550XP Bar Studs vanished into thin air!

[Mark Wileman]

Hey, 

 

Made a rookie mistake this evening, had to fell a standing stem of an Ash Tree I did over the weekend. Should have left it as I was chasing light as it was, finally got it on the ground and went to cross cut a few bits (was dark by this point). Long story short, saw was too small, it was too dark and I got the bar stuck, so I took off the bar and chain (and that took a bit of persuasion due to the outboard clutch) and packed up and went home.

 

Just went to put my spare bar on the saw ready to cut my stuck bar out tomorrow and notice both my bar studs are missing! I was under the impression that they have square bolt ends that can't be removed out of the saw... only further into it.

 

I'm pretty confused, i've checked the oil tank and can't see anything, want to check I'm not being stupid before I go back up with a torch!

[htb]

Yep according to parts diagram bar bolts have square ends and come out via the oil tank

[billpierce]

Drain your oil tank, likely they are lurking in there

[adw]

Yes they are going to be rattling around inside the oil tank, they are an interference fit in the case so must have taken a fair impact to push them out.

[outinthewood]

Get a magnetic pickup tool and fish around  or empty oil tank give a slosh around with mix and thay should reappear. The tank is sort of "L" shaped and they could/should be at the bottom behind the oil pipe. The magnetic pickup tool is very handy for re-seating them. Arm yourself with a couple of nuts that will fit over the studs and use them as a spacer to pull them back into seat.

Edited November 27, 2017 by outinthewood

[Mark Wileman]

I'll get right on it, is this a "common" occurrence? When I find them I just wiggle them back in and then once re tightened they are pretty much good to go?

[Mark Wileman]

1 minute ago, adw said:

Yes they are going to be rattling around inside the oil tank, they are an interference fit in the case so must have taken a fair impact to push them out.

I shook the saw a bit to get the bar through the bolts so I could get the chain off the sproket, as it's outboard, no more than arm strength. Once to watch in future, or even better don't start a job at 4pm in November 

[adw]

Just be careful when pulling them back in as they fit into a square on the inside of the crankcase, you need to mark the front of the threaded part of the bolts tdc so as you know the square is in the correct position and will locate correctly.

[outinthewood]

Adw and myself forgot to mention mind you do not damage the spring steel cover on the face of the bar mount, there is a couple of "wings" that help hold the studs in place, or in this case not so well ! I take the plate off and place large washers to spread the load on the ally surface. 

[Mark Wileman]

Thanks guys, I found them and reset them, then used pliers to line them up with the squares and tightened them right up with a fresh bar on. Those "wings" on the oil flow cover aren't really touching the bolts so I crimped them back in a bit, I'll be more mindful of how the studs work in future, I assumed they where screwed into the crank case and wouldn't just push through! 

Thanks again!