Homelite Chainsaws

[RJ Kanary]

Yet Another Noob, Yet Another Super 2.

First the important stuff.The saw.

It'a s Super 2, UT 10617A, S/N 7E 29000636

Since I wasn't living at home at the time Dad acquired it,
the purchase year is a guess, as the HT lead has a '79 date
on it, but other cast parts have mould marks circling 1983 and '84.

After a 50 or so foot blue spruce of my younger brothers
deposited itself across my drive way last Sunday, interest
in this long dormant heirloom was renewed.

Upon starting it up, even though I'm physically incapacitated enough
that I would never operate it, the lack of chain oiling made it apparent that
no one else was going to be using it, either. <VBG>

So the adventure began.After perusing 206 pages of Homelite specific
posts I feel that I will probably get it ironed out. So much for the first post.

Now I'll get to find out if the group will have me, or I get the bum's rush.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

First the important stuff.The saw.

It'a s Super 2, UT 10617A, S/N 7E 29000636

Since I wasn't living at home at the time Dad acquired it,
the purchase year is a guess, as the HT lead has a '79 date
on it, but other cast parts have mould marks circling 1983 and '84.

After a 50 or so foot blue spruce of my younger brothers
deposited itself across my drive way last Sunday, interest
in this long dormant heirloom was renewed.

Upon starting it up, even though I'm physically incapacitated enough
that I would never operate it, the lack of chain oiling made it apparent that
no one else was going to be using it, either. <VBG>

So the adventure began.After perusing 206 pages of Homelite specific
posts I feel that I will probably get it ironed out. So much for the first post.

Now I'll get to find out if the group will have me, or I get the bum's rush.

We certainly can help you with that. The thing is, the saw will have to come apart. If you are willing to take the saw apart it shouldn't be a problem. First thing to do is take the oil cap off and look inside. You should see a line going in just below the cap with a duckbill valve on the end of it. If it's just a blob, that's your first problem. For a simple lesson on this go to youtube.com and type in Homelite Oiler. He explains it far better than I could, but if you have any further questions just ask and welcome aboard.

 

[RJ Kanary]

We certainly can help you with that. The thing is, the saw will have to come apart. If you are willing to take the saw apart it shouldn't be a problem. First thing to do is take the oil cap off and look inside. You should see a line going in just below the cap with a duckbill valve on the end of it. If it's just a blob, that's your first problem. For a simple lesson on this go to youtube.com and type in Homelite Oiler. He explains it far better than I could, but if you have any further questions just ask and welcome aboard.

After three decades of primarily automatic transmission repair,the disassembly didn't seem too daunting.{Although it appeared as though some folks would rather have root canal done than to strip one of these down.} The duckbill was found resting comfortably at the bottom of the oil tank..Since the fellow Celt Murphy [The Law Maker.] has always been my constant companion, the lack of oiling of course was not to be as simple as that.

 

[67L36Driver]

Everybody needs an little red Homie!

RJ Kanary: This should help to resurect the oiling system.

View attachment 196271

Disregard the purge bulb if your XL didn't originally have one (and most didn't need it anyway). And, not all had the crankcase mounted pump. Those just have a pressurised oil tank.

 

[67L36Driver]

Don't know if this has been posted before or not, but I just tripped across this vid......This XL76 is rippin'!!!

[video=youtube_share;kQAwGlDTEcU]http://youtu.be/kQAwGlDTEcU[/video]

Yup, the most overlooked/underrated Homie made.

I'm ready to build another XL-101(ish). All I need is a crankcase/fuel tank.

 

[RJ Kanary]

RJ Kanary: This should help to resurect the oiling system.

View attachment 196271

Disregard the purge bulb if your XL didn't originally have one (and most didn't need it anyway). And, not all had the crankcase mounted pump. Those just have a pressurised oil tank.

This is where the adventure begins in earnest. This saw is blessed with the diaphragm pump. Apparently at some time in the past 15 years or so,water found its way into the carrying case.This was evidenced by some corrosive pitting of the bottom of the magnesium case, a seized pump 'piston' that is driven by the diaphragm, and lastly the output check ball was stuck. With as much care as the two thumbs and two fingers that still have full sensation could muster, I was able to disassemble the diaphragm and unstick the check ball with a suitably sized twist drill from my index.

The next adventure will be to install some tie wire to the hose ends to make the connections pass the mouth derived vacuum leakage test. <G> I also don't want to go fishing for the duckbill again.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

This is where the adventure begins in earnest. This saw is blessed with the diaphragm pump. Apparently at some time in the past 15 years or so,water found its way into the carrying case.This was evidenced by some corrosive pitting of the bottom of the magnesium case, a seized pump 'piston' that is driven by the diaphragm, and lastly the output check ball was stuck. With as much care as the two thumbs and two fingers that still have full sensation could muster, I was able to disassemble the diaphragm and unstick the check ball with a suitably sized twist drill from my index.

The next adventure will be to install some tie wire to the hose ends to make the connections pass the mouth derived vacuum leakage test. <G> I also don't want to go fishing for the duckbill again.

In my unprofessional opinion, you don't need the diaphragm pump. I ran one hose from the crankcase to the tank (with duckbill valve on end inside tank) and the other line right to the oiler nipple on the bottom. I by-passed the diaphragm and blocked the holes off. Seems to oil pretty good without the pump. Just make sure the lines going into the tank are tight fitting so the tank is pressurized. Probably not a good idea to use the heavier, sticky bar oil with this setup, motor oil of about 20w flows better.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

Seen this on Ebay and thought it was something worth sharing, never seen a JD branded Homelite SXL-AO

Here is a little information the seller includes
This listing is for an extremely rare John Deere 350CS chain saw. This is actually a Homelite SXL-AO dressed in yellow. This saw was manufactured in very limited numbers for John Deere, who was the parent company of Homelite at the time. These were made in the Homelite Canadian plant in 1996. Very few of these made it into the US. Those that did were mainly in the north east and north west US. Unlike any of the other John Deere saws you may have seen, these Homelite SXL-AO's were powder coated yellow from the factory and not re-sprayed yellow over an existing color like so many others, especially the Echos that are orange under the yellow paint.

I picked up a Blue one today in excellent condition...mine says "Old Blue" on it. Hmmm, I wonder if it's collectible?

 

[Eccentric]

In my unprofessional opinion, you don't need the diaphragm pump. I ran one hose from the crankcase to the tank (with duckbill valve on end inside tank) and the other line right to the oiler nipple on the bottom. I by-passed the diaphragm and blocked the holes off. Seems to oil pretty good without the pump. Just make sure the lines going into the tank are tight fitting so the tank is pressurized. Probably not a good idea to use the heavier, sticky bar oil with this setup, motor oil of about 20w flows better.

That's how some of the saws in this series were set up to begin with. My little XL-Automatic is that way. You MUST have a good, tight sealing oil cap for it to work at all though...

 

[a. palmer jr.]

That's how some of the saws in this series were set up to begin with. My little XL-Automatic is that way. You MUST have a good, tight sealing oil cap for it to work at all though...

I think my first Super 2 was that way, of course the early ones had the good caps. They put the "milk bottle" caps on later.

 

[Eccentric]

I think my first Super 2 was that way, of course the early ones had the good caps. They put the "milk bottle" caps on later.

Mine has a crappy soft plastic cap which has failed. Skips over the tank threads. That, and deteriorated lines (plus a missing or sunken duckbill valve) have rendered the oiler system kaput for now. It sits on the shelf and waits its turn...

 

[a. palmer jr.]

Mine has a crappy soft plastic cap which has failed. Skips over the tank threads. That, and deteriorated lines (plus a missing or sunken duckbill valve) have rendered the oiler system kaput for now. It sits on the shelf and waits its turn...

Was wondering if you've ever changed fuel lines on a C5. It looks kinda difficult to me. Am I gonna have to take the tank apart to do this? My fuel lines, especially the one in the tank look kinda soft.

 

[Eccentric]

Was wondering if you've ever changed fuel lines on a C5. It looks kinda difficult to me. Am I gonna have to take the tank apart to do this? My fuel lines, especially the one in the tank look kinda soft.

Yes I have. You can unscrew the bulkhead fitting from the tank..............but the one time I tried, it wouldn't budge under the amount of force I felt comfortable applying to it (don't wanna bust that sucker). Just ended up splitting the tank. That's it's own set of headaches, as the gasket is thin and flimsy, and the screws are small diameter with little round slotted heads. Easy to strip a head or bust a screw. Be careful. IIRC, the in-tank line was held onto the bulkhead fitting with a wire spring clamp. I wasn't able to reach through the filler hole and far enough over to the left inside the tank to mess with it. Since my tank was a leaker, I needed to split it anyways...


As for the outer line, the easiest way to replace it is to attach about 14-15" of 3/16" ID automotive fuel line to the bulkhead fitting on the tank, feed the end through the hole in the carb box (lube the line, it helps), then pull the line slowly through as you move the tank into possition on the saw. Don't pull too much through or you won't be able to manauver the tank into possition. Pull the last bit through (without pulling it off of the fitting) once the tank is completely seated. Cut off the excess and attach it to the carb nipple.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

Yes I have. You can unscrew the bulkhead fitting from the tank..............but the one time I tried, it wouldn't budge under the amount of force I felt comfortable applying to it (don't wanna bust that sucker). Just ended up splitting the tank. That's it's own set of headaches, as the gasket is thin and flimsy, and the screws are small diameter with little round slotted heads. Easy to strip a head or bust a screw. Be careful. IIRC, the in-tank line was held onto the bulkhead fitting with a wire spring clamp. I wasn't able to reach through the filler hole and far enough over to the left inside the tank to mess with it. Since my tank was a leaker, I needed to split it anyways...


As for the outer line, the easiest way to replace it is to attach about 14-15" of 3/16" ID automotive fuel line to the bulkhead fitting on the tank, feed the end through the hole in the carb box (lube the line, it helps), then pull the line slowly through as you move the tank into possition on the saw. Don't pull too much through or you won't be able to manauver the tank into possition. Pull the last bit through (without pulling it off of the fitting) once the tank is completely seated. Cut off the excess and attach it to the carb nipple.

Thanks for the advice. I'm gonna look the lines over again before I decide whether to replace them or not. I'm sure that gasket would be hard to find but I did buy some Moto Seal last week..

 

[Eccentric]

Thanks for the advice. I'm gonna look the lines over again before I decide whether to replace them or not. I'm sure that gasket would be hard to find but I did buy some Moto Seal last week..

Motoseal will work, and the gasket is available. PM me if you need to know my 'source'. It'd be a hard gasket to make yourself in my opion. There are a few guys here that'd knock one out in no time........but I ain't one of 'em...

 

[a. palmer jr.]

Motoseal will work, and the gasket is available. PM me if you need to know my 'source'. It'd be a hard gasket to make yourself in my opion. There are a few guys here that'd knock one out in no time........but I ain't one of 'em...

It'll probably be a few days before I get to work on it again but I'll keep it in mind if I decide to uncover the tank, which I eventually will. Too bad I can't just poke it up in there but it looks pretty impossible and I hate to run an alternate route like I did with my Pioneer 1200.

 

[Eccentric]

It'll probably be a few days before I get to work on it again but I'll keep it in mind if I decide to uncover the tank, which I eventually will. Too bad I can't just poke it up in there but it looks pretty impossible and I hate to run an alternate route like I did with my Pioneer 1200.

If you can get the bulkhead fitting to unscrew from the tank (it threads in from the outside) then you can withdraw it and the fuel line right through the threaded hole. The fuel filter will of course not pass through it, but you can fish that out with a pair of forcepts or a piece of wire. That'd be the slick way to do it.......................................so long as the fitting cooperates....

 

[a. palmer jr.]

If you can get the bulkhead fitting to unscrew from the tank (it threads in from the outside) then you can withdraw it and the fuel line right through the threaded hole. The fuel filter will of course not pass through it, but you can fish that out with a pair of forcepts or a piece of wire. That'd be the slick way to do it.......................................so long as the fitting cooperates....

I'll sure give that a try. As far as I know, that tank's not a leaker, I had fuel in it earlier today and didn't notice any drips. My luck probably won't be any better than yours with unscrewing the fitting but it would be worth trying. Thanks

 

[Eccentric]

I'll sure give that a try. As far as I know, that tank's not a leaker, I had fuel in it earlier today and didn't notice any drips. My luck probably won't be any better than yours with unscrewing the fitting but it would be worth trying. Thanks

Both of mine were fine until you tipped the saw or filled them about about 1/2 way up. Then they weeped at the gasket...

 

[Ambull]

Yes I have. You can unscrew the bulkhead fitting from the tank..............but the one time I tried, it wouldn't budge under the amount of force I felt comfortable applying to it (don't wanna bust that sucker). Just ended up splitting the tank. That's it's own set of headaches, as the gasket is thin and flimsy, and the screws are small diameter with little round slotted heads. Easy to strip a head or bust a screw. Be careful. IIRC, the in-tank line was held onto the bulkhead fitting with a wire spring clamp. I wasn't able to reach through the filler hole and far enough over to the left inside the tank to mess with it. Since my tank was a leaker, I needed to split it anyways...


As for the outer line, the easiest way to replace it is to attach about 14-15" of 3/16" ID automotive fuel line to the bulkhead fitting on the tank, feed the end through the hole in the carb box (lube the line, it helps), then pull the line slowly through as you move the tank into possition on the saw. Don't pull too much through or you won't be able to manauver the tank into possition. Pull the last bit through (without pulling it off of the fitting) once the tank is completely seated. Cut off the excess and attach it to the carb nipple.

I have split 2 of those tanks now, and haven't had a problem. I got new OEM gaskets, which makes the job much easier. It is definitely best to split the tank, because both had globs of tar in the bottom, which was the remains of the fuel line. It cleans up really easy with carb cleaner, and I was glad to get it out of there. That stuff was just waiting to clog up the carb. I used tygon for the inner and outer lines. It doesn't get a good seal on the carb box, but it is much easier to install. It can be sealed lated via other methods. Also, the tygon is nice, because you can see the fuel flowing into the carb.