Added oil to the fuel tank, now my Homelite XL only runs in choke

[WinterWarlock]

I screwed up and added bar oil to the fuel tank, unfortunately. After immediately realizing my error, I emptied the fuel tank and by letting it drain upside down over a bucket overnight. Later I mixed up a fresh batch of fuel and found I was able to start the chainsaw, but it now only runs in choke. I then replaced the fuel filter and sprayed some carb spray in the fuel line, sure wish I had worn eye protection for that part. Then I ran it in choke for a long time, but still no luck getting it to run full blast. Lastly I replaced the fuel filter for a second time, as I realized I should have initially rinsed out the fuel tank, then dumped that excessively oily fuel. At this point I've burned though a full tank of new fuel mix (16:1) by running it in choke and it still won't run full blast. How should I proceed? Should I unscrew the crank case and clean out the gunk? Do I really need to learn how to rebuild a carburetor? Am I damaging the saw by continuously running it choke? Did I ruin my Dad's chainsaw that is older than me? Definitely should not have consumed that hard cider before I attempted to refuel. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Personally- I would just keep it running and burn the excess oil out.
There will be bar oil in the carb galleries now and everywhere else in the fuel system- basically you are running a very heavy oil mix fuel.
As such, because of a higher oil content it equals less gas, so therefore it might be a bit lean- I know that is hard to understand- but trust me on that one.
You could pull the spark plug- clean it because it too will be oiled up, pull the starter to drop the piston and fill the cylinder with straight gas, swill it about really well and dump the fuel out the plug hole- to wash out the excess oil, fill the fuel tank with mixed gas, refit the clean dry plug and run it WOT for a while to see if it clears up some.

If it still doesnt run off choke, you might need to open the carb and clean it out.

 

[WinterWarlock]

Thanks Bob, I appreciate it !

 

[Nutball]

I had a friend put bar oil in the gas tank. I dumped it out, and put fresh gas in, and had to run it on choke for about a minute or so. I retuned the carb once it started running better, then retuned it after a couple tanks of gas, and it runs fine now. So, just keep running it. The nice thing about some older saws is you can tweak the choke until the engine runs best. It may need the carb tuned anyway because it is getting cold out and that can make an engine run too lean, or not at all.