stihl ms 250 makes a high-pitched squealing noise when i first start it, goes away after a minute. normal?

— asked by Kevin

Yeah, that's a classic sound—usually the clutch bearing. It's dry when cold.

The clutch drum rides on a needle bearing. If it doesn't have enough grease, or the grease has dried out, you get that metal-on-metal squeal on startup until friction warms it up. Here's the fix: you need to grease the clutch bearing.

  1. Remove the bar and chain (loosen the nuts on the side cover).
  2. Pull off the clutch drum (the sprocket the chain rides on). You might need a special tool to hold the clutch, but sometimes you can just pull it off.
  3. Inside the center of the drum, you'll see the bearing. Pack high-temperature bearing grease into the bearing cavity. Don't glob it on the outside.
  4. Reassemble. The squeal should be gone.

If that didn't work, the clutch springs might be weak or the clutch shoes could be worn, causing drag and noise. That's a parts replacement job.

Heads up: Do this regularly as part of maintenance, like when you sharpen the chain. A squealing bearing is a wearing bearing. If you ignore it, it'll fail completely and lock up.

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