Putting fuel in the chain oil tank of your chainsaw isn’t a big problem.
At least, it’s not as bad as putting bar and chain oil in your fuel tank!
Unfortunately, the two usually go hand in hand, though not always. Some people are lucky to catch themselves before they do both.
While the latter requires a more extensive cleaning process, removing fuel from the chain oil tank is easy – you just pour it out, even if the saw has been running.
99% of the time, this is all you need to do after making this mistake with your chainsaw.
Fuel Oil Mix In Bar Oil Tank
Often, people don’t realize they’ve made this mistake until the chainsaw stops because it’s not getting any fuel.
You might notice something off when start smelling or seeing the fuel that comes from your chain and bar, but maybe not.
Or, if you have a chainsaw that loves to leak chain oil, like my Stihl 180 or DEWALT 20v, you may even find out before you start the saw.
Either way, all you need to do to fix this problem is remove your fuel oil mixture from the chain and bar oil tank.
Here’s the step-by-step process:
- Grab a large container, remove the cap, and pour out the oil.
- Don’t be afraid to hold the chainsaw on its side and give it a good shake
- Replace with bar and chain oil
It really is as easy as that.
The fuel should not have damaged your oil pump or any of the seals, especially if it was not left like that for a long time.
You DO NOT want to reuse the fuel in the proper tank because it will be tainted with bar oil.
Alternatively, it’s fine to reuse bar oil that has been put into the fuel tank, provided it was put into an empty tank and not mixed with fuel.
Fuel In Oil Tank
What happens if you put fuel in your chainsaw oil tank?
Usually nothing much, but it does not make for a good alternative chain oil!
If you happened to put fuel into both tanks and you start up the saw, the oil tank will empty quickly because it’s not tacky.
There is always the chance that the fuel could ignite, so it’s not something you want to mess around with.
However, most of the time you will have swapped tanks and so the saw will stop after running on bar oil very quickly.
Accidents like this happen, and as long as no one gets hurt by a saw it’s a good day.
