Nik's Poulan Thread

[blk05crew]

Did you take a close look at the plug wire to make sure it is not grounding itself when the plug is in. With the plug out and connected it may be pulled away just enough from the metal to allow spark.

No I haven't, I'm not to good with electrical. How would it ground itself when the plug is in? What do I need to look for?

 

[jerrycmorrow]

I just got through futzing with a saw for two months. everything checked out. finally discovered that the spark was leaking through the coil wire intermittently. wire looked goof, real flexible, no visible cracks but sure enough it was leaking spark to ground before it got to plug. I've decided I'm gonna always replace coil wire when I don't have spark. I rebuilt one carb 3 times and another 2 times. tried 3 different plugs (one new), finally dropped back and took a wide angle view - had fuel to the plug, had air - it had to be spark. turned off the lights and tried the old ground the plug trick - no spare, tried again - spark, tried again - no spark, tried again - spark directly from the coil wire to ground. whodda thunk. runs great now. your search sounds similar. might consider what chips suggested. the wire is typically about $1 a foot. got mine at NAPA auto.

 

[ChipsFlyin]

No I haven't, I'm not to good with electrical. How would it ground itself when the plug is in? What do I need to look for?

Crack in the insulation or bare wire - it doesn't take much.

 

[blk05crew]

I just got through futzing with a saw for two months. everything checked out. finally discovered that the spark was leaking through the coil wire intermittently. wire looked goof, real flexible, no visible cracks but sure enough it was leaking spark to ground before it got to plug. I've decided I'm gonna always replace coil wire when I don't have spark. I rebuilt one carb 3 times and another 2 times. tried 3 different plugs (one new), finally dropped back and took a wide angle view - had fuel to the plug, had air - it had to be spark. turned off the lights and tried the old ground the plug trick - no spare, tried again - spark, tried again - no spark, tried again - spark directly from the coil wire to ground. whodda thunk. runs great now. your search sounds similar. might consider what chips suggested. the wire is typically about $1 a foot. got mine at NAPA auto.

Thanks Jerry, sounds exactly like what I have going on.

 

[ChipsFlyin]

Crack in the insulation or bare wire - it doesn't take much.

Check the boot real good too. I cracked an old one doing the on off on off thing before.

 

[fossil]

I didn't check the flywheel key, I'm not quite sure what that is. We did remove the flywheel during the P/C swap and then put it back on. The pull cord does slip every so often when I try and start it.

Here are a couple of pics of the flywheel key way and the key in the crankshaft which keeps the crankshaft and the flywheel lined up so the ignition timing is correct.

In the pic below you are looking at the back of the flywheel. In the hole in the center which slips over the crankshaft you will see a squared slot at the top of the hole. That is the key way.







In this pic, you are looking at the crankshaft part that the flywheel slips over. Note the little piece on the right side of the crankshaft sticking out on the right hand side just below the end of the threads. That is the key (Woodruff key) and it is set into a slot on the crankshaft. That key fits into the slot in the flywheel and makes sure it lines up the flywheel with the crankshaft so your ignition timing is correct. If that key shears or if it is missing the flywheel can slip on the crank and the ignition timing can go way out. Unless you know what you are doing and want to play with the timing, those two slots must line up.

I'm not sure why more than two pictures uploaded.

 

[ChipsFlyin]

Here are a couple of pics of the flywheel key way and the key in the crankshaft which keeps the crankshaft and the flywheel lined up so the ignition timing is correct.

In the pic below you are looking at the back of the flywheel. In the hole in the center which slips over the crankshaft you will see a squared slot at the top of the hole. That is the key way.

Tim- If the key it sheared there will be spark but it will be so out of timing that it will not fire right?

 

[ChipsFlyin]

Tim- If the key it sheared there will be spark but it will be so out of timing that it will not fire right?

Never mind maybe I should read your whole post.

 

[blk05crew]

Here are a couple of pics of the flywheel key way and the key in the crankshaft which keeps the crankshaft and the flywheel lined up so the ignition timing is correct.

In the pic below you are looking at the back of the flywheel. In the hole in the center which slips over the crankshaft you will see a squared slot at the top of the hole. That is the key way.

View attachment 401077



View attachment 401077

In this pic, you are looking at the crankshaft part that the flywheel slips over. Note the little piece on the right side of the crankshaft sticking out on the right hand side just below the end of the threads. That is the key (Woodruff key) and it is set into a slot on the crankshaft. That key fits into the slot in the flywheel and makes sure it lines up the flywheel with the crankshaft so your ignition timing is correct. If that key shears or if it is missing the flywheel can slip on the crank and the ignition timing can go way out. Unless you know what you are doing and want to play with the timing, those two slots must line up.

I'm not sure why more than two pictures uploaded.



View attachment 401078 View attachment 401077 View attachment 401078 View attachment 401077 View attachment 401078

Thanks for the great info and pics, I'll check all that tonight and check the plug wire better as well. Thanks guys!

 

[ChipsFlyin]

When you guys did the 361,400, 401A, 141A ..... fuel lines did you add a filter. It's not showing up on the 361 or 141A IPL but, I found one in the gas tank along with deteriorated line and coating pieces. I think it is a good idea but will it screw up the flow?

 

[Acornhill]

They have a fuel filter

 

[hotshot]

My brother in law has a compression tester that I'm going to check with because it doesn't seem to have as much compression as my other running 5200. I don't think it's the carb because
I've tried 2 different carbs and both worked on the other saw.

No LOL, I meant a low pressure leak tester, not a compression tester.

Like this inexpensive thing, I literally wear it out troubleshooting and rebuilding.

That PP375 behind it had a leaking FW seal and blew big soap bubbles!

Add a clamp at the bulb & then watch the pressure gauge for few minutes, sometimes you don't need the soap bubbles at all when they hold 8# steady.

 

[hotshot]

They have a fuel filter

It's items #15 & 16 in the IPL.

Chipsflyin, your eyes are getting worse than mine!

Actually, they're not drawn in the illustration, as they are hidden inside the tank...I like those big Walbro 125-528 filters for the 361, and you don't need to put the weight back in.

 

[blk05crew]

No LOL, I meant a low pressure leak tester, not a compression tester.

Like this inexpensive thing, I literally wear it out troubleshooting and rebuilding.

That PP375 behind it had a leaking FW seal and blew big soap bubbles!

Add a clamp at the bulb & then watch the pressure gauge for few minutes, sometimes you don't need the soap bubbles at all when they hold 8# steady. View attachment 401157

Haha my bad, learn something new everyday right! Thanks!

 

[ChipsFlyin]

They have a fuel filter

Thanks. Ok - should be the last question for a while. What's the coating in the tank?

 

[fossil]

Tim- If the key it sheared there will be spark but it will be so out of timing that it will not fire right?

I sheared a key on a 295. It was running great and the next time I tried to use it, nothing. I checked for spark and it was there. I pulled the flywheel to check it and the magnets were about 60 deg out of whack. I'm not sure why it happened. The key on those was just a tab cast into the flywheel so it wasn't very strong but the steel keys shear as well.
Did you notice the crack in that flywheel? I expect it cracked when they pushed the starter dog fastener in. It shouldn't go any further because of the hole at the end of the crack but how would you like that exploding at 8000 RPM?

 

[ChipsFlyin]

It's items #15 & 16 in the IPL.

Chipsflyin, your eyes are getting worse than mine!

Actually, they're not drawn in the illustration, as they are hidden inside the tank...I like those big Walbro 125-528 filters for the 361, and you don't need to put the weight back in.

I see it now. Long day - I had nonstop flow of coughing, snotty, pukey kids today and I think it's my turn to be sick...

 

[hotshot]

Woah, I remember those days too well of rocking chairs, red liquid Tylenol to bust the fevers, and 7 UP to calm the pukes. Take care of you too!

 

[OhioGregg]

----PP375 ZAMA CARB INFO ONLY---

Attached below is a crappy parts list sent fresh from the ZAMA Headquarters in Franklin, TN. They could not locate an illustrated or exploded view.

The yellow colored PP375 saw sometimes used a ZAMA C3A-W3 carb, & is no longer listed in any current ZAMA literature. The other PP375 carb was the Walbro HDB series.

The ZAMA rebuild kit is a RB-33 (Poulan #530-35285), but it is also NLA. Note that the ZAMA IPL has the diaphragm kit GND-23 listed as equivalent to a Poulan #530-035284, instead of Gregg's correct #530-035282 above.

The W3 metering diaphragm is a bit different than the ZAMA C3A-S series used on some Stihls, but I think every thing else is the same. The common Stihl diaphragm kit is an GND-21, and I will check to see if it's metering diaphragm could also be made to work on the C3A-W3, as only the outer periphery is different.

Edit, the metering diaphragm in the $4 ZAMA GND-21 kit works fine. No need to hunt down the obsolete -23 kit.

Wow! All them part numbers make my head hurt. Back when I got that kit from Poulan, I knew there were other saws, that used a C3A carb, like a lot of Stihls. Was never quite sure which one to get. LOL I think it is easier just to put a Walbro HDB on it. I did just that, as a test, and could tell no difference.

Gregg,

 

[OhioGregg]

After taking the cylinder back off of the 5200 I'm having trouble with, I cleaned all the MotoSeal 1 off of the cylinder and the case and make a new gasket for it instead.
Put everything back together last night and still the same problem, getting fuel and has strong spark outside of the cylinder when I test it, but won't even pop when I try
and start it. So I think I'm going get new bearing seals and see if that fixes the problem, it may have an air leak there I don't know. I have the maintenance manuals for
the 5200 but does anyone who has replaced these before have any tips or tricks or is it pretty strait forward?

I THINK its a straight forward job. I have not personally changed them except when I had the whole saw tore down and case split. I know ModifiedMark has done a ton of them, he always says its an easy job..

Gregg,