52cc chinese

hosocat · Nov 16, 2022

I picked up one of the harbor freight augers off the curb. I started tinkering with it. It has spark, but it would not pop even if I squirted gas and ether into it. So I looked down spark plug hole with camera and saw some major scoring. So I figured what the hell, I'll take it apart. I pulled off the cylinder, and this is what the piston looks like. I guess PO ran it with straight gas. Would this amount of damage be enough to cause it not to pop at all? Intake side is clean. I'm thinking it would be fun to see if I can get it to run again. I can get another Chinese cylinder and piston for less than $20.

The Shooters Apprentice · Nov 17, 2022

I would think it would have 0 compression in that condition

hosocat · Nov 17, 2022

That's what I'm hoping. This is my first top end rebuild. I haven't checked seals or anything else, not sure how to do that. I'm thinking I'll just throw a new piston and cylinder on it and see what happens. Thanks.

Automender · Nov 18, 2022

My auger uses 20:1 ratio on gas to oil but I believe there are two versions and the other one uses 50:1.

I own one and it works pretty good for the money. I had two issues with it over two years. The first was annoying when the output shaft would not stop. Turned out to be the clutch has wavy spring washers on the two bolts that the clutch "arms" pivot on. One had broken and the clutch would not disengage. I replacement washer fixed that. Second issue after the second year was a hot start issue. Drove me nuts because the coil would spark so I replaced carb for $15 but still no go. Finally after an hour of frustration and changing sparkplugs I closed the gap to about half the spec and the thing fired up first pull. Must be a weak coil but only after running a while. Cold starts were never an issue.

Lil'Skeet · Jul 30, 2023

hosocat said:
I picked up one of the harbor freight augers off the curb. I started tinkering with it. It has spark, but it would not pop even if I squirted gas and ether into it. So I looked down spark plug hole with camera and saw some major scoring. So I figured what the hell, I'll take it apart. I pulled off the cylinder, and this is what the piston looks like. I guess PO ran it with straight gas. Would this amount of damage be enough to cause it not to pop at all? Intake side is clean. I'm thinking it would be fun to see if I can get it to run again. I can get another Chinese cylinder and piston for less than $20.

Pull the rings off the piston and check the end gap with them in the cylinder. Push the rings in the cylinder with the top of the piston to square them up. Check with feeler gauge.
What does the cylinder look like?