has been said, if the oil tank is full to the top, the cap will not go in all the way and if you attempt to turn it while it is only partially in position that is when the trouble starts.

[Rocky_J]

Leave it to Stihl to engineer and produce a 17 piece gas cap. 

It's almost like the development of this cap was funded and controlled by Congress. 

[beenthere]

sawcollector
Thanks for that explanation.
Helps explain why some were having the nightmare problems, and others not having any problems at all.
I'll be checking the manual to see if it comes close to explaining that possible problem.

[Rocky_J]

I'll be checking the manual to see if it comes close to explaining that possible problem.

HAH! Good luck with that! 

[stonebroke]

What was wrong with the old ones?

Stonebroke

[Reddog]

With the old ones. Had to find your scrench most times to loosen them.
The new design is much quicker for refueling and oil.
Just as others have said, if you over fill them.

[GASoline71]

Exactly Wally...  Like I said earlier... I like them and have never had a problem with them. 

Brian just hates Stihls... ...   

Gary

[sawcollector]

The marketing folks are the ones who pushed for a "tool-less" cap as something new to spin as a sales feature, and I agree that sometimes the Germans tend to get a little carried away with the engineering stuff, but once you know the trick to getting the cap in place and what to do if it is out of index they are easy to live with.
I went to use the old 009 the other day and I had to use the scrench to get the oil cap loose, then after using the saw a little I was getting oil all over the place since the screwdriver blade had finally gnawed it's way through the slot in that style of cap so I guess it is all relative...

[Rocky_J]

I guess I'm the only sawyer in the known universe that never used a scrench on the old caps. If you never tightened them with a scrench, then you never needed a scrench to loosen them. My only problem was if somebody else fueled my saw. They would invariably grab the scrench and torque the cap down to about 350 foot pounds and I'd need nothing short of a cutting torch to get the cap off again. Of course once it was overtightened, then you couldn't just go back to hand tightening it again because the distorted threads would then cause it to come loose.

My solution was to NEVER EVER let anybody else ever get near my fuel and oil caps with a scrench. All Stihl had to do to fix the old caps was to eliminate the screwdriver slot. But NOOOOOOO, they had to 'fix' it. 

[beenthere]

Thanks for that Rocky_J...

I was thinking the same, and wondered why I'd never had to use the scrench on my older Stihl. So I went out and looked at it, to see that the gas and oil caps just had a ridge (no slot) to use to turn snug and to loosen (plus it is more of a plug, rather than a cap). Apparently somewhere along the line they added the slot. But not turning them tight, but just snug seems would do the trick.

I don't mind the new style, but see no reason for the change-over either.

And the other thing....I do the oil and fuel myself too. 

[zackman1801]

sometimes those things get vibrated on, with use though so you need the scrench to get them off. i never use it to put them on but to take them off sometimes i need it.

[chevytaHOE5674]

I never use a scrench to put my gas cap on my stihls, but almost always have to have one to remove the caps. The combination of vibration and fuel building pressure in the tank cause them to tighten up.

At the same time I never have problems with my tooless caps. I make sure to keep the o-ring clean and the cap in the proper slots and they work for me.