The famous 550xp.

[brian hegarty]

Hi everyone.

I bought a 550 in November 2011.

So far I've got a new petrol tank, new oil bleeder hose, new side cover, 2 new magnetos/coils, 1 new piston ring due to carbon build up, one new engine rebuild due to carbon build up, and I'm just after breaking the 11th chain brake band.

 

I have 5 stihls, the oldest is 2009 and I've had 4 problems between the 5 of them.

 

So my question is this:

Do the "new and improved" 550xp's still have any of these problems?

 

 

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Edited September 19, 2014 by brian hegarty

[brian hegarty]

Also it got a new lighter weight clutch to try to sort the brake band issue but it hasn't worked

 

 

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[kev7937]

We have one. It's about a year old at a guess and there is always a scramble in the morning as to who gets the husky.

 

Can't remember anything going wrong with it.

[Mark_Skyland]

Just out off interest In regards to the carbon build up problem which two stroke oil have you been using?

 

We have only had one back as a poor runner, it was the ignition coil, but it's not like we have sold hundreds of them plus all of ours have been 2012 models onwards.

[Coletti]

I've had one since apf 2012 and it has lived on an 18" bar since new so has done a lot of work for a 50cc saw but it's been almost faultless apart from 2 break bands. Since the upgrade to the redesigned break band I haven't had a single problem and it's still going very strong

[brian hegarty]

Always used stihl 2stroke. It had 104 hours done according to the diagnostic plug in when the ring seized and in around 20 more when it had to be rebuilt.

 

 

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[Mark_Skyland]

Was it the red HP by any chance?

[TGB]

It's an early 550, what do you expect... reliability?

 

The 2013/2014 ones seem to be pretty much sorted now. And there's now a beefier brake-band available for the 545, 550XP & 560XP.

[Brushcutter]

2013 model

1 brake band and a warranty job on the carb. The brake band only went from left hand abuse.

[Eddy_t]

If the brake bands keep going, it could be warping of the clutch cover.

Heavy coking is due to a high fuel and oil content in the mixture, this could be the carb, fuel you're using, oil or a blocked spark screen, but the cause for the coking should have been quite easily resolved by plugging the carb in.