Stihl KM131R Kombi System Plastic Sleeve defect problem fix

I show you how to help alleviate your issues with the clip-in plastic sleeve on the stihl kombi KM131R that always seems to break.

[@real100talk5]

Thank you so much. Just spent $2,500 on a km111r and almost all of the attachments. Going to do this right now, you probably saved me from a big headache one day. Have a great day hope your business is doing well.

[@mowtoegee7049]

KM131R is my main go to as well for all garden jobs. It's a great machine with plenty of torque but also seems to develop a number of issues. Ive used Stihl machines commercially for many years now and I don't think their build quality is anywhere near as robust as the Japanese built machines. Lot's of things break and wear out like these plastic retainers. Also the sleeve itself, that is the metal cylinder that holds the attachments that wears out over time and your attachments will get loose. If you get 3 years commercial use out of one of these KM's thats pretty great I haven't seen many make it that long Cheers

[@waterbourne9282]

Big thanks for the heads up. I just checked my six year old KM-94 and the brand new one I am replacing it with (I love these light weight stratified combustion 2-Mix versions myself). The new one is like yours- no grease up at the alloy collar and plastic bush. The old one which has done say 120 hrs was fine. I hadn't been greasing this part but had been regularly applying waterproof high pressure wheel bearing grease to the male shaft ends on the attachments which had migrated into the bushes on both the attachments and engine shaft and bush so all good but I will include it in the maintenance in future.

[@johncoates1222]

Just bought a 131 today. Looking for as much knowledge from others as I can. Thanks for the advice.

[@BhairavaDas]

Enjoy it

[@coffsharbourglassrepairs4836]

Thanks for the head's up. Just checked my week old km94. Only had a smidge of grease on it. Greased it up well with the stihl high temp trimmer gearbox grease.

[@judisinger3693]

Great video! I have KM90 I purchased in 2012 that every year I plan on replacing, but it keeps working!!! This year though, drive shaft on motor side pulls out with attachment. Now I know where to start looking, bet it's that plastic part. Hopefully I can even get a new one on such an old machine! I never knew to grease it! You have a new fan!!! Thanks!!!!

[@jayeff3196]

Thanks for the heads up.....my new 131 is on its way this week....and extra grease....🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@BhairavaDas]

Good luck!

[@stephanegingras4827]

Well done! Very clear and concise.

[@tgsgardenmaintenance4627]

I absolutely love my combi, I have 2 Husqvarna 535LK's and the only issue I've had, is the tightening bolt shearing off, which could be down to me over tightening. Otherwise, they are fantastic machines and will earn their money back in very short order! I personally went for the Husqvarna, for the extra power, 2.2hp!

[@daz1mc]

Brilliant video. Many thanks. Had this problem a few time with that stupid plastic collar breaking. Luckily it’s been under warranty and fixed for free. I’m finding Sthil products are heading down the cheap road and losing their reputation as being a reliable name.

[@BhairavaDas]

Glad it helped

[@sidvalluri1702]

Very helpful video. Thank you!

[@jimmydickson8854]

Thanks mate for the information

[@Nibleer]

sweet thnx alot ^^ happened to 2/3 of new motors we just got so this will probally help. ty ty

[@BhairavaDas]

No problem 👍

[@jimmydickson8854]

Thanks very much foe the advice mate jimmy Australia

[@StrongManMattt]

Awesome you deserve more views! Great tip!

[@BhairavaDas]

I appreciate that!

[@petersom4882]

Thank you for making this video.

[@BhairavaDas]

Glad it was helpful!

[@appleztooranges]

I got a used one. Mine was bone dry. Just lube it today. Do you do this on the attachment as well?

[@elev8ted11s]

Nice thks for the tip

[@Finnbane]

I saw that the attachments itself have the same plastic thing. Should i lube that too?

[@TheNice4everything]

Thank u I just bought one on today

[@BhairavaDas]

Enjoy

[@user-dd4wi8kp5c]

thank you!!!

[@TheAmateursOriginalMusic]

Also been using these commercially for years, good machines but those guide pins snap off all the time! Haven’t found a way to get them out so have to replace the whole drive shaft, which is very expensive!😩

[@jflossie583]

would it be a good idea to drill a hole and ad a grease nipple?

[@ttyR265]

Pay attention to what grease you use. Some folks are using wheel bearing grease but remember the shaft on these KM's turn at the same speed as the engine, something like 9000 RPM full throttle...FAR faster than wheel bearings. The Stihl grease is something like "00" viscosity (almost liquid), not thick tacky wheel bearing grease.

[@BhairavaDas]

At some poimt that must have changed, my older machines had a thicker grease, and much more grease. These machines never failed. The new machines had a very thin, somewhat sticky "grease" almost like an oil, and not much, these machines failed. So maybe youre right, but those are the failing machines...they are the "newer" ones..

[@jamestherien9351]

How do you get the collar back on? Even depressing the pin won’t let mine slip into the hole

[@conner5611]

Likely from running a trimmer with no gaurd which puts a lot of stress on parts...

[@ozzmann3217]

Bought a brand new pole saw and extension shaft .. worked for about 12 small cuts.. now … only works when direct mounted to the power head but extension will spin if saw is not on it .. any ideas? Very new to this used my kombi no issues for years first day with the saw and extension issues straight away

[@minuelify]

bonjour merci pour votre partage , a tu deja utilisé cette outils avec plusieur rallonge meme si c'est déconseillé ? pensse tu que mettre deux rallonge en carbonne serait trop flexible ? et pense tu que l'on puisse utiliser la rallonge en acier pour le hl km meme si bizarrement c'est interdit ? merci pour tes réponse yohan de france hello thank you for your sharing, have you already used this tool with several extensions even if it is not recommended? do you think that putting two carbon extensions would be too flexible? and do you think that we can use the steel extension for the hl km even if oddly it is prohibited? thank you for your answer yohan from france

[@wannatry69]

thanks legend

[@goingmowing]

Cheers bro

[@Sigurd651]

i just ordered stihl superlub FS, that works on the shaft right?

[@nealhughes6529]

Lost one of the paper clip looking deals there. Can I run it without it?

[@conorhartfitness2103]

Thank you for the tip, should you grease at the attachment sleeves as well (where motor shaft meets the attachment shaft)?

[@BhairavaDas]

No need

[@TheBensMeister]

Thanks for the video I've had my head unit 5 years and never even thought about this. Will check it out for sure. Ever have a problem with the edger attachment disengaging from the shaft even though the shaft tube is snugly connected? (Sometimes they slip apart at the connection due to those piss poor plastic clips, but that's not the case with mine in this instance)

[@davide3129]

Do you know if using regular high temp bearing grease is ok or is something else required? I ask bc when I pulled my old km110r apart, there was still grease in the shaft, a thin couple of a tan, thick, sticky grease. It is stickier than my wheel bearing grease. The bushing that rides inside the plastic sleeve definitely needed more grease

[@benjaminsagau]

It’s called Stihl Multilube,and it’s high speed gear grease.Not the usual grease that you would grease an excavator or a heavy machine

[@elev8ted11s]

Quick question, bc I just bought one. So can you just switch out the blades instead of buying the whole new shaft. What I read and watched shouldn't be a problem right

[@CavvyStudios]

*Butthead voice* Uhhhhhh huh huh huh... he said "Grease your shaft." huh huh. Seriously though, good tip. Thanks.

[@Thermohybrid]

When I bought mine,a month later took out the weed eater and the sleve broke. I returned to the dealer, they fixed for free but now, I only have one attachment,now kind of affraid to swap attachments and pay for labor at the dealer to have fixed It Sucks

[@blueeyegi]

I totally expected more out of the Australians to put a good unit together.

[@coryreinhart3469]

Austrians

[@blueeyegi]

Finally someone got it!

[@Nunya-gk9fr]

I always grease my shaft

[@LeonMTan]

Bought fs131 and km131 brand new but both got some issues, fs131 new out of box has half rusted muffler also hard to start also weirdly cut off itself during operating, Km131 new out of box has big vibration during first use also making lot of poping sound when running, both units pretty much brand new have to sent back to dealer for "tune up",makes me wonder what happened to Stihl QC process today.

[@BhairavaDas]

I think covid may have caused them to have to lower quality control for some reason.

[@LeonMTan]

@@BhairavaDas further update: sent back fs131 twice for minor tune up already,they kept saying nothing wrong with it then blaming me for wrong fuel/oil/mix etc which is absolutly not true. for km131 they gave me another new unit but i still dont feel its operating as "normal" but i dont use it often so for now i just gonna use it as is. my friend bought a bg86 same period of time and sent back in day 3 coz weird oil leak from carb......

[@BhairavaDas]

@@LeonMTan do you mix with "premium" or 0% ethanol gasoline? I make sure to use the best i can get for all my small engines.

[@LeonMTan]

@@BhairavaDas i did use premium gas and that green stihl oil.

[@peterrobins3548]

I've got a km131 on it's way to my dealer. Should I cancel it and buy a Honda or something?. Very concerned over seeing a plastic part used in this application. Are there any german engineers left in Germany or have they all left that liberal hell hole for greener pastures?

[@Fresh-tw7ev]

Achtung ⚠️ Major frustration getting all the kombi attachments to slide into the motor head and receptacle. Those little triangular pins don’t do a good job guiding the attachment connection and seating the tool 100%. And yes I’ve learned the hard way a half-ass connection can lead to plastic bushing wear and disintegration. What am I doing wrong???

[@garymitchell6056]

STIHL Kombi joints are absolute CRAP - after a while they dont hold and the tool falls out. Wake up STIHL engineers - most of the othe companies like Husqvarna also have a pin that locks it in!

[@mowtoegee7049]

Yeah the way the attachments are held on the Stihl machines is poor. There is a lot of power lost through that coupling from all the vibration. You might need to replace the alloy sleeve itself as it wears out over time, it is available as a spare part.

[@grandmastertrader]

Stihl will be doing this on purpose, is called planned obselesence,

[@colinfielder6695]

This is just rubbish! Sthil should be ashamed of themselves for cutting quality to make profits.

[@bertraminc9412]

Thanks for the video but Stihl is a German word.... German vowels: A (ahhhh), E (eyyyyy), I (Eeeeee), O (ooohhhh), U, (ooooooo). Sthil is not pronounced Stilll.... It is pronounced Shhhhhhhhttttttteeeeeeeeellllllllll, please. Shhhteeeellll.

[@BhairavaDas]

Tell that to EVERY canadian stihl dealer, blame the advertisements and commercials...🤷🏼‍♂️ its how we prounouce it here

[@svatoplukhavrys9715]

This is Clown!!!