Husky 55 rancher problems

[jbrody44]

Hi, I am a newbie to this site, and I am also a "Harry Homeowner" so please go easy on me. I have had my 55 rancher for a little over a year and have been very happy with it. I always use fresh gas and a good sharp chain, I care for the saw well. But, yesterday I was cutting a large oak stump all the way around, removed the saw and let off the throttle and it died as soon as the rpms came down. After that I tried to start it and it would only start and race the engine, giving it throttle made it die. When it starts it will race for a few seconds then die. It is still acting the same, it will not stay running and races the engine if it starts at all.
I have done some diagnosis for the little I know. I removed the fuel line from the carb and ran another one from the carb into my 50:1 can, the saw would start and race the same, so I feel that it is not the fuel line, filter, or vent. I removed the carb, the two diaphragms seem ok (one on top and one on bottom), if I blow, and pull into the gas inlet in the carb I can feel the pumping action, could it be something else with the carb? It is a Zama I think it said? The gasket that attaches the carb to the chamber seems to be in good shape too. Should I rebuild the carb? Where could I get a kit? What am I overlooking? Thanks for any insight, and sorry I put up such a long post. Regards - JB

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Get a new fuel filter for the gas line while you are at it, as yours may have a small hole in it which allowed the contaminent in.

 

[jbrody44]

Thanks for the replies! What a great forum! I will get a new filter for sure. I was playing around a bit more and got the saw running again and running well at that. I had to open up the main jet (I think that's what it is, the one screw that stands alone, not the high or low) By running it out I assume I have allowed the proper amount of gas into the carb again as it looks like a needle type valve on the other end. As you have both pointed out I must have some crud in that area, or is it possible that this adjustment somehow ran itself in? I know it seems unlikely. Do you think I am just bypassing the crud by opening up this jet more, or that it is possible that the thing closed itself up on it's own during a long cut? Thanks for the thoughtful insight. I am really enjoying learning about my saw and saws in general.
I adjusted the carb as it says to in the Husq owners manual, by sound. The H and L can only be adjusted so far from one another as they have stops on them that move with each adjustment to the other allowing only a certain amount of independent movement. Seems like a good design to keep someone like me from really screwing it up. Any tip on adjustment would be appreciated. I guess I should do a search on that topic as well. Thanks again - JB (running again, but maybe just a "band-aid" fix)

 

[Gypo Logger]

I had a similar problem on an 039 tonight, it kept flooding itself, even after carb disassembly and kit. It must have been crud, cause what I did was take that flooded saw, turned in both H&L to seat, (no fixed jets, just Walbro HD) and put in a dry plug, then ran it till it dryed up.
Anyway, after resetting the H&L, everything was fine, so I had to assume it was crud that was involved, but it could have also been the metering lever that wasn't level with the carb body.
John

 

[johnb]

Husky 55

Hey Jb, I had a similar problem with a 55 and the metering jet lever was actually worn off at the end that touches the diaphram. a $9.00 carb kit and it was back in business. Good luck the Hoosier



Get the repair kit it containes everything!!





Sharpen your chain it's a jungle out there!!!!

 

[jbrody44]

Yeah, great advice all around Thanks! The saw was running well today for about 20 minutes, after I opened up the main jet some last night. Then, it was back to the same, so I guess crud it is! I will take all of your advice and order a kit, filter, and a plug while I am at it. Where is a good source for the kit? Not that I would :angel: , but say if someone was going to bypass the EPA cap on the carb to clean out the main jet, how would one do it. Not that any of you have I am sure, but just if say you were going to. Would it just be a matter of snapping the cap off? Or is it a little more detailed? Thanks. I have an older 044 that I borrowed from a friend that is also in need of a kit, so I guess I may as well order that too. Thanks all - JB

 

[jokers]

Hi JB, glad you`ve got a direction to go in.

Carb kits can be bought in virtually any small engine or chainsaw shop. The kits are somewhat universal within a carb series, ie: all of the Walbro WTs use the same kit. I don`t know what carb you have on your saw, you`d be best off to check your self. there are afew places on-line like Cutters Choice and Bailey`s if you have time to wait for the kit, probably save yourself a few bucks this way if you do the sensible thing and buy more chainsaw stuff while you`re at it to spread the freight costs.

As far as the limiter caps are concerned, you will see how the whole assembly comes apart when you remove the carb for cleaning. I`d recommend leaving the caps in place but grinding the limiter ears off with a Dremel. The screws inside the caps are tiny and a real PITA to get a screwdriver on without the caps.

Russ

 

[Crofter]

Originally posted by RockyJSquirrel
[. 2 is to slightly (and I do mean 'slightly') bugger the threads on the jet screws so there is enough resistence to keep the jets from turning on their own.

Rocky, are you advocating "buggery" I can heaar the screaming now if you found out someone had buggered one of your saws. There has to be a more satisfying friction method!

Frank

 

[Crofter]

Just Crankin' ya Rocky!

Have had some model aircraft engines that would shake the needles loose and found a cure by forcing a short length of fuel line over the needle and gluing the inner end to the carb body with Goop.

Frank

 

[glens]

Cool.&nbsp; Brian actually <a href="http://www.dict.org/bin/Dict?Form=Dict2&Database=*&Query=bugger">bugger</a>ed one of his saws.&nbsp; And why wouldn't he?&nbsp; Hahaha!

 

[jbrody44]

Hi again;
I decided to go into the carb, I cleaned the whole thing out and cut the caps and removed the needles and sprayed carb cleaner in, also cleaned the top (leveling thing) and the bottom pumper diaphragm (sorry if my terminology is bad here). So I put it all back together and couldn't get the saw to run. I went 1.5 turns from seated on both screws (H and L) and just kind of guessed on the other screw. Is that for the metering? Anyhow, I decided to take the muffler off, hey why not, the rest of the saw is pretty much apart! The saw start and runs great without the muffler on, what's up with that? Also, the piston looks scored, but I could not really see the cylinder wall. Have I ruined my saw, should the side of the piston look really smooth?
And I ramble on... I have a compression tester for an auto and decided to hook it up to the saw. It is around 70 PSI. this seems low to me (of course this is without the plug in, just by pulling the cord). Anyone know what compression should be for the 55 Rancher? Anyhow I am still puzzled, any help is always appreciated. Thanks - JB

 

[dozerdan]

BJ
Yes the piston should be smooth.You will need at least a piston,maybe a barrel,you cant tell until you pull it apart.
I am rather proud of it for starting with only 70 pounds,some wont start with 90.
I am sure that glens will explain to you about why the saw will run without the muffler and why it marked the piston.
That saw was designed for all of that heat.
Glens will have it spitting out ice cubes shortly.
Later
Dan

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Are there vertical grooves in the piston? I dont understand how you scored the piston, unless you overheated the saw on the last big stump cut you listed in your first post. It would have to be ultra lean or on straight gasoline to burn up in a few seconds.

Black carbon marks do not necessarily mean the piston is scored, but grooves are a bad sign. Pictures would be helpful if you can get to a digital camera.

55's are very durable saws, you would have to severely abuse one to kill it in a year, especially for an occasional user.


Finally if it is shot, I will take it off your hands for $20 plus shipping

 

[HUSKYMAN]

You should have done like me Brian, and killed your old man's saws so you wouldnt damage your own

 

[jbrody44]

I have pictures: The piston is scored vertically, but the cylinder wall looks OK (at least what I can see through the exhaust port. This is/was my first saw other than a wild thing that I returned to Home Depot after one day (major POS). I am sure that this saw has been abused a bit. Old fuel -maybe a little, bad mix - no never. Dull chain - yes, sometimes. Carb poorly tuned - I suspect so, the Husky book says that the saw is tuned for break in at the factory then should be readjusted after a bit of use. A friend of mine (or perhaps ex friend LOL) adjusted it for me, it ran great for about a year after that until now! This saw has had a good amount of work for a homeowner saw, but surely would not have this problem if I was not to blame. Here are the pics:

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Also, it looks like the piston ring is gone?? Should it not be black?? Anyhow, I am no 2 stroke mechanic (yet) so I may be looking for the wrong thing. I intend to attempt the rebuild myself. I have a fair amount of experience in 4 stroke rebuild, namely inline 6 engines, so I am confident that I can handle this. Also the 70 PSI was after about 4 pulls, one pulls gets 40 PSI. Where is a good site to order the replacement piston from, what else shoudl I order while I am at it. Any ggod books on 2 stroke repair that anyone knows of. . Thanks - JB

 

[dozerdan]

BJ
Before you order any new parts for your saw,you want to take a look at the inside of the cylinder.From looking at your pictures of the piston,I don't think that the cylinder will be usable.After you get a price on a new cylinder kit,you may decide not to repair the saw.Remove the barrel and let us know what it looks like.
Later
Dan

 

[jsikkema1]

WOW

With piston scoring like that- your cylinder is definately shot... Your looking at a piston & cylinder kit on that one. Plus since you don't know why it really happened its likely to happen again on the new parts unless you can narrow it down to the root cause.

 

[jokers]

Well JB, you do have a problem. Although Jeff and Dan are very knowledgeable and are probably right, I look at this from the perspective that you`ve got little more to lose by tearing into the saw.

Apparently Jeff doesn`t have topend kits for this model or I suppose he would have said so. He has excellent kits for some Stihls at prices that you just can`t beat.

Now for the heart of the matter. Tear the saw down and clean the bore using muriatic acid on a rag. It will take some patience but you will eventually get all of the gaulled aluminum off. Now thouroughly rinse the acid off. You will most like still see evidence of gaulling but as long as you don`t have any scratches deep enough to catch a fingernail dragged across it you are ok. Even if it just slightly catches, ie; you can barely feel it with your nail, you will be able to run the saw. Now you can get away with just a piston and rings.

I expect to get some flak over this statement but noone here can ignore the fact that I have repaired worse with less, meaning that on two occassions I`ve repaired saws that looked similar and didn`t even replace the piston or jug for the guy because it was too expensive for what the saw was worth. Just cleaned up the skirt, buffed it out using a dremel and some compund and threw new rings on it. Cleaned the ring grooves real well too. That admittedly is a hack job but was appropriate for the situation at hand and kept the saws running for a surprisingly long time.

If you decide to trash the saw, I will better Huskyman`s offer giving you $21 + shipping, LOL. actually you could write "Stihl 311Y" in marker on the cowl and sell it on eBay for about $300 this time of year.

Sorry to hear of your plight JB. If you do decide to rebuild it, come on back and ask questions and we can walk you through. I`ll check tomorrow and see if a friend of mine has any 55s with good topends in the bone pile.

Russ

 

[HUSKYMAN]

First thing you need to do is go kick your buddy's a$$ because it sounds like he adjusted your saw too lean. That, combined with you leaning harder on the saw to make up for a dull chain spells death in one year.

I dont know what a piston and jug costs for that saw, but it will be at least $150.

I hope what Jokers said to do is possible, but I bet that jug is toast. And you may end up doing a lot of work and smoking another piston and ring. If you want to learn how a saw works take Russ's advice. If you want to fix it once and for good, get a piston and jug. Hopefully none of the bearings on the crank are shot. Probably not

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Also I run all my 50:1 saws at 40:1 to avoid what happened to you