Homelite Super 2 --- AARRRGGHHH!

[Indiana John]

I got one of these (made in 96) that one of my buddies brought to me to get running for him a while back. I kept putting it off, knowing without even looking at it that it would be a PITA (after all, it's a Homelite!), hoping he'd finally just break down and buy a real saw. And he did (got a Stihl)! Anyway, I got bored and decided to pull it out of the case and check it out. He told me back when he first got it, that he found it in the case laying along some tracks his gang was working on (railroad). He figured it was just a case till he opened it up and found the saw still in it so he took it home. I guess he used it a couple of times and then had it stored in his shed for quite a while before trying to use it again, and that's when he couldn't get it to start. Fast forward to tonight: The saw almost looks new, so I dumped a little fresh fuel in it, pumped up the primer, and tried to start it. No dice. Doesn't even try to fire, so I go thru the usual drill and attach the spark tester and verify spark. Nice spark, so I pull the plug to see if it's getting fuel. Plug is wet, so I figure that maybe I flooded it. Clean the plug and blow out the cylinder, try again with choke and throttle wide open. Still nothing. Pull the plug and it's wet again. Hmmm. So at this point I'm figuring that maybe the "float" needle is stuck open in the carb. And that's when I start wondering what I've gotten myself into! Apparently there is no freaking way to work on the carb without tearing the saw clear down. WTF!! So I pull the bar & chain, remove the recoil, disconnect the throttle rod from the carb, and remove the two screws in the top of the case as well as the two in the bottom. Don't see anything else so I start to slide the engine out of the main case. No go! I look again and still don't see anything else that could be holding it in there. What the hell am I missing here? I can't believe that anybody would design a saw that you have to go thru all this just to work on the carb! I'm just about ready to throw it all in a box and pitch it in the corner....... What a POS!

 

[timberrat]

???????????????

throw it my way:hmm3grin2orange: if i remember right. did you remove the spark plug first. did you remove the left handle.sometimes the reason these things wont start is the kill wire get messed up. did the kill switch wire get unhooked.

 

[lumberjackchef]

Hey Indiana Don't throw it away! I know what you mean about being a PITA. You have to go through all of these steps in order to get to that carb:

-Remove side handle
-Remove starter side of cover
-remove 4 mounting bolts from main casing.
-Remove muffler (1 bolt)
-Remove spark plug
-unhook the impulse line and feed line to the adjustable oiler.
-unhook the throttle linkage.
-Remove the kill switch completely from the case and push the wires back into case.

After that you can start to pull it out from the starter side, then push from the muffler side at the same time. It should pop right out .

Yes it is a PITA but after you've done it a couple of times its no sweat. Just don't forget to put the throttle linkage back on the carb before you start to reassemble. Have fun!:biggrinbounce2:

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Just don't forget to put the throttle linkage back on the carb before you start to reassemble.

Hes gonna do it anyway......




I do it every time.

 

[Indiana John]

Kill switch was connected okay. The inline spark tester showed good spark. I finally got the motor out of the case. I did have everything undone that needed to be, it was just a real tight fit in the case for some reason. I wound up having to carefully pry it out of the case. I still can't believe that they designed this saw so that you can't service the carb without having to go thru all this. The only plus is that it gives you a good excuse to clean the whole saw up. Oh well, I guess this'll be good practice! My aunt has a 192 Classic that looks almost identical to this thing that she wants me to work on. It runs okay, but doesn't oil. Another one I've been putting off.......:bang: And yes, I'll probably forget that throttle link. Wouldn't be the first time I've done that sort of thing!
I looked at the screen in the muffler and it's clean, so I pulled the carb apart. It does have some debris in it, so I'm hoping a good cleaning is all it will take. If my buddy doesn't want it back after all this, I guess I'll just use it for a limbing saw 'till it dies again.

 

[gunnarfan]

My super 2 was one of the older ones with the cast body and two triggers. Similar in look to the new ones but with those two major differences. Mine had been sitting in a case under a leaky roof and had sopped up a pile of rainwater... had to dump out the case. Most issue I had was with the pull start.. the rope the guy had in it was swelled. Funny.. think the thing that saved me regarding this was seeing an article in either workbench or fine homebuilding about a guy finding a saw on the side of the road that was new in the case but locked up. The homeowner had gotten a new saw to replace it so it was good to go for him to take it. After frigging with the thing the guy learned (not sure of source) that that sort of saw.. a homelite.. think its a similar model.. would lock up when the fluids seep about the thing a hydraulic lock effect or something. The fix is to take out the plug and pull a few times until the excess fluid gets out of there. Then the thing should run.

Worked for me. Going to get some new rope as I busted the old one.

Runs like a bastard.. use it like a sawzall for outside jobs about the house like modifying the dog ramp and such.

Supposed to be a good ice fishing saw... not sure about the later model.. I found one at the pawn shop that runs.. can't remember the price.. but if you or anyone wants a modern little runner let me know and I'll relay it.. Like I would with any old project thing I run into...