Hey Matt,
I applaud you for being so thorough in your procedure to check out the unit. Many folks are not.
The major problem I see on the 025 series are usually related around fuel issues that are substandard in nature(read aged.)
As grizz (and others suggested) the fuel line could have some checking issues. Look around the bended areas out of the tank. Sounds like you might have done this already?
Do take the muffler off again to inspect the cylinder. If it looks ok, take a turn at starting. Turn the saw on (no choke-just on) and hold throttle wide open. Then crank the "sucker" (technical term
) 15 or 20 times, or until it starts to try to start. The saw's cylinder and crankcase might be so flooded that it is wetting you plug too much for it to fire properly. If the spark is good and the compression is reasonable, it should try to start. Keep it up until it starts to clear out. I'm guessing that this is your problem, though I'm assuming that the carb. is clean and the diaphrams are not warped or have issues.
Let us know how it turns out.
bhtr
