Chainsaw Collection Help

[dustyz]

Good morning! Long time lurker here...

I've learned a lot about chainsaws from the group, thanks for that. Still, I do have a long long way to go! I recently came upon a collection of old saws, and the owner said he'd consider a repair and trade deal, where I repair one, and he gives me one. He has about 50 dead saws with random issues... and I did not count the Poulans. :-|

So I'll definitely be around, asking for advice. In the mean time, I need to decide what to repair. I don't have nearly enough experience to know what interchanges at this point, or the best troubleshooting techniques, but am ready to learn. Here's a very generic list of some of the saws he has in his collection, with some quick years pulled from the interwebs. I labeled a saw "vintage" if it had a primarily metal chassis, but plan to pull serials as time allows. This list does not include the vintage 2 man saws.

Dolmar PS45
Echo 302S 1977-1983
Echo 440EVL 1988
Echo 440EVL
Echo 550EVL
Echo CS-306
Echo CS-4500 1986
Echo CS-4600
Homelite Super 2 Vintage
Homelite XL Vintage
Homelite XL
Husqvarna 36
Husqvarna 41
Husqvarna 141
Husqvarna 142 2007
Husqvarna 359
Husqvarna 435
Husqvarna 394XP
Husqvarna 570
John Deere Q400F
Makita DCS-341
McCulloch 450 Vintage
McCulloch Power Mac 6 1968
Pioneer 1074 1976-1982
Pioneer FarmSaw ?
Pioneer Farmsaw ?
Powerlite SL9 1968
Remington 300
Sears Ohlsson Rice Utility Lightweight Vintage
Stihl 011AVT
Stihl 012AVT
Stihl 015L Vintage
Stihl 017
Stihl 028 WoodBoss
Stihl 032AV
Stihl 034AV 1987-1993
Stihl 041 1967-1977
Stihl MS260
Stihl MS290 2000-2012

I've already gone through the Husky 359 & 570, and initially pulled the MS290 & 394xp just because of familiarity, but I'm sure there are others in the group I need to look at. He is really fond of the Sears Utility Lightweight, but that is more of a shelf piece. Recommendations? Thanks!

 

[djones]

Fix anything you are familiar or comfortable with tackling. Find repair manuals on the ones you are not. Ask questions when you are stuck. Don't be afraid to take something apart and when in doubt, take a picture of what you are working on from beginning to end for a reference. We may need a pic in order to understand what you are referring to in your explanation of a problem you may have. There are many good experienced mechanics here and most of us have seen many of the problems you may come across in your repairs. Good luck.

 

[s sidewall]

What size Poulans?

Steve

 

[dustyz]

Fix anything you are familiar or comfortable with tackling.

Indeed. Thanks.

The MS290 starts fairly easily, idles, and if I'm really really slow on the throttle I can get it to rev sometimes. As soon as I let off, it dies quickly... falls flat on it's face like I used the kill switch. It acts like it's starving. I started with the basics... checked the plug, muffler, clear. Then, since it had age and a rough life, I went ahead and replaced the fuel/impulse lines, filter, and cleaned the carb. I also disconnected the tank vacuum and tested too, to make sure it wasn't clogged. I found a chinese carb to test with, and adjusted both carbs per specs, no luck, same results. (Not sure I trust the aftermarket carb, so I still haven't ruled that out completely.) My compression gauge shows only 120psi, but that should allow throttle, I'd think.

When I pull the carb after idling, the fuel line from the tank has pressure, shooting fuel out a good 6" or so. My huskies don't typically do that. Is it normal? I saw no visible scoring on the piston with the muffler off.

I guess a vacuum/pressure test is in order?

 

[dustyz]

What size Poulans?

He has a bunch of the smaller 16-18" bar sizes, from what I could tell. Not sure on the actual models and cc's. They all looked so similar, and were spread out, I didn't get a chance to gather them up. Anything in particular I should be looking for?

He wants to get a shelf together and start putting them together. That's probably a good idea.

 

[Colt Marlington]

I'd start by picking the ones that look the best externally. And then start pulling cords to check for seizure, compression and starter wear.
And of course the newer ones will be easier to find parts for.

My Poulan 3400 (50-something cc's) is a pretty nice saw that came with a 16" bar.
The Poulans that have the bar size in the model number, like 4218 or 3314, are less desirable than the ones that end in 00 or 50.

 

[s sidewall]

Top handles are great trim saws, 3400, 3700, 3800, 4000, Tim Allen models. 2800, 3300, etc..

Steve

 

[ham]

Just curious how one person ends up with so many non running saws? Were they users or did he collect them?

 

[dustyz]

Were they users or did he collect them?

He collected them. As people would toss them out, for scrap or garbage, he'd grab them.

Top handles are great trim saws, 3400, 3700, 3800, 4000, Tim Allen models. 2800, 3300, etc..

Good to know. I don't think he had any top handle Poulans, but I'll look for those models.

 

[djones]

Indeed. Thanks.

The MS290 starts fairly easily, idles, and if I'm really really slow on the throttle I can get it to rev sometimes. As soon as I let off, it dies quickly... falls flat on it's face like I used the kill switch. It acts like it's starving. I started with the basics... checked the plug, muffler, clear. Then, since it had age and a rough life, I went ahead and replaced the fuel/impulse lines, filter, and cleaned the carb. I also disconnected the tank vacuum and tested too, to make sure it wasn't clogged. I found a chinese carb to test with, and adjusted both carbs per specs, no luck, same results. (Not sure I trust the aftermarket carb, so I still haven't ruled that out completely.) My compression gauge shows only 120psi, but that should allow throttle, I'd think.

When I pull the carb after idling, the fuel line from the tank has pressure, shooting fuel out a good 6" or so. My huskies don't typically do that. Is it normal? I saw no visible scoring on the piston with the muffler off.

I guess a vacuum/pressure test is in order?

fuel will normally squirt out if the gas cap is still on and under pressure. Normal. Did you rebuild the carb yet ? Check your settings and re-adjust as needed. Each chainsaw will have it's own traits and must be adjusted to what makes it run good. The basic settings are a starting point and everything changes from there.

 

[TheTone]

I guess a vacuum/pressure test is in order?

Agree. If it holds vacuum, turn the crankshaft, watch the rise and fall on the gauge, and see if it comes back to the same reading and stays.

 

[dustyz]

Did you rebuild the carb yet ?

When I first got it I opened it up, did a really quick once over, and put it back together. Today, however, I took my time, thoroughly went through it & blew all the ports out. I had the same poor results after putting it back together.

So I had a thought. I pulled the muffler again, no visible screen installed, and made sure I could see through it. I could. I decided to see if it would start without the muffler, just because. (I know this is not good practice for very long.) The saw, much to my surprise, ran great. I bolted the muffler back up, but left the bolts really loose. I started it, rev'd it up, then pushed the muffler tight against the cylinder... and it dropped way down in idle and eventually started to die. I removed the redirection plate on the muffler, and saw the two small exhaust holes. Tiny! I decided to do a muffler mod just to see if extra flow would help, following this guide on youtube, and the saw still wouldn't run.

Is it really possible to visibly see through the muffler, yet it have too much resistance to allow the saw to run? Or, is this just a symptom of another issue? I think I read that having an exhaust opening up to 70-80% of the exhaust port is acceptable... and those little holes were no where near that. It has a genuine Stihl 1127/07a muffler too. Thanks for the advice.

 

[SamT1]

Yea if there are older Poulan saws that could be a good deal on some of the old pro saws.

I’m shocked Everyone thinks all Poulan saws are junk. I walked into a huge saw shop the other day and asked the guy if he had any old Poulan in his bone pile. ( a previous employee of his had let me dig around there before and he had a huge stash of broke stuff) the guy looked me in the eye and said he wouldn’t even throw a Poulan on his trash pile. I said no I’m looking for the old good ones and he just laughed in my face. The guy was like 65 so he should have known.

In 30 years guys will probably be walking into shops looking for Stihl saws getting laughed at (based on the homeowner stuff stihl is selling now)

 

[dustyz]

I'm shocked Everyone thinks all Poulan saws are junk.

I think it's the influx of disposable Poulans that hurt the name. When you can buy a new saw for $75, I'm sure some people thought it was worthless to pay a repair shop to fix it when it didn't start on the 3rd pull. Personally, I hated dealing with the primer bulbs.

I'll check his inventory for older Poulans. Most looked to be the big box kind, but there may be a few rarities in there too.

 

[SamT1]

I think it's the influx of disposable Poulans that hurt the name. When you can buy a new saw for $75, I'm sure some people thought it was worthless to pay a repair shop to fix it when it didn't start on the 3rd pull. Personally, I hated dealing with the primer bulbs.

I'll check his inventory for older Poulans. Most looked to be the big box kind, but there may be a few rarities in there too.

Your looking for 80’s and older Poulan saws . They rivaled the quality of what you think of a stihl today. No primer bulb saws

 

[djones]

When I first got it I opened it up, did a really quick once over, and put it back together. Today, however, I took my time, thoroughly went through it & blew all the ports out. I had the same poor results after putting it back together.

So I had a thought. I pulled the muffler again, no visible screen installed, and made sure I could see through it. I could. I decided to see if it would start without the muffler, just because. (I know this is not good practice for very long.) The saw, much to my surprise, ran great. I bolted the muffler back up, but left the bolts really loose. I started it, rev'd it up, then pushed the muffler tight against the cylinder... and it dropped way down in idle and eventually started to die. I removed the redirection plate on the muffler, and saw the two small exhaust holes. Tiny! I decided to do a muffler mod just to see if extra flow would help, following this guide on youtube, and the saw still wouldn't run.

Is it really possible to visibly see through the muffler, yet it have too much resistance to allow the saw to run? Or, is this just a symptom of another issue? I think I read that having an exhaust opening up to 70-80% of the exhaust port is acceptable... and those little holes were no where near that. It has a genuine Stihl 1127/07a muffler too. Thanks for the advice.

Open up that muffler and let it breathe.

 

[dustyz]

Open up that muffler and let it breathe.

Did it, and it did make a difference, but the saw still seems like it's starving. I ordered a carb cleaning kit, a rebuild kit for the HD-18c, and a pressure/vacuum Mityvac setup. If I'm going to work on more of these, I need to have those available. Thanks for the help. Beyond the compression tester, spark test, carb cleaning kit & P/V gauge, are there other tools beyond the basics that you'd call a "necessity" when troubleshooting?

 

[djones]

I find a multimeter handy when checking for shorts in coils or spark plug wires or switches. A variety of Torx wrenches t-10 to t-30 are needed on many saws today.

 

[dustyz]

Ok. The parts/tools came in. No luck with the carb rebuild on the ms290... same results. I may end up starting a new thread for this, but until then, here is a summary of what I've done up to this point, and video of how it acts.

The saw will start and idle. It will not rev from a dead idle, but if I bump it, it will rev afterwards. The longer it idles, the more difficult to get it to rev. It will not start or run with the new or old air filter on, at all. (See video)

I checked the plug(and replaced it), muffler, clear. I replaced the fuel/impulse lines, fuel filter, and cleaned the carb without a full rebuild. I disconnected the tank vacuum and tested too, to make sure it wasn't clogged. I found a cheap aftermarket carb to test with, and adjusted both carbs per specs, no luck, same results. My compression gauge shows 120psi. After thinking I had a muffler issue, I ported it... opening it up. Same results. I rebuilt the HD-18c carb with a kit, cleaning all the passages thoroughly with carb cleaner & brushes. I did a vacuum test on the carb, and it held fine at 10psi. I pressure tested it with a regulated compressor and submerged it in water. No leaks. I've verified the carb needle lever is flush with the Walbro housing more times than I want to admit. It's good.

I do need to pressure test the saw itself, but I accidentally ordered the mv8000 vs the mv8500, so I didn't have that option. I'm swapping that out soon.

Here's a poor quality video of how the saw acts: HERE
I am adjusting the L&H back to the 1/4 & 3/4 recommended turns during the video. I actually close them all the way, then open them back up WHILE the saw is idling. You can see it hardly had an impact.

Thanks for any advice/help you can offer. I really appreciate it.

BTW, the 394xp just needed a new coil. I'm not kidding. It fires up on the 3rd pull every time. Someone tossed it out because of a coil. :-|