# Homelite XL2 Auto Problems



## ky-homelite (Jun 30, 2005)

Hi everyone, found this great website through google. I have a problem with my dads old XL2. A few years ago, this saw ran fine, but it broke the pull cord so we kind of put it in the back of the shed and use our Stihl to get odd jobs done. Well, my dad wants me to get this little saw going because it's alot lighter and easier to use for him. So I got it out the other day, put a new cord on it, took the carb off and sprayed it pretty good with carb cleaner and got it to run. It ran pretty bad, so I figured the gas was old. I dumped the old gas and tried it. Seemed a little better, but still wouldn't run right. Well, I take the carb off and head to our local shop to see if I can get a rebuild kit for the carb. The only markings I could find on the carb said Tillotson 3. Turns out the shop guys say it's a Tillotson HK series carb. They gave me a rebuild kit RK-32-HK. So I cleaned the carb out real good again, put the new gaskets, diaphrams, and needle in and got the carb back together. While I was at it, I put in a new fuel line, new fuel filter, new air filter, new spark plug, new on-off switch, and a new duckbill valve into the hole in the top of the gas tank. Put the saw back together, yanked it a few times and it started to fire, then nothing. Pulled it until it flooded itself. Took the carb apart again and checked to see that I got everything put together right, and I'm pretty sure I do. Got it back together, now I can get it to fire up a few seconds and then die, let it set a few minutes and it'll fire up and die again. So I'm thinking that I don't have something adjusted right on the carb. This little carb only seems to have a L adjustment, the H hole seems to not be an option from the factory. Also have an adjustment screw the sets next to the throttle lever that the trigger works. Like I say, right now I can get it to run for a few seconds, holding the trigger down with a wide open choke, then it dies off on it's own. So here are my main questions. 

1. What are some general starting points on the adjustment screws on the carb? I take them down and back them both out 1 1/2 turns. Is a good place to start more or less? Anyone have a diagram or picture of how this carb is supposed to be assembled? Maybe I don't have the diaphrams in the right place? 

2. I seem to be getting spark, but what's the gap supposed to be from the coil to the flywheel? 

3. Where can I get a parts list and schematic for this chainsaw? No UT# on the saw, just a serial # 50371196. Anyone know where I can get parts for a saw this old? 

4. Can any of you think of something I might be missing here? 

Just want to thank any of you all ahead of time to help me out here. Me and my dad love our old Homelite chainsaws, and I'm sure alot of you guys consider them junk saws, but we always seem to grab them over our Stihls because they're just fun to use!


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## Lawn Masters (Jun 30, 2005)

From the sounds of it, perhaps your inlet lever on the carb is too low, which would probably cause thiskind of problem. you have a fixed H jet on your carb. Bill G may be able to help you on parts lists, ask him and see.


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## ky-homelite (Jun 30, 2005)

What do you mean by inlet lever? I don't know much about these little engines, just enough to tear them up real good, haha! How would I go about getting ahold of Bill G?


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## Chris J. (Jul 1, 2005)

Welcome aboard, KY. I'm not qualified to answer your mechtech questions, but maybe I can point you in the right direction. For a parts list, you might try acresinternet.com as they have some IPLs available for downloading (I don't know if they have the one for your particular saw). The tillotson website should have a detailed diagram for your carb. Most of your questions have been asked & answered here at AS before; use the search feature & keep trying different searches until you get the info you need. Maybe start with these searches one at a time: Homelite AND timing, Homelite AND manuals, Homelite AND parts AND sources.

Hope this helps you is some way.


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## Al Smith (Jul 1, 2005)

Timely that this issue would arise for comment.Recently I basicaly had the same problem with one of these itsy bitsy little saws.As it turned out,the condensor was faulty.The points/condensor are made as a unit on these little gems.I disconnected the bum cap and wired one in from a McCulloch,problem solved.Oh,bye the way,welcome to A-site


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## Lawn Masters (Jul 1, 2005)

The inlet lever is the little metal thing that moves up and down on a little steel rod in the carb, with a spring under one end, and a fork shape at the other with a little needle like part in that. gently bend it upwards just a hair, and see if that helps any.


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## Al Smith (Jul 1, 2005)

*Parts list,maybe*

I couldn't find the Xl2 list,but here is one from a super 2,about the same thing.It will take 2 posts,because I can only put 4 pages at a time


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## Al Smith (Jul 1, 2005)

*part 2*

This is the rest of them.


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## ky-homelite (Jul 4, 2005)

Thanks to everyone that posted regarding my questions. I've been tinkering with the saw a little more, and i'm able to get it to start now, and run at wide open throttle, but as soon as I let go of the trigger, it just dies off. When it does this, I have to let it set probably 15 minutes before I can get it started again, otherwise I'm just yanking on the pull cord for nothing. But when it does fire and run, it sounds great.....runs wide open like it should without any hiccups. I emailed Bill Walcott about some parts and asked him what he thought my problem was, and he seemed to think I could have worn crankshaft seals and low compression. Would the worn seals and low compression lead to the problems I seem to be having? Thanks again for all the help you guys are giving me, especially the parts list and diagrams!


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## Lawn Masters (Jul 4, 2005)

Low compression would do that to a saw. I had one that needed a new ring, it would idle like it was running lean, but when you richen up the mix screw, it didnt do crap for it.


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## Jackman61 (Jul 6, 2005)

KY_Homelite,

I have one of these saws, very usefull as a limbing tool once the "big" work is done. In your post you said that you put a new duck bill in the gas tank. I hope that this is a typo, and you meant oil tank. Just checking. With as much of the saw you took apart, I would suspect that you have an air leak that you are masking with overly rich settings. When the engine is cool, you crank up on choke, and run WOT with biased settings. Re starting with the air leak on a warm motor is growing your arm muscles. The only other caution I have for this model is to be very carefull when sliding the motor back into the housing. It is soooo easy to pinch the fuel, pulse, and oil lines between the motor casting and the raised ridges in the plastic housing, it will make a "perfect" seal  

Hope this helps! Good luck getting your saw going 100%!

Jack


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## JohnL (Jul 7, 2005)

I have an XL, that uses a duckbill valve in the gas tank as a one way vent, just plugs into a hole in the tank near the top. Also has one on the pressure line to the oil tank. 

I kind of like the way it comes apart, atleast in that no tanks have to be split apart to do it.


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## ky-homelite (Jul 7, 2005)

To be honest, I don't know if a duckbill valve goes in the gas tank or not. I had seem some schematics on the Internet that suggested that one did go there. I do have a hole in the top of the tank, and without the duckbill valve in it, it just sloshes gas all over the place, so it seems logical to me that something has to go there, be it a duckbill valve or something else. I'm kind of going in the dark here, as this is a chainsaw that my pappaw had partially taken apart before he died, and I'm now trying to get it running again. I'm leaning toward the possibility of air leaks as well. I now have the saw to the point of letting it set awhile, and I can get it running....and as long as I keep it at WOT, the little saw will just scream, but as soon as I let go of the trigger, it just dies off and I can't get it started until it cools down again. How do you put new crankshaft seals in? Is it something that can be done with common hand tools, or do you need specialized tools for the job? Bill Walcott suggested that he thinks the crankshaft seals, thrust washers, and piston ring are a good place to start to eliminate air leaks. I just don't know how to exactly get to those things at the moment. Can anyone lend some advice?


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## lesorubcheek (Jul 8, 2005)

The XLs and Super2s that I've seen all have a duckbill mounted on the gas tank itself to act as a vent since the gas caps son't have a vent built in. Air goes in, fuel doesn't go out. There's also a duckbill mounted onto a small porous cylinder that is used in the oil tank. Its used to provide pressure in the tank without sucking the oil back into the engine.

Dan


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## ky-homelite (Aug 9, 2005)

Ok, just to update and get some further help. I took the saw apart, replaced the piston ring, thrust washers, crank bearings and crank seals. The cylinder looked great, piston looked good too. Cleaned everything up as well as I could and put it back together. I used RTV between the 2 halves of the case. I didn't gob it on, but used a nice little bead all around and let it set up good before I put it together. At first I couldn't get it to spark, so I went back and tried to set the points as well as I could. I've never done it before, but atleast I've got spark now. However, it's acting the same as before. I can get the thing started, and it will run really good at WOT, but when I let off the throttle it just dies. I've taken the carb apart several times and I"m sure it's back together right. What am I missing here? Would a bad condenser act like this? Can a condenser start to cut out as it gets hotter if it's bad? Air leaks? If air leaks, where do I need to be looking? I'm sure this is something simple that I'm overlooking. Just point me in the right direction guys. Thanks again for everyones help.


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## Lawn Masters (Aug 9, 2005)

probably your carb isnt right in the settings. something is out of whack, and needs to be whacked back in line. try setting the carbs L jet from lightly seated to 1 turn out, and see if that helps. also, check your muffler, it might have something or other causing too much backpressure which prevents it from idling at all.


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## medcave (Aug 9, 2005)

From the Chainsaw Service Manual carb section:

Engine stops when decelerating:
(1) Idle speed, idle mixture, or high speed mixture screws improperly adjusted.
(2) Defective pump diaphragm.
(3) Pulse passage leaking or restricted.
(4) Air leaks between carb and crankcase.
(5) Throttle shaft worn.
(6) Metering lever set too high.
(7) Fuel inlet needle binding.

Engine will not idle:
(1) Incorrect adjustment of idle fuel and/or idle speed screws.
(2) Idle discharge or air mixture ports plugged.
(3) Fuel channel plugged.
(4) Fuel tank vent, fuel line, or filter restricted.
(5) Leaky gaskets between the carb and cylinder intake ports.

There's also mention that a defective Main Nozzle Check Ball assembly could cause your symptoms. It's a pretty good manual. Not comprehensive but very helpful. $23 at Bailey's (ISBN 0-87288-705-7).


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## ky-homelite (Aug 9, 2005)

OSA and Medcave, I think both of you are dead on. This has to be a carb related issue for me. This little Tillotson has no high speed adjustment on it, and the low speed adjustment needle kind of wiggles in it's seat. I'm thinking that the whole carb is just worn out. It just feels "sloppy", like it's loose in it's movements. Any carb that I can replace this with? I know looking at some of the parts manuals that people have posted in the thread along with ones I've been emailed that a Walbro HDC-65 and a Zama C2S-H5 look like they are direct replacements. Any of you guys have one of those in decent shape you'd want to sell?


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## p38lightning (Aug 11, 2005)

I'm not exactly sure how the carb bolts up but I have cracked the reed cage before on a super xl and air leaked between the crankcase and the carb. The saw was great when she was wide open but when it went to idle, the fuel drained back into the tank and she died. I replaced the reed cage and gaskets and all was well in homelite land again.


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