Dealers don't know about modded saws?

[ChuckinOhio]

Assuming that your carb is correctly adjusted after you mod the cat muffler(if you determine that you indeed do have a cat muffler) you will suffer no ill effects whatsoever.
My understanding is that ALL saws that are marked E-tech on the label have cat mufflers. A simple check is to take the muffler off and look inside from the exhaust port side and see whats in there.
If you do not own a tachometer and are not familiar with tuning your saw by ear, DO NOT RUN THE SAW after you mod the muffler. Take it to someone who has a tach and is familiar with tuning the carb to achieve the proper rpm.
If nothing else, ship it to someone from AS that is familiar with the procedure and will tune it for you.


Chuck

 

[berryman70]

I've got a Husky 359 and I think it's a great saw. Works great for what I'm doing with it.

It got into the mid 50s here the other day and I was out cutting on my log pile and I noticed that my saw was getting quite warm around the front hand grip.

So, I come to my first (second?) question. If I am looking for RELIABILITY, first and foremost, do I mod my saw?

Next, why am I getting information that is virtually 180 degrees apart? Am I misreading/misinterpreting what I'm reading here or hearing there?
.

Hello & welcome to the AS site,There's a lot of knowledgeable folks on here, many are saw shop owners & mechanics You'll get some good honest advice.
I've had a non e-tech 359 for a few years now & it's a good little saw, I think if you at least open the muffler up & add another port to it you'll find the saw will run much cooler, it wont get the cover as hot around the stock outlet & the performance gains will be quite noticeable, but the carb WILL have to be re-adjusted, as it will run leaner then it already does ( I think they are too lean from the factory) that means the limiter stops will have to be modified or removed to get the right adjustment.

 

[Woodie]

1. Welcome to the 'hood.
2. That Jonsered dealer is an idiot. No really, he's an idiot. Virtually nothing Husky makes in a 2-stroke has fixed jets. As a matter of fact, Husky is one of two OPE manufacturers that I know of that still has adjustable highs and lows on their trimmers. (And they just bought the other, BTW.) If Husky puts adjustable jets on a friggin trimmer...you do the math.
3. If your dealer is that stupid, and he is, and if you're questioning that fact, don't, becuase your dealer is very stupid, trust me, he is not a smart man, which comes from being stupid, then he is not really a dealer, he is a guy with saws for sale. You can get that from eBay. They have saws for sale, too. But they're not a dealer.
4. Also, your Husky dealer is stupid.
5. You will do yourself a favor by patronizing neither, but you already know that.
6. Both those dealers are stupid.
7. Also, they are not smart.
8. No alcohol was involved in either the consideration or decision of this post.

9. Never post after you've just gotten back from happy hour.
10. Do as I say, not as I do.
11. As one of the (more sober) posters pointed out, saw shops usually aren't big on mods, because they have issues with the manufacturers. So I'm not surprised they were stearing you away from them, and I can't blame them.
12. However, there are ways to do that, and there are ways NOT to do that. By telling you (a) the jets are fixed, and (b) the muffler isn't a cat, both shops lied to you. Your owner's manual will even show you the lies.
13. By lying to you, they have now lost your trust. They talked to you as if you were an idiot, and clearly by your post you have proven them wrong.
14. To mod, or not to mod, that is the question. (I'm feeling literary, and I'm hungover, so back off...) I'm not qualified to give you an answer here, but neither are your shops. Find one you can trust...there are good shops out there. And a lot of the guys here are pretty good wrenches, and can give you some good advice as well. Be aware, though...in some states it's a pretty hefty fine if you get caught cutting on public land with a modded saw. That may or may not be an issue to you though.
15. Again, welcome.

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

9. Never post after you've just gotten back from happy hour.
10. Do as I say, not as I do.
11. As one of the (more sober) posters pointed out, saw shops usually aren't big on mods, because they have issues with the manufacturers. So I'm not surprised they were stearing you away from them, and I can't blame them.
12. However, there are ways to do that, and there are ways NOT to do that. By telling you (a) the jets are fixed, and (b) the muffler isn't a cat, both shops lied to you. Your owner's manual will even show you the lies.
13. By lying to you, they have now lost your trust. They talked to you as if you were an idiot, and clearly by your post you have proven them wrong.
14. To mod, or not to mod, that is the question. (I'm feeling literary, and I'm hungover, so back off...) I'm not qualified to give you an answer here, but neither are your shops. Find one you can trust...there are good shops out there. And a lot of the guys here are pretty good wrenches, and can give you some good advice as well. Be aware, though...in some states it's a pretty hefty fine if you get caught cutting on public land with a modded saw. That may or may not be an issue to you though.
15. Again, welcome.

Darn it! Still hadn't spread enough rep...

 

[Gologit]

Darn it! Still hadn't spread enough rep...

LOL...I'm going to start charging him for all the time and materials I use cleaning off my monitor and keyboard. If I don't have rep points for him I've been buying him E'beers...maybe I better quit that.

 

[troutfisher]

I'm out of bullets too, thats good stuff!!!opcorn:

 

[Marky Mark]

Hey Gypo is he limp wristed or just limped in the wrist??

 

[meauran]

Thanks for all the responses

Green gas cap means you have a cat muffler. I found the same thing it seamed much to hot for my liking. But I also found my saw shop to be much the same as you encountered.

OK this is good to know.

The 359 cat mufler has the letters "41 CAT" stamped on the front of the top.

Yep, it's got that. I guess that's what I've got then.

First of all, Welcome.
The 359 e-tech with the green gas cap and CAT stamped on the top of the muffler definitely has a catalytic converter.

How on Earth can a Husqvarna dealer or a Jonsered dealer not know about these things?

A catalytic equipped saw will actually run hotter if it is mixed richer (more oil) than specified.

This is good to know. It makes sense, that if what the cat is doing is burning unspent fuel and oil that it would be hotter when rich.

If you want to purchase a non cat muffler you can try the 503 9175-03. I think that they are around $65.00 Canadian, so they should be around $40.00 US you can get one at your local dealer or try Baileys.

Thanks. I think I'm done with the local guys. I'll be shopping online from now on.

1. Welcome to the 'hood.
2. That Jonsered dealer is an idiot. No really, he's an idiot. Virtually nothing Husky makes in a 2-stroke has fixed jets. As a matter of fact, Husky is one of two OPE manufacturers that I know of that still has adjustable highs and lows on their trimmers. (And they just bought the other, BTW.) If Husky puts adjustable jets on a friggin trimmer...you do the math.
3. If your dealer is that stupid, and he is, and if you're questioning that fact, don't, becuase your dealer is very stupid, trust me, he is not a smart man, which comes from being stupid, then he is not really a dealer, he is a guy with saws for sale. You can get that from eBay. They have saws for sale, too. But they're not a dealer.
4. Also, your Husky dealer is stupid.
5. You will do yourself a favor by patronizing neither, but you already know that.
6. Both those dealers are stupid.
7. Also, they are not smart.
8. No alcohol was involved in either the consideration or decision of this post.

Right on! I knew the first guy was not quite right when he was saying that the H and L screws on the saw adjust the air mixture. So, I said "Right by controlling the amount of fuel mixed with the air." He says no by adjusting the air getting into the engine. The jets are fixed. Listen, I'm no internal combustion engineer but I knew this guy was barking up the wrong tree.

Thanks for the help guys. I'll be back looking for more help when I take apart my muffler.

 

[meauran]

Go to your CHEVY dealer and see if he he will yank the catalytic converter and put a supercharger on your car.

Point taken.

It amazes me how difficult it sometimes is to get them to do that. If I didn't have my own IPL's I'd never get what I wanted.

I have seen "IPL" written before. What does this stand for?

Was'nt the original question concerning the reliability of a modded saw? Having never modded a saw I can't give you a good answer but I have often wondered about this myself. Matt

I think I found this answer in some of the other threads dealing with modified exhaust. I think the bottom line was that the cooler the saw runs, the less wear it would be prone to.

9. Never post after you've just gotten back from happy hour.
10. Do as I say, not as I do.
11. As one of the (more sober) posters pointed out, saw shops usually aren't big on mods, because they have issues with the manufacturers. So I'm not surprised they were stearing you away from them, and I can't blame them.
12. However, there are ways to do that, and there are ways NOT to do that. By telling you (a) the jets are fixed, and (b) the muffler isn't a cat, both shops lied to you. Your owner's manual will even show you the lies.
13. By lying to you, they have now lost your trust. They talked to you as if you were an idiot, and clearly by your post you have proven them wrong.
14. To mod, or not to mod, that is the question. (I'm feeling literary, and I'm hungover, so back off...) I'm not qualified to give you an answer here, but neither are your shops. Find one you can trust...there are good shops out there. And a lot of the guys here are pretty good wrenches, and can give you some good advice as well. Be aware, though...in some states it's a pretty hefty fine if you get caught cutting on public land with a modded saw. That may or may not be an issue to you though.
15. Again, welcome.

Well, right on again. I'll be weighing my options carefully and going to the dealers with part numbers in hand. Thanks for the "spirited" conversation.

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

IPL = Illustrated parts list

If I were you, I'd take what I've learned in this thread back to the dealers and call them out. If nothing else, it would to make me feel better to let them know they lost business because they are ignorant (or liars). One advantage you have with husky is almost anything for them is available online.

 

[romeo]

Pretty normal that dealers don't do mods. My brother is an authorized Stihl dealer and full service shop. For one thing, modding saws voids the warranty so there is not allot of call for it from the dealer. There job is to keep your saw as close to what you bought in the first place. Dealer mechanics are assembly mechanics and not engineers.
You would be surprised at the looks I get when I tell them I am raising the compression, changing the port timing, muffler mods, whatever. Allot of them will tell you that you will hurt the saw life. Not only is this completely wrong but they are usually talking out of there arse and really have no idea what it does. Dealer schools tell you there engineers know best and the product is perfect. Engineers are usually dealing with EPA standards on noise and pollution, and as long as they can make the product last within the window they have allowed (and absolutely no longer), then they are satisfied.

 

[PES+]

And you need to be careful

See this thread about a possible side effect of mod technique

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=46560

Technically no authorized service person can modify anything if it changes the emmisions components by law but no one has been prosecuted yet to my knowledge

Manufacturers like to deny warranty claims as much as possible and dealers who are known to modify can get left holding the bag and in some cases have their dealership pulled.

 

[gdn]

quote "A catalytic equipped saw will actually run hotter if it is mixed richer (more oil) than specified."

all 2 strokes run hotter with more oil in mix, except compared to 2 strokes with no oil in mix. timberwolf done a proof on this, but i heard it before somewhere when talking motor cycles. Has to do with oil burning, oil taking up space where fuel could be, btu's being uprated, friction increasing, oil absorbing heat, oil dissipating, i dunno...
more oil, more heat.
less oil, less lubrication
somewhere there is a happy medium.
sorry to be off topic just thought i'd say...

 

[Lou]

The 359 cat mufler has the letters "41 CAT" stamped on the front of the top.

Open up the cat muffler and it will cut a good 30% faster, get it ported and another 20-40% can be gained depending on exactly what is done. Together the 359 will cut nearly twice as fast ported and with the muffler opened up (as long as your chain is sharp).

Took a couple years for the dealer here to get used to me ordering parts that weren't supposed to go on my saws, he almost would not sell me 3/8 sprockets for an 026 because he felt an 026 could not handle it...

Now he just smiles, takes my money and finds me whatever I am looking for.

Mine says "6A CAT" followed by the part number. PLEASE do NOT modify your CAT muffler. It contains elements that WILL harm the longevity and quality of your life. If you INSIST on modding wear a quality respirator with purple cartridges. $50 (Bailey's) including shipping is small price to pay for your health. Your local dealer can get you a non-cat muffler and may have one in stock. The allen screws (4, 2 different sizes ) that hold it fast to your saw are metric no matter where you get the muffler.