My Husqvarna 254 XP keeps dying

[Alder]

I fire up my 254 and run it for about thirty seconds and it's fine. I hit the trigger again and it's fine but when I hit the trigger for the third time and release it the saw dies.

Alder.

 

[biggerstaff94]

Fuel filter ever been changed? Carb ever been rebuilt?

 

[Alder]

I am not sure if the fule filter has ever been changed. I will check on that tomorrow. Too the best of my knowledge the carb has never been rebuilt.

 

[Alder]

I am not sure if the fule filter has ever been changed. I will check on that tomorrow. Too the best of my knowledge the carb has never been rebuilt.

I just checked the fuel filter it is pristene.

 

[Huskvarna hotellgäst]

Could be any number of causes.
Pump and metering diaphragms in the carb may have become stiff.
Ignition module could have become temperature sensitive.

 

[DustyRanger]

I’m with Husqvarna hotellgast on this one. 90% of the time stiff diaphram/pump is the cause. It’s worth checking the gas line integrity and fuel vent, but my money’s on a stiff diaphragm.
The 254 is my favourite saw. I have 3 of them.

 

[Alder]

Could be any number of causes.
Pump and metering diaphragms in the carb may have become stiff.
Ignition module could have become temperature sensitive.

Yeah it is an older model. I think that my dad bought it as a firewood saw in ninety two or ninety three, before that we were all about the Homelite XL12.

 

[Alder]

I’m with Husqvarna hotellgast on this one. 90% of the time stiff diaphram/pump is the cause. It’s worth checking the gas line integrity and fuel vent, but my money’s on a stiff diaphragm.
The 254 is my favourite saw. I have 3 of them.

Yeah you wouldn't think that a saw in the fifty cc range would have a rim sprocket. The 254 truly is one of the origional screaming demons.

 

[82F100SWB]

Yeah you wouldn't think that a saw in the fifty cc range would have a rim sprocket. The 254 truly is one of the origional screaming demons.

Lots of 50cc and smaller saws that have rim sprockets. It's not determined by CC, but by design and application. The 254 is of the era where Spurs were no longer found on Pro level saws. And it is 100% pro saw. Same goes for my 234se at 34cc, rim sprocket from the factory there too.

 

[Alder]

Lots of 50cc and smaller saws that have rim sprockets. It's not determined by CC, but by design and application. The 254 is of the era where Spurs were no longer found on Pro level saws. And it is 100% pro saw. Same goes for my 234se at 34cc, rim sprocket from the factory there too.

My dad says that the 254xp was designed for logging sites where big logs would be lifted onto the work area before they were put on the truck and they needed a quick smaller saw too cut off nuisance leftover limbs. Do you think that this is true? What are spurs? Do you mean the little tine things on star sprockets?

 

[Huskvarna hotellgäst]

My dad says that the 254xp was designed for logging sites where big logs would be lifted onto the work area before they were put on the truck and they needed a quick smaller saw too cut off nuisance leftover limbs. Do you think that this is true? What are spurs? Do you mean the little tine things on star sprockets?

Your dad is right about how a 254 could be used but the actual design brief for the 154/254 was to create a saw using the base dimensions of the 50 Rancher (and some of it's components), for harvesting small to medium sized radiata pine trees - powerful enough for felling and yet light enough for limbing, especially with a 13" bar.
The154/254 also plugged a gap in the range created when the 61.5cc 162 was replaced by the 67cc 266.
As for screaming, loggers in northern Scandinavia had a penchant for tuning them to run at around 14,000rpm unloaded, prompting the introduction of a governed carburetor.

Even in Australia, I can't remember ever shipping a 254 with a spur sprocket (what you call a star sprocket) The clutch drum should long outlast a pair of chains and pros replace the rim when they replace chains. It also makes changing to 3/8 cutting equipment easy.

FYI, If your 254 has a 2-shoe clutch and constantly driven oil pump, a 7-tooth .325 spur/star sprocket from a 50/51/55 should fit.