How to Start a Flooded Chainsaw (Any Brand): The 4-6 Pull Fix

Turn the choke off, hold the throttle wide open, and pull the starter cord 4-6 times with the spark plug still in. This clears most flooded chainsaws in under a minute. If it still won’t fire, pull the spark plug, dry it off, and crank the engine a few more times with the plug out before reinstalling it and trying again.

This works on any gas chainsaw — Stihl, Husqvarna, Echo, Poulan, Craftsman — because they all use the same basic two-stroke carburetor design and flood the same way: too much raw fuel reaches the cylinder before it fires, and the spark plug ends up wet instead of sparking. If you specifically own a Stihl and want the exact choke/throttle sequence for that model line, we cover it in more detail in our Stihl-specific flooded chainsaw guide. Below is the process that applies across brands, plus how to tell a simple flood apart from hydro lock, which needs an extra step.

How to Tell If Your Chainsaw Is Actually Flooded

Three signs point to flooding rather than a dead battery, bad fuel, or ignition fault: the engine cranks normally but won’t catch, you smell raw gasoline around the muffler or air filter, and the spark plug — when you pull it — is visibly wet. A chainsaw that cranks slowly or not at all is a different problem (usually the pull cord, recoil spring, or a seized engine), not flooding.

Flooding almost always traces back to one of three habits: holding the choke on too long after the engine first catches, pumping the primer bulb more times than the manual specifies before a cold start, or repeatedly yanking the starter cord with the choke still engaged after a failed start attempt. Each extra pull with the choke on dumps more raw fuel into a cylinder that already has more than it can burn.

The Standard Fix: Choke Off, Throttle Open, Pull

This is the sequence that clears the large majority of flooded chainsaws without opening anything up:

1. Push the choke lever fully to the “run” or “off” position — not half-choke, all the way off. The choke is what’s restricting air and letting fuel dominate the mixture; shutting it off lets more air in to balance things out.
2. Hold the throttle trigger wide open. On most saws you need to squeeze the throttle lock-out lever first, then the trigger, and hold both while you pull. Wide-open throttle pulls more air through the carburetor relative to fuel, which is exactly what a flooded engine needs.
3. Pull the starter cord in firm, full strokes, 4 to 6 times with the plug still installed. You’re using the engine’s own cranking motion to pump the excess fuel-air mixture out through the exhaust and draw in fresh air. Don’t yank short, weak pulls — a full pull each time clears more.
4. Release the throttle and try a normal start. Choke off (since the engine is now warm from flooding, not cold), throttle at idle position, pull to start as usual.

If it catches and immediately dies, that’s a good sign — it means you’ve cleared enough fuel that the engine can fire, but there’s still a slightly rich mixture. Repeat the wide-open-throttle pulls two or three more times and try again.

If That Doesn’t Work: Pull and Dry the Spark Plug

When the throttle-and-pull method doesn’t get it running, the spark plug itself is likely wet enough that it can’t produce a spark through the fuel film coating the electrode. Here’s how to deal with that:

1. Remove the spark plug boot, then use a spark plug wrench or the socket that came with the saw to unscrew the plug.
2. Inspect it. If the electrode is wet or coated in fuel, wipe it dry with a clean rag or paper towel. If it’s also black and sooty (carbon-fouled), a wire brush or a bit of fine sandpaper on the electrode will restore the spark gap.
3. With the plug out, pull the starter cord 3-4 more times with the throttle held open. This vents remaining fuel vapor through the open spark plug hole rather than trying to force it out past a closed cylinder.
4. Reinstall the dried, cleaned plug, torque it snug (don’t overtighten — you can strip the aluminum head), reconnect the boot, and restart normally with the choke off.

A spark plug that’s wet, sooty, and won’t clean up with a wipe or a light sanding — or one with a cracked porcelain insulator or badly worn electrode — is worth replacing outright rather than fighting with. Plugs are inexpensive, and a fresh one removes any doubt about whether flooding or a tired plug is the real problem.

When It’s Hydro Lock, Not Just Flooding

Hydro lock is the more serious version of the same problem: enough liquid (fuel, or occasionally water in the fuel) has pooled in the cylinder that the piston physically can’t complete its stroke. You’ll notice the difference immediately — a flooded engine cranks freely but won’t fire, while a hydro-locked engine feels stiff, resistant, or stops partway through a pull, because you’re trying to compress a liquid that doesn’t compress.

Stop pulling immediately if you feel that resistance. Continuing to force the pull cord against hydro lock can bend a connecting rod. Instead:

1. Remove the spark plug.
2. Turn the saw so the spark plug hole points down and away from you, and pull the starter cord slowly a few times. This lets the liquid drain and/or get pushed out through the open plug hole instead of getting trapped against the piston.
3. Once the cord pulls freely with no resistance, dry the plug, reinstall it, and start normally.

Hydro lock from flooding alone is uncommon — it usually takes either a saw stored on its side with a cracked fuel line slowly leaking into the cylinder, or a genuinely extreme flooding episode (repeated failed cold starts over several minutes). If a saw hydro locks with no obvious flooding history, have someone check the fuel line and carburetor float for a leak before you run it again.

Preventing It Next Time

Three habits prevent nearly all chainsaw flooding:

• Use the choke only for the first pull or two of a genuinely cold engine, then push it off as soon as the engine fires — even if it stalls right after. Restart with the choke off from there.
• Follow your saw’s primer bulb count, not a habit from a different saw. Most modern chainsaws need 3-6 presses; older or carbureted models vary. Check the owner’s manual once and stop guessing.
• Stop after 4-5 failed pull attempts and reassess instead of continuing to pull with the choke engaged. If it hasn’t started in five pulls, switch the choke off and try the flooding-clear sequence above before you actually have a flooded engine to fix.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if you flood the engine of a chainsaw?

Too much raw fuel reaches the cylinder before ignition, soaking the spark plug electrode and making it unable to produce a spark. The engine cranks but won’t fire until the excess fuel clears or the wet plug is dried or replaced.

How do you start a flooded chainsaw engine?

Turn the choke fully off, hold the throttle wide open, and pull the starter cord 4-6 times with the spark plug in. If it still won’t start, remove and dry the spark plug, pull the cord a few more times with the plug out, then reinstall it and try a normal start.

How long do you leave a flooded chainsaw before trying again?

You don’t need to wait if you actively clear it with the choke-off, throttle-open pull method — that usually works within a minute. If you’d rather just let it sit, 10-15 minutes gives excess fuel time to evaporate, but pulling the plug and drying it is faster and more reliable.

How do you know if a chainsaw is flooded versus hydro locked?

A flooded engine cranks freely with the pull cord but won’t fire, and often smells strongly of gasoline. A hydro-locked engine feels stiff or stops partway through a pull because liquid trapped in the cylinder is blocking the piston — stop pulling immediately if you feel that resistance to avoid bending a connecting rod.

Bottom Line

Choke off, throttle wide open, pull 4-6 times — that sequence clears most flooded chainsaws regardless of brand. If the engine still won’t catch, a wet or fouled spark plug is almost always the holdout; pull it, dry or clean it, and try again. Save hydro lock’s extra caution for the rare case where the pull cord actually resists, not every flooded start.