Thread: greasing clutch bearings

Originally Posted by mjb71

ive got an 038 stihl jus wondering if the clutch bearing is self lubed or you need to remove it to be greased and how they come off cheers to any helpers

The clutch drum needle bearings are not self lubing and need cleaning and a little grease placed on them every now and then, depending on how much hard dry wood you are cutting.

In normal green wood cutting conditions you might get away with doing it every 100 or so tankfulls, or maybe even when you change the drive sprocket. If the clutch spins freely you are generally OK but as soon as it hints at binding it should be cleaned and greased.

Cutting in dry dusty conditions you might need to do it every 25 or so tankfuls. If you don't, these bearing can eventually bind or seize so the chain will always turn even at idle and stall the saw if it touches wood at idle. It's always helpful to clean out the area around the clutch with a compressor after using the CS.

To access the bearing you have to remove the clutch drum. From memory the 038 have inboard clutches so the drum comes off easily by removing the E or C clip on the crankshaft. The chain brake needs to be off and the clutch can be slowly wiggled out from its spot by pulling on the drum splines with multigrips (pad the jaws with something that wont damage the splines. Blow out the gunk inside the clutch itself and clean the inside of the drum. Clean and regrease the bearings using bearing grease.

got everything off bar the bearing and casing seemed pretty tight and didnt want to come off jus wondering if there are any other tricks thanks bob

Originally Posted by mjb71

got everything off bar the bearing and casing seemed pretty tight and didnt want to come off jus wondering if there are any other tricks thanks bob

sounds bad they should just slide off. try gently priseing off with a flat blade screwdriver alternating from top to bottom, left to right as you do so. I would recommend finding a replacement one.

Originally Posted by mjb71

got everything off bar the bearing and casing seemed pretty tight and didnt want to come off jus wondering if there are any other tricks thanks bob

By casing do you mean the clutch drum?

I was servicing a machine and the drum and bearing were totally jammed on, A bit of CRC and a multigrips got it off, wiggling it up and down - it took quite a while maybe 15 minutes, just gotta keep working it.

nah the drum is off its underneath cheers

Originally Posted by mjb71

nah the drum is off its underneath cheers

Ouch sounds like the bearings welded itself to the crankshaft.