cornishman07

Older saw;

Newer saw:

Hi, I've got a two husqvarna 162se I've had a while and would like to rebuild them. The first has s/n 098699 I got with a leaking tank. Think it was about £130. I then got another for £64 as a doner saw with a hole in the oil tank and corroded brake handle s/n 142034. Original plan was to make one good saw but now I think I can make 2! After inspecting the first one it was actually the fuel cap leaking. It's a single piston ring model, cylinder looks ok, piston bit scored but ok I think, crank has no play and the rest all looks original and it holds pressure and vacuum so a good result I think! The second "doner" saw was actually in decent condition too, barring the hole in the oil tank. It's an earlier twin ring model and the piston and cylinder are in really good condition! Holds vacuum fine but pressure drops from 10 to 8 over about 10 seconds. I'm not sure if the carb is original as the top cover doesn't say tillotson on it, the bottom cover does though so maybe a bit of a Frankenstein. Also there's no make on the ignition I can see so again not sure it's original? I'm contemplating swapping the better twin ring piston/cylinder onto the newer saw then rebuilding carb, renewing fuel line and filters as a cheap simple refurb but wondered if it's that simple or will ignition and carbs need swapping too? Would it be wise to put in new oil seals anyway even if the old ones are ok? As for older saw was hoping to drill/tap and JB weld the oil tank hole, renew oil seals, carb rebuild, fuel line and filters for a working second saw with not much effort!

Cheers for the reply!

Hi Crocky, just wondering if you do cut off saws? I'm asking on here cos nobody else has asked and your answer might help others! I currently have a ts420 that just gets used for openings and cutting concrete slabs, doesn't get much use but it's always on thick stuff. It's handy cutting 5"deep, but it struggles a bit at full depth. I was considering upgrading to a ts700 or 800 (they don't appear on Stihl UK website any more so maybe discontinued?) but wondered if "porting" the ts420 would be an option as I assume they're similar to a chainsaw? Regards Richard

Any update what op went for? A month after asking opinions he'll have been talked into an 880 with a 42" bar!

By my reckoning that's 18.75/HR which seems very reasonable to me! "Proper" repair shops, and I mean no offence just commercial ones, I'm sure would be 40 or 50! Don't know as I fix myself but if you don't have the skill you gotta pay! I would suggest much as you might like to tell him to do one it's not worth falling out over. Just explain it was 45 for parts and you charge 18.75/hr for 4hrs labour as both needed a strip down. If he owns and uses those two he must know full well that's very reasonable. If he still grumbles ask how much he charges per hour?!!

Tried twisting as far as I dare but it just springs back to how it is. I'm tempted to just fit it in the bottom groove and see what happens?! If it damages the piston or cylinder I'm no worse off really.

Update time; I cleaned the piston and barrel with the intention to just put the saw back together at no cost. After buying three different bits to make an adapter I eventually did do a pressure and vac test and crank seals are good, held 10psi on pressure -10 on vacuum, both held whilst crank rotated. Result! I finally had a bit of free time to rebuild it but when I came to reinstall the piston rings one of them was no longer a piston ring but a piston spiral!! No idea why as each of the three times I got an adapter for the vac test, that didn't fit, both rings were sat on the workbench perfectly fine ready to reassemble! What would cause this? Anyway, once installed it pinches in the groove and won't move so I assume it's not reusable? Drat! These are the original thin rings and not available any more so it looks like it's a new piston/cylinder and a ton less in my piggy bank! Double drat! On the plus side looks like the 181 and 188 have the same stroke and 2mm different bore so will be an 88cc monster once done! Might get a 28"bar then! Also noticed that right where the wires leave the ignition module they've rubbed through the insulation. If I slide heat shrink it won't get right in. A new module is 35 quid so I might just squirt a blob of clear ct1 once assembled and see how it goes? Still not got over the cylinder/piston yet, don't want to ruin my weekend before it's begun!

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I've familiarised myself with the difference between a compression test and pressure/vac test now so thanks for that! I was thinking about detecting leakage around the piston rings which is what I thought a scored cylinder might result in? Also to clarify the saw is a recent acquisition. I gave it a once over and took the exhaust off to look at the piston, which was scored slightly around the exhaust port. Don't know what caused it or when, but it did run fine and wasn't seized. Thanks for the suggestions as to the cause. Looks like a vac test is probably needed 🙄! There's no debris in the crank case and as it's around the exhaust not the intake can't see how it would be debris sucked in? If it was run without oil I suspect there'd be more damage?! If there's a leaking crank seal how would this lead to scoring the piston? Similarly how would a leaking fuel line lead to the same?

It's a 1983 and it's orange, not an army one. The piston is original with the two thin rings. Never done a vacuum/pressure test before and the half decent testers look expensive! Would be cheaper to just renew the bearings and seals regardless! Any link to a good value vacuum tester that'll do the job without breaking the bank? Can get a compression tester for about a tenner on ebay which looks exactly like a machine mart one. Would this not do the same job or at least confirm compression is ok regardless of any minor leaks? The suggestion something's leaking caused the scoring has got me paranoid now!

Cheers for that. I've taken apart a few saws in the past and this is by far the easiest to take the cylinder off, it took about 10 minutes, 5minutes of which finding my imperial Alan keys!! It ran fine before and was a beast to turn over. I don't have a compression tester but with the cylinder off I can see the squish band is relatively wide and compression chamber relatively small compared to other saws so whilst compression might be down it felt perfectly fine and was a bit of a brute to turn over! I think I'll clean it up and put it back together for nothing and see how it goes! I have seen meteor cylinder and piston sets are available for about a hundred quid and 288 cylinder/piston drop straight on appartantly so that's a future option!

Hi, I've taken the top end off my 181 to inspect some piston scoring I could see through the exhaust port and wondered if anyone could offer a second opinion if they're reusable?! I've cleaned them up with some emery and scotchbrite and there's definitely scoring on the piston. The cylinder feels smooth to the finger but using a fingernail does encounter very slight roughness on the section around the exhaust port. I can't tell if it's scoring or transfer! I'm leaning towards the former as rubbing down I don't think has changed it much. The saw ran fine before and I'd like to reuse if possible as it's all original, and it won't get much use at all as I've other saws. Any thoughts welcome!

Cheers for the replies guys!

Obviously they're not and this isn't a what's best or brand X Vs brand Y question but can chainsaw 2 stroke be used in a MX bike and vise versa or are there specific oils for specific applications? I've always used the green Stihl synthetic in the chainsaw/cut off saw etc @ 50/1 and Castrol or Motul 2t in my dirt bike @ 60/1 both mixed with super unleaded but I am thinking I'll just use the green Stihl @ 50/1 in all logic being chainsaws rev higher so should be fine in lower revving bike? I know it's not a big deal but it would be easier if I just had one lot of fuel to use!