Nik's Poulan Thread

[barneyrb]

WOW!!!!! 200 pages and still going.....

 

[OhioGregg]

I will say that the damage is far more on the piston that what I have on 3500, 60cc. Hard to tell about the jug.
To me it appears that carbon deposits were created and that did the scoring. Does anyone know what causes that carbon? I have a really old Poulan string trimmer that was of the same when I got it. Not scored that badly and I just cleaned it up and put in a new ring. The darned thing runs better every year.

Not familiar with those upsizings, are there any other changes necessary, such as carburetion or drive sprockets?
I was looking at Husq's site the other day, looking for a 60cc saw that might be direct replacement as to parts or jug in particular for Poulan 3500. They showed two saws very close to that size but the details said they had errors. Listed by displacement, the slightly smaller saw was shown to have more power. Say what? Looking more closely, they showed bore and stroke in details which were bigger for the less powerful saw. Real inspiring that the engineers can't figure displacement. But in those details was the rate of chain travel which was different between the two even though they showed the same max RPM. I have to wonder about that as well since the difference did not seem to be large enough to account for a different drive sproket, but then I did not check the pitch of the chain either.
It does however reassure me that putting a saw in the hands of some people would lead to dissaster. :greenchainsaw:

The Super 380 is the only one in that line of saws that I have any personal experience with, unfortunately. Mine had full size 3/8" chain on it, thats what I stuck with. I put a new rim sprocket and 20" bar, 3/8" 70 dr. link chain, as thats what all my other older Poulans use also. Makes life simpler for me.

All the saws in that series seem to use either a Walbro HDA 49 , or HDA 164 carb. The 380 uses a HDA 137. The only one that does. Just what difference there is, I couldn't tell ya? ModifiedMark is planning on swapping one on to a 365, to see if there are any gains to be made.

I wish I had more experience with this line of saws, to be more of a help. There seems to be alot of similarity's with them, yet allot of differences too. Did you see that file Mark posted the other day? with all the part#'s pistons, cylinders, cranks, carbs, etc. for these saws. Studying that might help determine which parts will interchange. That and personal experiance from somebody who has done it..


Gregg,

 

[OhioGregg]

WOW!!!!! 200 pages and still going.....

YES! When I first joined this site, it was a MAJOR search project, to find much info on Poulan saws. Times have changed for the better!
Hopefully 200 more pages to follow.
See what you started Nik!!


Gregg,

 

[Torin]

Gregg, I'm right now kicking myself in the ass for not bringing my stock PP365 to your place to run against the 380 just to see what is what.

I honestly think the 330 is not far behind if at all against the 365 at this point. I do think that will change when I get a chance to put the 330-380 style carb on it that you gave me. I'm thinking it's going to give the 365 a boost.


Torin, its your money you decide. I depends what you want to do with it I guess.

If that cyl couldnt be saved then it would be a no brainer.

Thanks Mark, I'll have to get with Calvin & check with him on the cylinder & piston he listed. I think the cylinder would clean up & if I have to go original (due to $), I will. I'd rather try upsizing though.

 

[Torin]

I will say that the damage is far more on the piston that what I have on 3500, 60cc. Hard to tell about the jug.
To me it appears that carbon deposits were created and that did the scoring. Does anyone know what causes that carbon? I have a really old Poulan string trimmer that was of the same when I got it. Not scored that badly and I just cleaned it up and put in a new ring. The darned thing runs better every year.

Not familiar with those upsizings, are there any other changes necessary, such as carburetion or drive sprockets?
I was looking at Husq's site the other day, looking for a 60cc saw that might be direct replacement as to parts or jug in particular for Poulan 3500. They showed two saws very close to that size but the details said they had errors. Listed by displacement, the slightly smaller saw was shown to have more power. Say what? Looking more closely, they showed bore and stroke in details which were bigger for the less powerful saw. Real inspiring that the engineers can't figure displacement. But in those details was the rate of chain travel which was different between the two even though they showed the same max RPM. I have to wonder about that as well since the difference did not seem to be large enough to account for a different drive sproket, but then I did not check the pitch of the chain either.
It does however reassure me that putting a saw in the hands of some people would lead to dissaster. :greenchainsaw:

This one ate about 3/16"+ of the ring. I'd bet it would run with just a new ring but, if I stay original, I'll change the piston as well. The upsizing is intriguing & that's what I'd like to go for, if $ allows.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I will say that the damage is far more on the piston that what I have on 3500, 60cc. Hard to tell about the jug.
To me it appears that carbon deposits were created and that did the scoring. Does anyone know what causes that carbon? I have a really old Poulan string trimmer that was of the same when I got it. Not scored that badly and I just cleaned it up and put in a new ring. The darned thing runs better every year.

Not familiar with those upsizings, are there any other changes necessary, such as carburetion or drive sprockets?
I was looking at Husq's site the other day, looking for a 60cc saw that might be direct replacement as to parts or jug in particular for Poulan 3500. They showed two saws very close to that size but the details said they had errors. Listed by displacement, the slightly smaller saw was shown to have more power. Say what? Looking more closely, they showed bore and stroke in details which were bigger for the less powerful saw. Real inspiring that the engineers can't figure displacement. But in those details was the rate of chain travel which was different between the two even though they showed the same max RPM. I have to wonder about that as well since the difference did not seem to be large enough to account for a different drive sproket, but then I did not check the pitch of the chain either.
It does however reassure me that putting a saw in the hands of some people would lead to dissaster. :greenchainsaw:

I think carbon is caused by the burning of non-synthetic oils used in two cycle engines and sometimes by using too much oil in the mix. I've had lots of luck using Klotz and Bel Ray oils in my engines. They leave no carbon because they do not burn in the engine, they merely pass through the engine. You don't see any smoke when these are used, you see a vapor coming out of the engine and if you use way too much oil you'll see a liquid coming out of the exhaust. I don't have any affiliation with either company and am merely stating my experience with these oils.

 

[parrisw]

I did too. That 5200 really makes the chips fly.
BTW, I had 68 302 Hi Perf. That rocked as well.

Thanks! Yep it makes chips in a real hurry, its a 85cc monster. I hate starting it though! Its a real bear to pull over, if ya look in the vid when I started it, I gave it a really hard tug! My 200psi 395 is easier to start then that 5200, I think its the fact of good compression plus aggressive timing, the module's of today's saws actually retard the timing to make it easier to start.

 

[nthums1]

I think carbon is caused by the burning of non-synthetic oils used in two cycle engines and sometimes by using too much oil in the mix. I've had lots of luck using Klotz and Bel Ray oils in my engines. They leave no carbon because they do not burn in the engine, they merely pass through the engine. You don't see any smoke when these are used, you see a vapor coming out of the engine and if you use way too much oil you'll see a liquid coming out of the exhaust. I don't have any affiliation with either company and am merely stating my experience with these oils.

I've had to wonder if it was a bit more than that because soft carbon is no problem. It is that hard crystalized stuff that seems to accumulate and then scratches.

 

[nthums1]

This one ate about 3/16"+ of the ring. I'd bet it would run with just a new ring but, if I stay original, I'll change the piston as well. The upsizing is intriguing & that's what I'd like to go for, if $ allows.

I just had a second look at your original pictures and realized you were showing both intake and exhaust sides, not just a different angle for perspective. It appears really ate up. It would seem difficult to get intake side of piston as hot as the exhaust side.

 

[rms61moparman]

All the saws in that series seem to use either a Walbro HDA 49 , or HDA 164 carb. The 380 uses a HDA 137. The only one that does. Just what difference there is, I couldn't tell ya? ModifiedMark is planning on swapping one on to a 365, to see if there are any gains to be made.



Gregg,

I put an HD-137 on my 365 after the modifications and there was a marginal power increase.
The saw is much more "well mannered" now though.
I don't know how much of the problems I was experiencing with the HD-164 were carb design and how much was just worn out HD-164.

I really like the way my 365 performs with the 137.
It runs and cut pretty fair for an "old junk".


Mike

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I've had to wonder if it was a bit more than that because soft carbon is no problem. It is that hard crystalized stuff that seems to accumulate and then scratches.

Wouldn't it be better to have no carbon at all? I'd think the synthetics I mentioned do just that. What little carbon there would be in the cylinder would be from the burning of gasoline. I think I may have to rig up a test with a fresh chainsaw engine and run it strictly with, say, Klotz techniplate and put several hours on the saw and as much as I would hate to, tear the engine down and check for carbon. I've run two cycle dirt bikes on it for years and never had a carbon problem at all, but I haven't tried prolonged use of it in a saw.

 

[Modifiedmark]

I put an HD-137 on my 365 after the modifications and there was a marginal power increase.
The saw is much more "well mannered" now though.
I don't know how much of the problems I was experiencing with the HD-164 were carb design and how much was just worn out HD-164.

I really like the way my 365 performs with the 137.
It runs and cut pretty fair for an "old junk".


Mike

Huh, I didn't realize you had a 164 on it at all. I thought you went straight from the 49 to the 137.

 

[OhioGregg]

Mike, All your "old junks" seem to cut "pretty fair" no matter what!


Gregg,

 

[rms61moparman]

Huh, I didn't realize you had a 164 on it at all. I thought you went straight from the 49 to the 137.

You may be right Mark!!!

I thought the 164 was what was on it but it may have been a 49A instead!

It's hell when a guy 400 miles away knows more about your saws than you do!!!LOLOLOL


Mike

 

[rms61moparman]

Mike, All your "old junks" seem to cut "pretty fair" no matter what!


Gregg,

Thanks Gregg!!!

I like them pretty well!
It's always nice to hear compliments like that from the guys you have a LOT of respect for.


Mike

 

[Modifiedmark]

You may be right Mark!!!

I thought the 164 was what was on it but it may have been a 49A instead!

It's hell when a guy 400 miles away knows more about your saws than you do!!!LOLOLOL


Mike

Well I just happend to be paying attention to this particular build.

That and trying to keep the numbers straight for my own upcoming experiments.

Just so you know the deal fell through today on the 306SA. No contact from the seller at all till today when they refunded my money and wanted me to pay it again to a different account.

Yeah right, I more or less told them to stick it. After 7 days I should have had the saw here already.

I left the appropriate feedback of course

I wonder if I aint too hard headed for my own good sometimes. :censored:

 

[nthums1]

Wouldn't it be better to have no carbon at all? I'd think the synthetics I mentioned do just that. What little carbon there would be in the cylinder would be from the burning of gasoline. I think I may have to rig up a test with a fresh chainsaw engine and run it strictly with, say, Klotz techniplate and put several hours on the saw and as much as I would hate to, tear the engine down and check for carbon. I've run two cycle dirt bikes on it for years and never had a carbon problem at all, but I haven't tried prolonged use of it in a saw.

No carbon, is what I was getting at with my questioning. And now that I think about it I don't recall any when I tore down mine. Just that the ring seized into the piston at the exhaust port with some scoring likely because of plugging screen in carb, hence lean and not enough lubrication. Also possibly adding to issue, blown exhaust gasket which may have caused improper scavenging, plus running regular grade gasoline. Only carbon I noticed was at the top of the jug and on the plug, neither which were of that hard crystalized chunk style. Since any carbon at the top of the jug would tend to insulate it is likely the walls of the chamber were hotter than a new saw and likely contribute to the burn pattern. I know that detonation is bad for any engine so I'm going to run high test from now on unless I learn it is a problem.
I've been using synthetic oil for many years now, which may explain why I did not have carbon chunks. I started using it when HomeLite first had it available. I think I used a few of those single dose bottles of Poulan oil but not sure it was synthetic, because I could not find those bottles with the measuring device built in. Since then I've used Poulan synthetic for a little over 10 years.

 

[nthums1]

fuel filter

It seems to me that it would be better to stop debris at the filter in the tank rather than the screen in the carburetor. Am I wrong?
Where can I find such a tank filter that will stop that very fine dust that clogged up my carburetor?

 

[nthums1]

Did you see that file Mark posted the other day? with all the part#'s pistons, cylinders, cranks, carbs, etc. for these saws. Studying that might help determine which parts will interchange. That and personal experiance from somebody who has done it..


Gregg,

No I did not see it and again my searching skills have proven inadequate. If someone could point me in the direction, thank you.

 

[JoshRountree]

5200 on Ebay

I have an Ebay search setup that sends me new listings for any Poulans I'm interested in. This came through this morning: poulan 5200 counter vibe

I just don't have the extra cash to pursue it. I hope someone here does.