homelite 330 exhaust

oldwild · Dec 9, 2004

homelite 330 HELP!

Okay, I have been lurking around in the site for over 2 weeks now. Boy have you guys got me on to saws! Especially Macman with that 84" saw!

What I have found is that the Homelite saws will catch on fire, due to design and maintenance. I got 2 saws given to me this last week, both Homelites, one is a 330 and the other a 360. Got them both cleaned up and now ready to get fired up tomorrow ( the local hardware store caught fire and these were auctioned off, neigbor gave them to me!), other than being dirty they look pretty good. The 330 has a new carb and plug, so I think it was in for a tune-up, but it was filthy around the cylinder head. I removed all the oil and wood, but saw that the exhaust vents right by the piston. I would like to mod the exhaust to vent away from the cylinder and reduce the chance of the saw. What options do I have, can I mod the exhaust or just take the bottom housing off and clean it more often?

Stumper · Dec 10, 2004

Uhhhh..... The only problem I ever heard much about on the 330 was people tearing the intake boot by trying to yank a pinched bar out of the cut. I would suggest verifying that the saw is operational then run it until it croaks. AT that point sell it on ebay for parts and get another saw.-Homelite 330s sell for $50-$75 in running condition. It is an OKAY saw but not a great saw.

oldwild · Dec 10, 2004

Well, have both the 330 and 360 ready to be fired up today. Went and grabbed the bars that came with the saws and cleaned them up. The 360 has a 24" bar and the 330 has a 20". The chain on the 330 is junk, and the chain for the 360 is soaking as it is rusted up. Looks like I'll have to pick up a couple of 24" loops. Everything else I have is for 16, 18 or 20" bars. The bars look good, just dry on the sprockets, especially since they were in a fire, but the saws were not melted or anything, just covered in soot and smoke. Will post pics once I get done firing them up!

oldwild · Dec 10, 2004

Okay, fired up the 330 and it will just sit there and run almost full throttle, can't get it to slow down to an idle. If I hit the throttle, it will speed up. The linkages move just fine. Will try adjusting the screws on the carb again. Sounds like its running at 3/4 throttle. Drawing a blank on what might be wrong. The 360 won't fire up, may have to test the transformer on it.

Tried it again, looks like the idle was turned all the way in, but trying to adjust the idle and low speed is not helping too much, will start, try and idle then rev up, then die :angry: