Cylinder Honing

[Colber Thornton]

HI,

Anyone got an opinion on cylinder honing for a Poulan 3400 coutervibe.? 1980 model. This saw runs fine,- but it needs 32:1 - it will not fire up with 50:1 , I assume the extra oil in 32:1 provides a better seal. 32:1 was the original spec. for this saw. It has a muffler mod but the compression is only 100 psi, a bit low even for a 3400 which never go above 130 psi. I am doing some more work to give it a bit more go . Nothing too involved - ie no porting but I plan to re ring and do a BGD,plus carb adjustments. When it comes to de glazing ( honing the cylinder) I come across endless conflicting opinions- evrything from definitely a "must" for new rings right through to " do not do this ! " Anyone actually done a hone job and does it help the rings bed in ? Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[thompsoncustom]

Don't use a traditional hone on a 2 stroke, if there is no aluminum transfer and the cylinder doesn't have any marks that you can fell with a finger nail then just hone it with a scotch brite pad like this video and yes use new rings afterwards.

 

[Colber Thornton]

Thanks for this, I'll give it a go - less expensive than shelling out for a ball hone, which probably won't see a lot of use...

 

[hotshot]

Thanks for this, I'll give it a go - less expensive than shelling out for a ball hone, which probably won't see a lot of use...

That old saw has an odd chrome plated piston & aluminum bore, so likely the soft cylinder is tapered, egged or even oval shaped from wear.

I’d measure both & if greater than 3-4 thousandths clearance just find another cylinder as good used ones are still around. Well at least in the US they are…

 

[J D]

My understanding is a ball hone is definitely unadviseable. As mentioned, the scotch brite will give you a bit of key for the rings to bed in on.
Measure your squish before you pull it apart, you might be able to claim some more compression with a thinner/deleted gasket

 

[ZeroJunk]

I use a ball hone for a couple of seconds both way with a little WD40 sprayed on it. Wipe it out with a rag so I can see what I have to work with.
Trying to use one to get the transfer out won't work.

 

[Colber Thornton]

Thanks everyone for the comments, if all else fails and the cylinder is not looking good, my brother actually lives in the USA . He is over here early next year so I might give him the task of locating a decent used jug.....

 

[bwalker]

My understanding is a ball hone is definitely unadviseable. As mentioned, the scotch brite will give you a bit of key for the rings to bed in on.
Measure your squish before you pull it apart, you might be able to claim some more compression with a thinner/deleted gasket

However told you that is full of it.
I have used ball hones on two stroke cylinders for decades with good results.

 

[bwalker]

I use a ball hone for a couple of seconds both way with a little WD40 sprayed on it. Wipe it out with a rag so I can see what I have to work with.
Trying to use one to get the transfer out won't work.

Sound advice. I have been doing the same for decades.

 

[ZeroJunk]

There is likely not a tool out there that some people are not too dumb to use.

 

[bwalker]

There is likely not a tool out there that some people are not too dumb to use.

No doubt there.

 

[river of smoak]

so you can hone a bare aluminum cylinder ?

 

[lone wolf]

My understanding is a ball hone is definitely unadviseable. As mentioned, the scotch brite will give you a bit of key for the rings to bed in on.
Measure your squish before you pull it apart, you might be able to claim some more compression with a thinner/deleted gasket

Only a problem if you remove too much material with a Ball Hone.

 

[bwalker]

Only a problem if you remove too much material with a Ball Hone.

A ball hone will not remove material. To hone a nicisil cylinder to size it requires diamond hones.
All the ball hone does is deglaze and provides a little better surface for ring seating.

 

[bwalker]

so you can hone a bare aluminum cylinder ?

Is the cylinder bare aluminum? I have never heard of that.
If it is it's not worth the effort to even mess with it. Throw away design. The rings them self would wear bare aluminum exceedingly fast.

 

[lone wolf]

A ball hone will not remove material. To hone a nicisil cylinder to size it requires diamond hones.
All the ball hone does is declare snd provide a little better surface for ring seating.

I have gone through plating around the exhaust port on one or two.

 

[bwalker]

I have gone through plating around the exhaust port on one or two.

I dont have a firm count, but I would guess I have honed over 100 cylinders with ball hones and never had a single issue. The abrasive used in ball hones is not hard enough to remove nicisil. It may damage iron bore or perhaps chrome plated, but I don't have any expiereance with chrome.

 

[bwalker]

Nicisil has hardness of 90 on the Rockwell C scale.
The aluminum Oxide abrasive used on ball hones is around 60-70 Rockwell C.
As such it's not possible for a ball hone to remove nicisil.

 

[thompsoncustom]

Ya poulan had a few aluminum bores with chrome pistons. They hold up better than you would think a bare aluminum cylinder would, the OP's saw is a 43 year old design.

 

[muddy42]

I prefer to hone by hand in a circular motion with oil. Yes it takes ages, but its less likely to cause damage. Even then in my experience this treatment only works if there is very minor damage or deposits. If there is deep scoring, you either end up leaving scoring which causes damage to the rings or take away too much material and leave an oblong gap around the rings which destroys your compression.

Try it out though. As a DIY-er you have nothing to lose but some time. When it fails I have had a 100% success rate with Meteor aftermarket cylinder and piston kits. At least when buying both together, they should fit well.