tenebboy
New Member
I have a McCulloch Eager Beaver 2.0 purchased new ca. 1980. I only use it a few times each year (sometimes not at all) and it has never given me a problem. I took it out last weekend for the first time since last spring. Mixed up some new fuel (new from the gas station too); pulled about five times and it fired right up. Let it warm up for 20 seconds or so while I walked out to the front of the house. Made 8 or 10 cuts, and then set the saw down, still running, chain brake on, while I adjusted the work. After about 15 seconds the saw died ... didn't think much of it and got ready to make some more cuts. However the saw wouldn't start. I pulled about 20 times till I was worn out - fuel dripping out the bottom. This has never happened before.
Took it back to the garage and replaced the spark plug with a new one. Still nothing.
Let it sit over night in the event the carb was flooded. Nothing.
Took out the plug and held it against the housing - pulled the cord - no spark. The housing is coated with something, so I wrapped a piece bare copper wire around the spark plug threads and grounded it against the handle and several other unpainted metal parts. No spark.
I then removed the housing completely - that seemed harder than it should be, but the thing was probably not designed to be user serviced. The wire that goes from the kill switch to the coil has a piece of rubber tubing that covers the connector at the coil end. This tubing was worn through from vibration against the housing; the metal of the connector was exposed. I don't think it could ground out as the housing is coated or anodized or something on the inside also. Just in case, I tried disconnecting the kill wire. I hand-turned the flywheel because the pullcord assembly was now on the garage floor as I had to remove it to get the rear portion of the housing off. No spark was generated.
The air gap between the coil and the flywheel looked to be about 1 mm (0.04") and did not seem to be adjustable.
At this point, I guess my questions are:
1. Is it going to generate a spark if I hand-turn the flywheel, getting only a couple of rotations? If so, then I deduce the coil is bad.
If that isn't going to produce a spark anyway, then I guess I have to put it back together with the kill wire removed. If still no spark then the coil is bad.
2. Is it a reasonable assumption that the coil would fail in such a manner - while the engine is running ?
3. If the coil is bad, where can I get a replacement ?
Appreciate any help or advice I can get.
Took it back to the garage and replaced the spark plug with a new one. Still nothing.
Let it sit over night in the event the carb was flooded. Nothing.
Took out the plug and held it against the housing - pulled the cord - no spark. The housing is coated with something, so I wrapped a piece bare copper wire around the spark plug threads and grounded it against the handle and several other unpainted metal parts. No spark.
I then removed the housing completely - that seemed harder than it should be, but the thing was probably not designed to be user serviced. The wire that goes from the kill switch to the coil has a piece of rubber tubing that covers the connector at the coil end. This tubing was worn through from vibration against the housing; the metal of the connector was exposed. I don't think it could ground out as the housing is coated or anodized or something on the inside also. Just in case, I tried disconnecting the kill wire. I hand-turned the flywheel because the pullcord assembly was now on the garage floor as I had to remove it to get the rear portion of the housing off. No spark was generated.
The air gap between the coil and the flywheel looked to be about 1 mm (0.04") and did not seem to be adjustable.
At this point, I guess my questions are:
1. Is it going to generate a spark if I hand-turn the flywheel, getting only a couple of rotations? If so, then I deduce the coil is bad.
If that isn't going to produce a spark anyway, then I guess I have to put it back together with the kill wire removed. If still no spark then the coil is bad.
2. Is it a reasonable assumption that the coil would fail in such a manner - while the engine is running ?
3. If the coil is bad, where can I get a replacement ?
Appreciate any help or advice I can get.
