Nik's Poulan Thread

[FATGUY]

I have a Poulan 3500 which I just got running today but when I go to start it, it seems to pre-ignite just a little making it hard to pull the rope. I wonder what I need to do...I don't think this saw has a compression release but if they're all this way they could use one. Not hard on me but might tear up the starter which has already been replaced once.
I haven't adjusted anything yet, just got it going. New fuel line, impulse line, vent.

it wouldn't have a points style ignition, would it?

 

[WillBrayJr]

So you proclaim a 4000 to be great but have no, nada, zip experiance with one. Evidently you have no experiance with a Wildthing either, but your still hear taliking them down like you do.

EVERYBODY knows that products were better made decades ago than they are today.

 

[WillBrayJr]

Tell me how to adjust the Tillotson Carb please......

It has three screws. One is vertical and the other two are horizontal.

 

[briantutt]

Tell me how to adjust the Tillotson Carb please......

It has three screws. One is vertical and the other two are horizontal.

Is it an HS or an HU?

Tillotson

 

[igpoe]

help

Tell me how to adjust the Tillotson Carb please......

It has three screws. One is vertical and the other two are horizontal.

Young feller,
We'll help 'ya, but the best help might come from our allowing you to do your own research at the chainsaw collectors corner:
Chain Saw Collectors Corner Carburetors
These pages on chainsaw carbs will keep you busy for a good while.
Brians link may be more specific to your particular present needs.
Igpoe

 

[a. palmer jr.]

it wouldn't have a points style ignition, would it?

No, I think it's electronic ignition. I know that if it's points ignition all I would need to do is adjust them a little closer. I don't think the electronic is adjustable without modifications.

 

[WillBrayJr]

Is it an HS or an HU?

Tillotson

According to Mike Acres' site, it's a HU series Carb. I'm just asking to somebody to give me some links to the info. Believe it or not I actually like learning as long as it's not complex Math.

 

[briantutt]

According to Mike Acres' site, it's a HU series Carb. I'm just asking to somebody to give me some links to the info. Believe it or not I actually like learning as long as it's not complex Math.

Click that link out to Tillotson and you can download the HU service manual.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I checked my saw again and it is electronic ignition. Doesn't appear to be any way to adjust it. I worked on a plastic Poulan saw last summer and it did the same thing. I know it's not normal for them to kick back against the starter because I've had lots of them that don't have this problem.

 

[rms61moparman]

I checked my saw again and it is electronic ignition. Doesn't appear to be any way to adjust it. I worked on a plastic Poulan saw last summer and it did the same thing. I know it's not normal for them to kick back against the starter because I've had lots of them that don't have this problem.

Did you check the flywheel key?


Mike

 

[rms61moparman]

Stephen,

I have "reconditioned" several cylinders and have had pretty good success.
It will depend on the "scratches" but I have found that hones and cylinders do NOT mix.
I would never recommend using one and have been known to severely scold some very good friends for using, or even suggesting the use of them.
There are MUCH better methods available.

Scratches in the cylinder don't bother me much. Aluminum transfer on them is a different story.



Mike

 

[Mastermind]

Poulan Guru's, have any of you ever tried this. I recently bought a nice looking Craftsman 3.3 from the origional owners son that had possibly been straight gased.

I am not sure if that was the case or if it was lean siezed, but the rusults are pretty much the same. The saw ran but had low compression and performance. On tearing it down I noticed some light scoring in the cylinder and aluminum transfer on the chrome piston. I posted pictures here to get opinions on the piston after I cleaned it up as they are NLA. One of our great members here PM'd me and offered a usable cylinder free of charge with the expectation that I would "pay it forward" and I gladly accepted those terms! He even threw in one of the NLA Pistons! It is kind of a toss up about which piston is in better shape, but I think they are both just fine.

So much for the foreplay....this is the question. Have any of you tried to clean up an aluminum cylinder and re-use it? I am thinking if I could hone the scratches out of it and use the same acid I use for cleaning the aluminum off the cylinder to treat the bore to expose the silicone just as they did in the origional manufacturing process, I could possibly put in a new set of rings and get them to seal. I am thinking that to get an even acid etch I would have to just fill the cylinder with a dilute solution, let it sit for a while and dump it out and rinse and nuetralize.

I have a couple of old tired wild things I could try this on, it would only cost a couple of dollars to buy new rings and do it but the biggest problem I have at the moment is the lack of time. I leave for work at 6 in the morning and don't get home till 7 at night and I have a house to rebuild that eats most of my free time. I was just wondering with all the experience you guys have rebuilding saws if any of you have tried this on lightly scored aluminum cylinders?

I did put a little acid on the old 3.3 cylinder and it did seem to expose the silicone.....

Controling the depth of the acid etch is probably the most critical step in this process.

What do you all think? Anybody tried it? :confused2:

Sometimes I just thinks to much..........:bang::bang::bang:

Rubber gloves and a mild acid solution on a rag to wipe the cylinder down with would be one way of doing this. Plus you could see the reaction well.

 

[8433jeff]

Poulan Guru's, have any of you ever tried this. I recently bought a nice looking Craftsman 3.3 from the origional owners son that had possibly been straight gased.

I am not sure if that was the case or if it was lean siezed, but the rusults are pretty much the same. The saw ran but had low compression and performance. On tearing it down I noticed some light scoring in the cylinder and aluminum transfer on the chrome piston. I posted pictures here to get opinions on the piston after I cleaned it up as they are NLA. One of our great members here PM'd me and offered a usable cylinder free of charge with the expectation that I would "pay it forward" and I gladly accepted those terms! He even threw in one of the NLA Pistons! It is kind of a toss up about which piston is in better shape, but I think they are both just fine.

So much for the foreplay....this is the question. Have any of you tried to clean up an aluminum cylinder and re-use it? I am thinking if I could hone the scratches out of it and use the same acid I use for cleaning the aluminum off the cylinder to treat the bore to expose the silicone just as they did in the origional manufacturing process, I could possibly put in a new set of rings and get them to seal. I am thinking that to get an even acid etch I would have to just fill the cylinder with a dilute solution, let it sit for a while and dump it out and rinse and nuetralize.

I have a couple of old tired wild things I could try this on, it would only cost a couple of dollars to buy new rings and do it but the biggest problem I have at the moment is the lack of time. I leave for work at 6 in the morning and don't get home till 7 at night and I have a house to rebuild that eats most of my free time. I was just wondering with all the experience you guys have rebuilding saws if any of you have tried this on lightly scored aluminum cylinders?

I did put a little acid on the old 3.3 cylinder and it did seem to expose the silicone.....

Controling the depth of the acid etch is probably the most critical step in this process.

What do you all think? Anybody tried it? :confused2:

Sometimes I just thinks to much..........:bang::bang::bang:

A big NO on the acid. It removes the aluminum transfer on chrome because it removes aluminum, not because it loves the chrome and wants to see it clean again. It doesn't matter what aluminum it finds, it will remove it. What the silicon is that you found I can't say for sure is, but I'm betting its cast aluminum, not silicon. Chrome is way harder than aluminum, thats why it is unaffected by the temporary exposure to the acid. Leave it on too long, and you will have problems there also.

 

[joe25DA]

Getting it ready...

For the GTG! I have 12 saws staged for rebuilds. 1o just need the usual, 1 needs a coil and one has a blown p/c. I made a list and the decision was easy. I had to get a 335 going! I have 2 both in dirty (understatement) but very promising condition. So I picked the one that had the air filter. It has good comp and a clean (thin ring) piston. Also has the orig 20" .325 replaceable tip bar, both do actually. I have the carb kits already, but I should have ordered intake boots too:bang:. I did a 2.8 a while back and that saw was nice to work on, similar build to an 024 I had for a minute, except better in every way...Anyway I know this saw will clean up and run good. Ive been looking forward to getting into these for a while. I had to get the for sale ones done first before I did the personal saws tho. I have a few weeks to complete it, should be more than enough time.
<a href="http://s729.photobucket.com/albums/ww294/joe25da/?action=view&amp;current=SummerFall2010274.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww294/joe25da/SummerFall2010274.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s729.photobucket.com/albums/ww294/joe25da/?action=view&amp;current=SummerFall2010273.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww294/joe25da/SummerFall2010273.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[rms61moparman]

Do what you want, but my last word on the subject is.........A honed cylinder is a ruined cylinder.
I fully understand your concept but I still think it will be better to leave it alone than try to "replicate that process".



Mike

 

[8433jeff]

Do what you want, but my last word on the subject is.........A honed cylinder is a ruined cylinder.
I fully understand your concept but I still think it will be better to leave it alone than try to "replicate that process".

But it is already a "ruined cylinder" I think. It has low compression and the rings have ridges in them that corespond to the depressions in the cylinder. Would you just put new rings in it an hope for the best? I have zero experience with this aluminum cylinder/chrome piston design. All my dirt bikes had it the other way around...cheap fix.

I would try that before bathing a cylinder in acid before I scrapped it.

 

[rms61moparman]

Do what you want, but my last word on the subject is.........A honed cylinder is a ruined cylinder.
I fully understand your concept but I still think it will be better to leave it alone than try to "replicate that process".

But it is already a "ruined cylinder" I think. It has low compression and the rings have ridges in them that corespond to the depressions in the cylinder. Would you just put new rings in it an hope for the best? I have zero experience with this aluminum cylinder/chrome piston design. All my dirt bikes had it the other way around...cheap fix.

If you put a new set of rings in it and run it like you borrowed it from your Brother-in-law I think you will find it will work better than the acid bath.
Too many people here think a cylinder has to be perfect to make a good saw. You aren't building a race engine for Kenny Bernstein!
Some of my very best running saws had P/C's that were trashed. (and beyond repair according to some of the "experts" here!)
JMHO
God knows that my old junks just barely run most of the time!!!


Mike

 

[a. palmer jr.]

Did you check the flywheel key?


Mike

I guess that's about the only thing that would make it out of time. I've got the starter off right now so I'll check that key next. It seems to run pretty good but I'm afraid it's gonna ruin another starter.

 

[Eccentric]

These cylinders have no chrome in them. They are made with a special high content silicon aluminum aloy. During the manufacturing process they are bored and honed then they are acid bathed to remove a microscopic layer of aluminum to expose the embeded silicone for the rings to ride on. I am trying to replicate that process. I just don't know what acid consentration/temperature/length of time is required to duplicate the origional etching process.

In these saws the piston is chrome plated. Since the pistons are NLA it is a good thing that they are harder than the cylinder...except for the silicone, if it it exposed to much it will probably eat the chrome....

this is going to be tricky...:msp_w00t:

There's not that much silicone exposed here............and it won't hurt the chrome on the piston. These pistons are 'exposed' to the high silicone content alluminum in these cylinders. That's what the piston skirt rides on in these saws.

Many Briggs and Stratton engines of the '70s and '80s had bare 'high silica alluminum alloy' cylinders. The pistons in them weren't chrome plated. Just bare alluminum. In my experience, the pistons didn't wear out any faster than the jugs. In fact, the cylinders often had 'soft spots' that would become out of spec/out of round. I wasn't impressed with this 'hard alluminum' cylinder idea. In practice, it just didn't work well.

Oversized pistons were available for them too (in smaller fractions, never over .010" oversized IIRC). You had to carefully hone the jug. The idea was to increase the bore diameter just enough to make it uniform/round again and match the replacement slug. The 'hard' cylinder surface was very thin, and ruining the jug happened more often than not. I never had satisfactory results with it. For those engines (on mowers, tillers, and the like), steel/iron liners are the only way to go. Too much dust ingestion.

That is priceless information...I am going to run with it....if the rings and cylinder have a good chance of getting together cool. I wil try that first.

That's wise. Don't bother with the acid. You'll end up with pits, especially when the acid gets past the hard 'skin'.

 

[Modifiedmark]

That is priceless information...I am going to run with it....if the rings and cylinder have a good chance of getting together cool. I wil try that first.

Stephen, your a very smart guy, and I cannnot believe your talking about putting a bare aluminum cyl to a acid bath. I really can't.

It that cyl is galled, its junk, just throw it away. It has to be smooth and round to hold a ring seal and theres no good way to do that without boring that cyl over sized and we both know there are no pistons to use that way that we know of anyway.

I also went through the briggs oversized deal a long time ago with less then steller results. We had about a 50/50 ratio of good to bad luck with them and the boss finally said no more. If the cyl was shot the customer got sold a factory short block or the whole thing got junked.

I applaud your thoughts at saving the cyl but us back yard hacks have no way to do what the factory was able to do with these 'high silica alluminum alloy' cyl's.