spudulike

Personally I would check the normal fuel lines filters - make sure the fuel tank breather is clear - worth seeing if loosening the fuel cap and doing it back up before starting helps it starting. I would clean the carb - the IPL states the saw should have limiters fitted, standard carb settings are 1 1/4 turn on both carbs and would check the gauze filter is clear, the diabhrgm cap is clean of sawdust and the metering arm height is set correctly. Not sure how the carb can only have 3/4 turn if limit caps are not fitted - have the carb off and give it a good look at:thumbup:

Hopefully the picture below will help you understand the chain technology. The lower one is an Oregon 1.5mm semi chisel, the one above it is the 1.3mm semi chisel 95VPX. If you look carefully you will notice that the width of the total chain is less and also the cutters are thinner, this basically means you are hacking out less width of wood (kerf), causing less friction and using less power to spin the chain - th edepth of cut with each cutter is about the same on each chain. All this means that you can lean on the saw a bit more and it will cut faster and bog down less. On a really powerful saw, this narrow kerf chain really cuts fast. On measured cuts, it is some 15% faster! The trade off is it will stretch more but on your saw will be fine:thumbup: The sign of a sharp chain is the saw self feeding through wood with no use of the dogs or excessive force being needed!

The benefit of the 1.5mm chain is that it won't stretch as much and offers more strength in its set up and build but it is taking out a wider kerf and having used a few smaller saws now with either full chisel or 1.5mm bar and chain, it really takes the power out of the saw - bit like using a 1/2" wood chisel against a 1.5" one - the larger one takes more effort! Stihl fit a 1.1mm gauge on their 181/171 - 017/018 saws because of this! Full chisel is very aggressive if you have the power to pull it but semi chisel is less power hungry and is easier to sharpen IMO and better for these smaller home owner saws. The bar and chain I mentioned earlier is Oregons narrow kerf set up and your saw on a 15" option with their new 95VPX chain should bring your saw to life and not cost you too much. Husqvarna do list both 1.3 and 1.5mm options but you need to select what makes the saw nice to use, my 345 was great with a 15" 1.3mm semi chisel - it really shifted! Rob D is a good guy, talk to him and he will help:thumbup:

The problem you have is that the saw isn't liking the 1.5mm gauge bar and chain. This is more suited to 50cc pro saws and upwards. Semi chisel is better on lower power models and 1.3mm will sap less power than the 1.5mm gauge. My recommendation, talk to Rob D on this site and get a 15" microlite pro Oregon bar and a loop of 95VPX chain and enjoy the saw. This was my 345 Husky on a 15" 1.3mm semi chisel

OK, understand the carb cleaner bit now, the inner metal insert holds the inner shape of the boot and the outer metal surround stops you flattening the rubber flange on the carb side of the boot. One thing to check is that with both metal parts mentioned above in place, the rubber flange the carb is supposed to sit on is actually proud of the meta surround - this must happen so the carb compresses against it! You could try making a paper washer and greasing both the rubber flange and the carb and then bush the carb home against it and then dissassemble to see if there is good connection between both parts. The pressure test with the choke side of the carb blanked off and a bit of fairy liquid solution will show you where the leak is and would appear to be that the metal surround around the rubber carb boot is keeping the carb from sealing on the boot manifold. The impulse line should push through the back plate and be held pretty firmly in place but sounds like this is sealing OK. Many of the Chinese parts state Nikasil but there is no easy way of telling what you have. I aim for 150psi on a good running saw with 200-220PSI on my fully tuned ones:thumbup: The type of compression gauge does give a varied measurement. End float on the crankshaft is moved by grabing hold of the flywheel or clutch and pushing and pulling the thing back and forth - you may have no play but sometimes this end float can cause air leaks in one position and not others. Your description of taking the cylinder off is classic:lol: Torque wrench - only on car bearings and cylinders etc. I use a small 6" tommy bar or T wrench as it allows me to crank the bolts down but not strip the thread. The nuts you are doing up are simple to do up, not technical - do them up with a deep socket using your fingers and then circa 1/2 turn until reasonably tight and the jobs a good un! It sounds like you know where the air leak is, if the boot is in good condition, you must have some sort of mechanical interference stopping the carb pushing on the rubber flange.

Blimey, thats a long first post:lol: Gotta say I have had problems with the 024/026 series as well, the bit in your post where you are spraying carb cleaner in to the carb and around the carb has lost me??? Is the saw running when you are spraying it or are you spraying it in a non running saw and it is coming out from between the carb and the rubber boot? One thing I have noticed is that on non OEM impulse lines, the part that sticks out of the airbox back plate is sometimes not quite long enough and the impulse connector on the carb is a loose fit in to it! That one has caused me problems in the past - just fit the OEM part or add a small length of tubing to the impulse connector. On the carb nuts - they should be tight but shouldn't need excessive tightening and the union between the rubber boot and carb should seal well! One thing you can do is to pressure check but do it with the carb in place and seal the back end of the carb. You generally get a very small amount of leakage around the throttle linkage but will give you a good indication if you have problems within this area - leaks are best found by hearing and soapy water! The revs shouldn't vary by much more than 250 - 300rpm, older saws will vary more than the new ones. 120psi sounds low, I would imagine when warm, this saw will be a mare to start - worth checking! It is what I have been saying about the build quality of these parts. When you pressure check, try pushing the end float of the crank shaft in and out - worth a check and also have you vacuum tested the saw - sometimes faults are hidden on one test and obvious on the other!

A real hero in my eyes, good to hear some great news at long last - must be BBCs sportsman of the year!

Those 024/026s can be fiddly little buggers, from experience I start at 3/4 turns on the H&L screw then dial in the L screw and tach the H. The airfilter is pretty close to the carb throat and you can get blowback saturating the filter if the carb is set too rich. Other than that - do the typical clean and adjust of the carb. pipes and filters - worth checking the breather is clear! Typical stuff!

Thats how the rich get richer and keep hold of it!! Think the Government should clamp down on those people that sit at home watching the Jeremy Kyle show with the only hard work involved is lifting that heavy remote and pressing those heavy buttons. 30 years of paying tax through the nose and seeing it wasted on skivers isn't the best incentive to keep paying in to the system!

Try putting a known good carb on it, if it cures the problem it will be the carb:thumbup: Possibly and air leak but sounds like a leaking accelerator pump in the carb - either time for a replacement one or modifying the carb!

Mine is the brass bodied Sealey one, decent bit of kit - it will only do vac testing but does it very well. You need to also consider pressure testing as well - different components and designs show leakage better under pressure or vacuum sometimes - the Husky Rancher inlet manifold was a classic case of this - perfect under vacuum but leaked badly under pressure!

Mmm, that looks like it has got pretty hot, it is unusual for the inlet side to mark up like that but have had one saw that whent all the way round. It didn't look nice but it was smooth and ran up at 150psi after rebuild. I reckon there is still transfer on there, try a bit of abrasion with wet and dry and use a bit of acid on it until it stops fizzing. It may be worth using some slightly more coarse paper to clean it up further. Don't get too hung up on its looks, it is how smooth the thing feels - scores are generally thin and indented in to the cylinder. If bad they will fiz along their length as the acid bites in to the aluminium under the Nikasil plating! Get it smooth before fitting the piston. Can't remember the history but ensure you know why it failed and correct it before you run the saw up.

Yes, Martin (Burrell) has given you good advice, there are a number of reasons a saw can fail, lean mix on the carb H screw, air leaks, light on two stroke oil in themix or just old fuel, breather/filter problems. Just changing the parts without finding the route cause may well lead to the saw seizing again. I ALWAYS try to salvage the cylinder if I can, the OEM ones are far better made than the Chinese ones, I have done this to a few members saws and all have bedded in nicely - one running a 3' bar and is local to me! I use a decent quality piston in these saws rather than Chinese. The Chinese kits are good value but would recommend junking the rings supplied and fitting OEM if you do go for that option. If you fit a new P&C kit or resurect the cylinder, I would strongly recommend pressure testing and vacumm testing to ensure there are no airleaks - this is unrelated to compression checks that test the cylinder to piston integrity. I would also ensure the carb it stripped, cleaned and tuned to the saw with a tach before running up. PM me if you want to talk about the work and ball park costs etc otherwise, good luck with it!! You can see saws I have done on the "Whats on your Bench" thread.

My brother has one of these - the baffle plate in the exhaust carboned up to the point, little exhaust was actually getting through it. I managed to get in to the exhaust and open the baffle holes and then put it back together again. If the strimmer sounds a bit flat and quiet then it could be this.

The side to side play is normal and you will not be able to change the big end bearing on most crankshafts down to the way they are manufactured anyway. The important thing is that you have close to zero play in the up and down direction and the big end cage is in one piece!

My wife said "do they have to dress like that" - I said "wouldnt be so good if they wore trench coats and wellies":lol:

Thanks for that Andy - they are brittle and they break and that will at best lose compression and at worst, snag a port or transfer:thumbdown:

I know you are joking but the only reason I praise them is the fact that I have used them on many occasions and NEVER had any issues with them so pass on the good info - I work in a non arb related business. My preference is Meteor, Episan, Golf and then Chinese and if the Chinese one was going on a quality machine would swap the rings with OEM or Caber ones and would also consider doing the same with the circlips. The funny thing about fitting the piston the wrong way round - I had a Chinese Piston with the arrow pointing the wrong way round once:001_rolleyes: fitted it the right way round though:thumbup: I have had them with the ends badly formed so the ring wouldnt contract in to the piston so the cylinder wouldnt fit on it. Generally the piston size is too loose in the bore. Rings have snapped - you live and learn and get what you pay for. I have fitted Meteor in many members saws and all seem to be giving good service.

Ebay is the only place I can get hold of Meteor pistons so if they aren't there, you will struggle. Episan are Turkish and look to be made very well and are a solid second choice IMO

My first choice on pistons is Meteor, the only piston I KNOW I can just fit without checking it out thoroughly, they are generally £5-10 more expensive but find myself using them more and more especially after having a few issues with some of the Chinese ones! Meteor are Italian and have Caber rings that are used by many OEMs in their equipment - I have had issues with Chinese rings snapping and taking out ports - probably over tempered and brittle!

Bugger, that sounds like something I would do:lol: It has been damn hot:thumbup1:

Been fixing my busted pole cutter and hedge trimmer. I was cutting back my hedge last Thursday and the pole cutter pole union let loose so I did a quick repair with some JB weld and then found it was so good I couldn't separate the poles - shows how good the stuff is! The hedge trimmer became difficult to start when hot - seemed to be down on compression, it is an old Echo. A bit heavy but will go through branches as thick as your thumb!! Whipped off the cylinder, all looked good including the ring and piston so dropped out the base gasket, got carried away and did a mild porting job and got compression of 160psi now and it rips:thumbup: Good to see the thread at nearly 50,000 views:biggrin:

If the piston is a 44mm piston, it will measure up at around 43.95mm but not 1mm below stated diameter. Looks like you have the wrong piston. What is the make of the piston - some of these Chinese ones are a bit dubious!

Humour is a funny old thing though - you can make a joke and a number of guys will roll round laughing and others will ask whats funny but thats life! My sense of humour is a bit dry at times, just depends on the company you keep for the response it gets! I did mean Jo-Bu - old Norwegian chainsaw manufacturer - got an old L65 in the garage at the mo:thumbup:

Sweden my friend - Jo-Bu come from Norway:thumbup: