Nik's Poulan Thread

[Guido Salvage]

245 help needed

Okay, I got the 3400 I was playing with to run, but need fuel lines on the Craftsman 3.7. The 4000 cranked up and idled and ran well. I could get my 245 to pop with mix down the throat, but no luck on getting it to run on its own. Despite being put up dry, the fuel lines are hard and should be replaced.

I bought this Dayton branded 245 several years ago and have never messed with it.

As you can see, it has no visible starter rope. I have never been into one of these saws, it looks as if I need to pull the flywheel to get to the recoil assembly. It looks like I remove the crank nut and the 3 screws holding the starter housing. Does the flywheel then just pop off with a puller?

 

[Wagnerwerks]

Finished up one of those s25da today and made some test cuts. Very impressed with those compared to my 2000 33cc. Also really like the extra torque in the cut. :msp_thumbsup::msp_thumbup:

Funny you post this today.... I was just talking to my dad about his s25da he cut with when I was a kid. I thought it was such a loud, old piece of junk.... Now...I love mine and we use the pair together...lol.

 

[Modifiedmark]

Okay, I got the 3400 I was playing with to run, but need fuel lines on the Craftsman 3.7. The 4000 cranked up and idled and ran well. I could get my 245 to pop with mix down the throat, but no luck on getting it to run on its own. Despite being put up dry, the fuel lines are hard and should be replaced.

I bought this Dayton branded 245 several years ago and have never messed with it.


As you can see, it has no visible starter rope. I have never been into one of these saws, it looks as if I need to pull the flywheel to get to the recoil assembly. It looks like I remove the crank nut and the 3 screws holding the starter housing. Does the flywheel then just pop off with a puller?

Gary, yes the flyweel comes off. No puller needed, hold the flyweel with one hand and hit the side oppisit the magnets with a hammer. Off it will come. Like you say, remove the three screws holding the whole starter assy off first then remove the three screws holding the cover over the starter pulley.

The rope is held inside a loop inside the pulley which and the factory used a pin in the end of the rope to keep it from pulling through the rope.

Since the factory rope with a pin in it is not availaible anymore I use a finishing nail (#6 I think it was) in the end of the rope. I'll attach a picture of it.

It goes back together like normal.

If you pull the tank cover,which you should to replace the fuel line, be careful not to tear the cork gasket when taking it apart. If you dont tear it you can put some motoseal on the gasket when you put it back together to keep it from leaking.

You will need a 1/8 x 3/16 line in the tank and a 3/16 x 5/16 from the tank to the carb.

Send me a email address and I'll send a old service manual to you.

 

[Modifiedmark]

Rope with nail.

 

[Modifiedmark]

200 series saws

Carl touched on some of the differences in the early 200 series (68-69) saws.

Thought I would show a few pictures to show them as well since I have the Speigel branded Poulan 223 spread all over the bench.

First way to tell a 200 series saw by first glance is to look and see if there is a on/off switch on the back cyl cover. The early 200 series did not have a switch there. The switch was on the throttle lock.

They also used a ND ignition which is easy to see by the small high tension wire on it. If the cover is off you can tell by the yellow color of the coil as well. The flywheel is also marked ND

The fuel cap was mounted farther back on the tank cover also. Alot of them had round caps instead of the hex shaped ones but I have seen them both ways.

Another thing the early 200's had was the older style 4 shoe clutch, but be aware the early 306A also used this clutch for a while.

 

[Modifiedmark]

Ran out of picture room, but one other difference is the FW side crank seal, it is much smaller on the early saws.

One other thing that makes me cringe when someone finds a old saw and just gasses it up and runs it without giving it a good check over is this.

All of these 200-300 saws had a foam seal between the top handle and the crankcase. They were made of foam and always seem deteriorated, or missing and will allow unfiltered air up and under the fliter right to the carb. The seal is NLA but I make em out of some Briggs air filter foam. Easy peasy and will save a motor.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I may have missed this, but thick rings are 3800 or 3400.

Yeah, mine is a red Craftsman that's a 3800. It says on the saw 3.7 18" I think. Don't have the saw near me, I'm doing this from memory.

 

[67L36Driver]

They also used a ND ignition which is easy to see by the small high tension wire on it. If the cover is off you can tell by the yellow color of the coil as well. The flywheel is also marked ND

The fuel cap was mounted farther back on the tank cover also. Alot of them had round caps instead of the hex shaped ones but I have seen them both ways.

My 202 now has a Wico coil from a (gasp!) Homie XL-12 so now we have a normal 7mm plug lead.

The 202 I have has the fuel cap forward of tank screw. (Easily could have been changed out at one time.)


Observations: The 306A type is a bunch easier to disassemble than a Homie XL-12 or Remy PL/SL-4. The nook the end of the manual oil pump rod lives in collects saw cake rendering him inoperable.

 

[Modifiedmark]

My 202 now has a Wico coil from a (gasp!) Homie XL-12 so now we have a normal 7mm plug lead.

The 202 I have has the fuel cap forward of tank screw. (Easily could have been changed out at one time.)


Observations: The 306A type is a bunch easier to disassemble than a Homie XL-12 or Remy PL/SL-4. The nook the end of the manual oil pump rod lives in collects saw cake rendering him inoperable.

You know Carl, your right, my 203 has the forward cap as well. Might be just the 4.5 cube saws got the rear mounted cap. At least every 4.5ci 200 series that I have seen have been that way.

The 203 picture below also shows a common starter handle found on the early 200 series also.

Here is my 203 with the round style cap.

Did I hear you say the other day that the ND flywheel wouldnt work with the Wico coil? Been sometime since I compared them but at the time I glanced at them and thought they would interchange.

 

[procarbine2k1]

Hope to see that 4Z252 in person!

As for the swaping, most of us here try to find em to collect more then trade away. :hmm3grin2orange:

Occasionally I will move a duplicate though, anything in particular your after?

Eh, sometimes you have to sell to buy more. Nothing in particular Im after. I wouldnt mind finding another 5200 and a 5.2 to go along with the Dayton one of these days. But honestly, they will sit more than they are used (thats ok too though). I sold one of my gems last week (a Stihl to boot), so I some saw money to mess around with.
We have another little one on the way, and even though I can spend a little more on saws than I do, I try to find some sort of balance even though if things would ever get tight I could move some on Ebay too I figure.

 

[67L36Driver]

Did I hear you say the other day that the ND flywheel wouldnt work with the Wico coil? Been sometime since I compared them but at the time I glanced at them and thought they would interchange.

Mark, I went back a forth so much between the 202 and 306A at the time I'm not sure anymore.

I lost spark on the 202 (Wico magneto & flywheel) so I put the coil from the 306A (Nippon Denso magneto) on it and still had no spark. Finally broke down and tried a Wico coil from an XL-12 and got spark back. Had to re-arrange the wireing a bit.

Someone had shaved down a 7mm plug wire to fit in the early 5mm coil and got a poor connection.

Drove me nutts. I made both saws live in a box for three months while I fixed Lombards.

 

[procarbine2k1]

:msp_thumbsup: Was cutting with my 4200 early this week. Can't get enough of that distinctive sound! Puts a smile on my face, just listening to them sittin there idelling.


Gregg,

I had a NOS 4200 once that I never ran, kept it NOS and sold it. If they sound anything like a 5200 (Im sure they do), it is some of the best music that can come out of a 2 stroke engine.

 

[Modifiedmark]

Eh, sometimes you have to sell to buy more. Nothing in particular Im after. I wouldnt mind finding another 5200 and a 5.2 to go along with the Dayton one of these days. But honestly, they will sit more than they are used (thats ok too though). I sold one of my gems last week (a Stihl to boot), so I some saw money to mess around with.
We have another little one on the way, and even though I can spend a little more on saws than I do, I try to find some sort of balance even though if things would ever get tight I could move some on Ebay too I figure.

I see, but 5200's and 5.2's are not what most Poulan collectors tend to trade off very often. Maybe you need a nice Wildthing? :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[procarbine2k1]

Hope to see all of you this Saturday! With my job, I can never guarantee that I will be there. Just is what it is. Boss said it was alright, and asked me how much it meant to me to be there. I said a frikkin' lot! I think he is starting to understand this thing I have with saws, and hanging around other good dudes with the same great taste haha. If anyone needs to get ahold of me before the GTG and you dont see me on here, you can PM me or something and I can give you my email or cell or something. Planning on just bringing the Dayton, the Alpina, and maybe the 550XP if anyone is interested. I am going to run a couple tanks through it within the week, and hopefully can get some more time on it in the next couple weeks.

 

[Modifiedmark]

Hope to see all of you this Saturday! With my job, I can never guarantee that I will be there. Just is what it is. Boss said it was alright, and asked me how much it meant to me to be there. I said a frikkin' lot! I think he is starting to understand this thing I have with saws, and hanging around other good dudes with the same great taste haha. If anyone needs to get ahold of me before the GTG and you dont see me on here, you can PM me or something and I can give you my email or cell or something. Planning on just bringing the Dayton, the Alpina, and maybe the 550XP if anyone is interested. I am going to run a couple tanks through it within the week, and hopefully can get some more time on it in the next couple weeks.

Please do bring the 550, I would love to see and try it.

 

[procarbine2k1]

I see, but 5200's and 5.2's are not what most Poulan collectors tend to trade off very often. Maybe you need a nice Wildthing? :hmm3grin2orange:

Lol. The 5200 and 5.2 are more than likely going to be CL finds!

 

[Modifiedmark]

Mark, I went back a forth so much between the 202 and 306A at the time I'm not sure anymore.

I lost spark on the 202 (Wico magneto & flywheel) so I put the coil from the 306A (Nippon Denso magneto) on it and still had no spark. Finally broke down and tried a Wico coil from an XL-12 and got spark back. Had to re-arrange the wireing a bit.

Someone had shaved down a 7mm plug wire to fit in the early 5mm coil and got a poor connection.

Drove me nutts. I made both saws live in a box for three months while I fixed Lombards.

I understand and get confused myself. You also point out something else I wanted to point out and that is like the early 4 shoe clutch there were some early 306's with the ND ign, but I have never seen a Wico on a 200 series saw and the IPL supports that somewhat.

With these old saws its hard to tell if there original or not and who might have changed something on them at some time.

 

[procarbine2k1]

Please do bring the 550, I would love to see and try it.

We can arrange that! If I dont get it to loosen up first, I might want to leave it at home. Dont want that saw getting a bad rap, and from what Ive heard- they are pretty darned tight out of the box. Im sure you all will help get it broken in.

 

[homelitejim]

here is a little tune from the 5400.

[video=youtube;CZs6wB4eOxs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZs6wB4eOxs[/video]

 

[67L36Driver]

While we are on 306 types.

Can someone post a pic of the anchor loop of the 306 type recoil spring?

I tried using one without the sheet metal cover and the anchor end of the spring jumped off the peg. It's all distorted now and I can't tell how it went. I really don't want to tear off the 202's flywheel for the upteenth time.

Thanks fellas!

Carl.