Husky 345 Dead, Revival Options

[Vincent Vega]

I was using my father's 2009 Husqvarna 345 with a 16" bar to take down a large wind felled American Elm. During the middle of a 24" cut, the saw bogged down and died. It wouldn't start no matter how much I tried to coax it. Long story short, the repair shop said that the piston and cylinder were scored and it wasn't worth the value of the saw to replace it.

Since then, I've been reading, A LOT, on this site about what it would take to repair the saw. It seems that I have a few options.

Option 1: Try and repair the existing cylinder and buy a new piston kit.
Option 2: Buy a new aftermarket 345 piston and cylinder kit. Bolts in, easy.
Option 3: Buy a new 350 piston and cylinder kit. Should bolt in, slightly increased hp.
Option 4: Go nuts and buy a 346xp piston, cylinder, and riser from a 350. Lots more hp, not as simple as bolting things in.

Is there any reason not to use a 350 piston and cylinder instead of a 345? If I can't reuse the original 345 cylinder, I might as well upgrade a little. Right?

I'm not sure if this cylinder is repairable with some muriatic acid and sand paper, but here are a few pictures of the scored piston and cylinder. When I run my finger around the cylinder wall, I can definitely feel some grooves.

View attachment 305584
View attachment 305585
View attachment 305586

I like the idea of throwing a 346xp piston and cylinder in, but I don't have access to any kind of precision machining tools. If the piston and cylinder required additional modification, I'm limited to what can be done with a dremel. So not too much. At least nothing like Stumpy's 345 Sleeper: http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/204481.htm

I wasn't sure if either of these piston and cylinders could be considered ready to bolt on. Kafar85's 346XP 44.3mm or Weedeaterman's 346 XP Closed Port Kit which I believe is sold by watsonr of this site.

One thing I haven't been able to find if I went down the 346 road, is the 350 riser block. In another thread I saw that parts number for it was "350 riser block 503 88 59 01" but googling and putting that in parts websites isn't showing me any type of result. Where should I be looking???

At the end of the day, I'll still have to figure out what caused the scoring in the first place. Wouldn't want to go through the trouble of rebuilding the saw only to have it happen again.

Anywho, if you guys have some opinions on what route might be the best for a novice chainsaw mechanic, I sure would appreciate it. And thanks for all the incredibly informational threads posted here. This place is awesome.

 

[Vincent Vega]

I've been looking at a kit to use with the 345 Husqvarna but I'm a bit concerned that the piston has two rings on it. Is a two ringed piston a bad idea?

Here's the kit I'm looking at: Non sponsor link deleted.

 

[Steve NW WI]

Vince, I had to edit your post. Its against AS rules to link to non sponsor's products. It's mostly enforced when there is direct competition with our sponsors' products, which I think is the case here.

I also apologize for the delay in approving your posts. Sometimes we get hung up with other things, and new guys' posts don't get OK'd right away.

I'm no pro builder, but there are millions of saws out there running 2 ring setups. I don't think it'd be a problem.

 

[KenJax Tree]

Before you do anything you need to find out why the first one smoked.

 

[moody]

Before you do anything you need to find out why the first one smoked.

All the likely reasons for that are fixed when you reseal the saw and replace the plastic intake boot clamp.

OP do you want something to run like this? I consider these saws my forte lots of options and performance at a nice price with these.



[video=youtube;e7nws1wZt5E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7nws1wZt5E&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]

 

[sunfish]

Send it to Moody for a big up grade...

Or put one of those Watsonr 346 kits on it.

 

[Wolfcsm]

I was using my father's 2009 Husqvarna 345 with a 16" bar to take down a large wind felled American Elm. During the middle of a 24" cut, the saw bogged down and died. It wouldn't start no matter how much I tried to coax it. Long story short, the repair shop said that the piston and cylinder were scored and it wasn't worth the value of the saw to replace it.

Since then, I've been reading, A LOT, on this site about what it would take to repair the saw. It seems that I have a few options.

Option 1: Try and repair the existing cylinder and buy a new piston kit.
Option 2: Buy a new aftermarket 345 piston and cylinder kit. Bolts in, easy.
Option 3: Buy a new 350 piston and cylinder kit. Should bolt in, slightly increased hp.
Option 4: Go nuts and buy a 346xp piston, cylinder, and riser from a 350. Lots more hp, not as simple as bolting things in.

Is there any reason not to use a 350 piston and cylinder instead of a 345? If I can't reuse the original 345 cylinder, I might as well upgrade a little. Right?

I'm not sure if this cylinder is repairable with some muriatic acid and sand paper, but here are a few pictures of the scored piston and cylinder. When I run my finger around the cylinder wall, I can definitely feel some grooves.

View attachment 305584
View attachment 305585
View attachment 305586

I like the idea of throwing a 346xp piston and cylinder in, but I don't have access to any kind of precision machining tools. If the piston and cylinder required additional modification, I'm limited to what can be done with a dremel. So not too much. At least nothing like Stumpy's 345 Sleeper: http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/204481.htm

I wasn't sure if either of these piston and cylinders could be considered ready to bolt on. Kafar85's 346XP 44.3mm or Weedeaterman's 346 XP Closed Port Kit which I believe is sold by watsonr of this site.

One thing I haven't been able to find if I went down the 346 road, is the 350 riser block. In another thread I saw that parts number for it was "350 riser block 503 88 59 01" but googling and putting that in parts websites isn't showing me any type of result. Where should I be looking???

At the end of the day, I'll still have to figure out what caused the scoring in the first place. Wouldn't want to go through the trouble of rebuilding the saw only to have it happen again.

Anywho, if you guys have some opinions on what route might be the best for a novice chainsaw mechanic, I sure would appreciate it. And thanks for all the incredibly informational threads posted here. This place is awesome.

The 345 that STUMPY worked up for me is GERAT! Lots of power. He did the 346 and 350 route. Well worth the time and money.

Hal

 

[moody]

Send it to Moody for a big up grade...

Or put one of those Watsonr 346 kits on it.

I'll put one of those 346 kits on it at my listed price. I'll pass the savings and give you something to smile about

 

[Vincent Vega]

So I decided to try and fix the saw, and think I might have been better off sending it to Moody!

I put in a 45mm aftermarket piston and cylinder. After bolting it in, replacing the exhaust and base cylinder gasket, and adding a new air filter I can not get it to fire!

Thinking the carburetor might need to be reset, I went ahead and set the H and L screws to 1 turn out from lightly seated. I also checked the spark on top of the cylinder head, nice and bright blue.

After reading about putting some mixed fuel into the carb throat, I tried that and it would run for a few seconds. So it seems like a fuel delivery issue. I did blow some air into the fuel tank from the fuel line, and it shot right out, so the pressure in the tank is good.

Maybe it's the impulse line? It's definitely connected though...

What's going on here?

 

[watsonr]

Probably need a fuel system service.. carb kit, fuel line, filter and try again.

 

[horizon92]

i know this about a month old but did i ever figure out what was wrong. from the sounds of it seems like a fuel delivery problem the fuel lines can turn to a soft jello and collapse. and start rich for setting your carburetor. thats a little lean. id order new lines and fuel filter check muffler screen. and get a new carb if you cant get it to run after cleaning and the carburetor sounds like was running lean or not enough oil. did yoiu check for oil around the crank seals when u broke it down, i would never imagine that a 345 would run enough to need new bearings and seals but thats just me and get rid of the limited coil if u have one so u can tune the saw better. it will be blue obviously. also did u flush out the crankcase for metal puddy lol and check the rod bearing for discolor or damaged, cracked bearing . Up and Down play side to side is normal to an extent tempermental starting is a result of lean conditions as long as everything is running right. if any of this helps let me know my moms boyfriend a has a 345. zippy little saw for what it is

 

[Kenskip1]

From reading this may have been the demise of your old P/C, JMO,Ken