2001 357XP Old Edition

[jammin_with_j]

Hey guys had this saw for a year or more now, second saw I ever bought, the first being a 351. Thanks to AS I decided I didn't have enough toys and needed another saw, so when a package deal came up for a 345 and 357xp for $250(canadian) I had to buy. The joy of two is better than one, right? :msp_wub:

So I'm happy as a pig in.....mud. Travel half way across the province (its only small) and had a look. The saw was visually good looking, seemed to run good, no major damage. The 345 ran, but had some missing parts that I could see, chain brake was stuck on, no bar and chain. Now being new to this and all of course I didn't own a compression tester . I figured I was okay on the deal since it was for two and not one, and that lots of parts would inter change on the saw I already owned. So I bought em up :msp_biggrin:

The 345 didn't get much attention, I was in it for the 357xp. Got the saw out soon after buying and had to trim up some low branches around the yard. Ran the thing for about 15 mins and it just died. Still pulled over freely, but was real low on compression. First thing, got out the allen wrenches, tore the muffler off on the trunk of the car. I could hear a sick noise of metal bouncing around in the muffler, and out into my hand came some pieces of metal. Oh no, the ring broke was my first thought. Sure enough with the flashlight I could see it was missing a big portion of the ring.

It got shelfed, I was ashamed that I didn't use my brain when purchasing, I just wanted a 357 all logic went out the window of the car on the drive. I took a look at the serial tag and it was a 2001, started doing some reading on here, got right into it. Figured out it was an early model, with the smaller connecting rod end and crank case stuffers.

Just a week ago I hauled it into work with me to start on fixing it. Piston had taken a beating on the failure, but cylinder looked okay. Tore the thing apart, pulled the piston off and did some measurements with the calipers, it had an after market 15mm connecting rod end piston on the 13mm connecting rod. I don't think someone knew that when they fixed her up the first time. I could tell there was a lot of horizontal play on the wrist pin.

Now here is the problem I'm facing. :msp_sad: With it being an early model the piston was different from most after market ones I can find. The only source I can find would be to buy OEM, be it local dealer, or online source. The service tech at the local dealer seems to like me. I did a few projects before starting this one, and he's given me some free used & new parts and helped me out a lot more than I expected. Never bought a new saw in my life, but have enough friends buying saws for him that he knows its good business to treat people good. He can tell I'm no clown trying to fix a straight gased saw, and know my way around a Husqvarna saw pretty good. Never split a case, but tore them down until that point with no problem.

Any members out there find an AM piston that will fit this application?

Now I know its not proper to post without pictures, and the camera isn't at work with me today. But rest assured tomorrow is a new day and I'm gonna post up with this old girl in pieces. I would like to fix it right so that it will last me. Guess I'm just trying to prove to myself that even though I bought a lemon I can right my wrong and make this one into a saw I can be proud of.

If you made it this far you know I'm making it my life story, and I'm ready to take a blast for not being smart about this one. But I'm ready to learn, read lots of posts on this series saw and I'm not gonna try and ask dumb questions, but I can't say I've seen any one who has found an AM kit for the 357xp. So what say you AS members, wanna lend a hand?

 

[nmurph]

Yes, I saw some earlier this week. I will check tonight


If you can read this, thank a 346

 

[jammin_with_j]

Thanks nmurph, I read a lot of your posts and see you're big into the 346 and 357 series saws and their different model variations. I do thank the 346! I have a new old stock cylinder (OE) and a date matching case. A low hours crank and many other pieces to build a 346. Just need to find an OE AM piston kit and some main bearings/seals so I can build a budget OE 346.

 

[jammin_with_j]

I got so many parts now I don't even know what I've got. I filled the main level of my fathers old house with saw parts(20'X20'). I can't get to them often, they're about an hour away and I smashed up the car right after Christmas, so every chance I get I'm hauling a box of stuff to work to sort and clean.

It got out of control after I bought this 357, and I couldn't stop myself. I have met a lot of great people through chainsaws and wouldn't take back any of it. Went through some low points over the past year and fixin saws has pulled me through and I feel I found my happy place here. I read most days on here and don't post often, sometimes thinking I don't have what it takes to really tear em down. But I'm ready to get into this and do some things I've been putting off. I'm ready for a blasting and want to learn.

So any help I'll take and I'm going to work on not asking the stupid questions and do my reading first.

 

[excess650]

Take a look at the intake clamp. Does it have a metal clamp, or a plastic, snap together piece? If its the plastic clamp, you'll need to replace that assembly with the later variety.

Take a look at the model number of the carb. I suspect it will be a Walbro 175 rather than the troublesome, later 199.

 

[jammin_with_j]

Brought the camera in to work. I'm a bit concerned with the cylinder condition. Not so much the scoring, but the look of the chrome plating near the exhaust port.

View attachment 273848View attachment 273849

 

[jammin_with_j]

Take a look at the intake clamp. Does it have a metal clamp, or a plastic, snap together piece? If its the plastic clamp, you'll need to replace that assembly with the later variety.

Take a look at the model number of the carb. I suspect it will be a Walbro 175 rather than the troublesome, later 199.

One of the first things I learned about the smaller 3XX series saws was the intake clamp problem. I'm trying to not ask questions that have previously been covered, that's why we have the search function. The carb is indeed the 175, but I've got a 191 I could swap in, maybe some other carbs as well.

The piston is wrecked, ring caused some damage, and besides its the wrong size wrist pin connection width. Looked to be a decent quality AM piston, maybe a meteor? It has the two ear clips in it that didn't seem to be weak and cheesy.

View attachment 273851View attachment 273852

 

[SawTroll]

Take a look at the intake clamp. Does it have a metal clamp, or a plastic, snap together piece? If its the plastic clamp, you'll need to replace that assembly with the later variety.

Take a look at the model number of the carb. I suspect it will be a Walbro 175 rather than the troublesome, later 199.

I agree about the carb, but don't know the difference between them....

 

[sunfish]

Brought the camera in to work. I'm a bit concerned with the cylinder condition. Not so much the scoring, but the look of the chrome plating near the exhaust port.

View attachment 273848View attachment 273849

Looks like an acid treatment gone to far. Someone has cleaned up the cylinder and a new am piston. Time for a new P&C. I'd go oem. They are a good saw and worth fixin right.

 

[jammin_with_j]

Looks like an acid treatment gone to far. Someone has cleaned up the cylinder and a new am piston. Time for a new P&C. I'd go oem. They are a good saw and worth fixin right.

Its hard to say what was done to the saw before I bought it. It definatly had the piston replaced, it was obvious with the cir-clips I saw once the cylinder was removed. The cylinder was pretty smooth when I took it off, there was a rough spot on the top side of the exhaust port that was a bit sharp, I gently used a round file to take the edge off so I could slide the piston in. I can take the blame of anything I did there, but the piston ring had made the initial damage in that area.

I started with the acid, and it started reacting with the damaged edge I took photos of. I immediatly put the water to it and started looking closer to the cylinder wall. I could see the damage and wasn't going to risk making it worse with acid. I can't see me causing the damage with the acid I put on, it was only a few second and I realized the reaction was happening in the wrong place so I put it in water to stop the reaction and started taking pictures.

This is a learning experience for me, if I'm looking at a new OEM kit this one will either get shelfed until I find another blown saw, or wait until I've got some extra money to buy a good kit.

 

[jammin_with_j]

Is there any chance I can grind away some of the damaged area? I know nothing about porting aside from reading posts on here, but I often see material being removed and people changing the base of the jug to manipulate the position of the ports. I don't have the tooling to do a lot of it, but I've got friends and work in a place that has lots of tooling and machines. I'm pretty good figuring out numbers and such and good with my hands and tools. With a micro die grinder and some carbide bits I'm sure I can manipulate the cylinder and ports if I put my mind to it, but I need to know if this damage has gone too far to be able to take a shot at saving it from the junk pile. I will worry about getting the base and squish band cut on the lathe if the time comes.

 

[sunfish]

The acid as eaten the aluminum away at the lower edge of the exhaust port, not saying you did it, could have been done before. Sand it out with 220 sand paper and it might be OK. Or a little grinding, but you don't want to lower, or raise ports without knowing what your doing.

The cylinder looks like it might work fine, but you need to check for air leaks and figure out why the saw keeps eating pistons.

 

[jammin_with_j]

The acid as eaten the aluminum away at the lower edge of the exhaust port, not saying you did it, could have been done before. Sand it out with 220 sand paper and it might be OK. Or a little grinding, but you don't want to lower, or raise ports without knowing what your doing.

The cylinder looks like it might work fine, but you need to check for air leaks and figure out why the saw keeps eating pistons.

I'm not sure what happened the first time it got rebuilt, but the second failure I think was due to horizintal play on the connecting rod end, causing the ring to get pinched or out of place and break. I planned on splitting the case and doing both bearings and seals due to the age of the saw and not knowing the history. It doesn't seem overly complicated to split a case, and I can heat the cases to get the bearings out if needed.

 

[sunfish]

I'm not sure what happened the first time it got rebuilt, but the second failure I think was due to horizintal play on the connecting rod end, causing the ring to get pinched or out of place and break. I planned on splitting the case and doing both bearings and seals due to the age of the saw and not knowing the history. It doesn't seem overly complicated to split a case, and I can heat the cases to get the bearings out if needed.

Well, the connecting rod is supposed to have horizontal play. That is it moves side to side.
Replacing the bearings and seals is a very good idea with this saws history.

 

[jammin_with_j]

Well, the connecting rod is supposed to have horizontal play. That is it moves side to side.
Replacing the bearings and seals is a very good idea with this saws history.

Maybe I'll have to look deeper into why the ring failed on this saw then. The piston didn't have much run time on it by the looks of it out of the saw, the horizontal machine marks are still very clear and the only damage appears to be where the ring broke. I was thinking that the difference in the width of the connecting rod and the difference in the width of the piston connection could have caused too much movement. I know the piston clearance isn't very big in the cylinder, so I'm not sure how much room the piston would have to move off axis, maybe a rough edge or poor material?

 

[woodyman]

Hope you get all the bugs worked out.I would have an expert look at your bottom end to see what needs work.And your top end.I got a low use 2002 359 with the Walbro 199 on it that had idle issues.I set the carb to tree monkey and for cheap he rebuilt it and fixed any problems with it and he stands behind his work.The 359 runs perfect now I think,its out of state right now getting some improvementsI also replaced the partition that came with a metal clamp for $7.00.

That is the original bar and chain on the 359.My camera only works in the dark with flash.

 

[jammin_with_j]

Hope you get all the bugs worked out.I would have an expert look at your bottom end to see what needs work.And your top end.I got a low use 2002 359 with the Walbro 199 on it that had idle issues.I set the carb to tree monkey and for cheap he rebuilt it and fixed any problems with it and he stands behind his work.The 359 runs perfect now I think,its out of state right now getting some improvementsI also replaced the partition that came with a metal clamp for $7.00.

That is the original bar and chain on the 359.My camera only works in the dark with flash.

Saw looks great, I've got a 359G from the mid 2000's but it seems to run fine and haven't messed with it yet.

I'm not worried about breaking down the bottom end, no real need for an expert, its all just mechanical stuff. I learned a lot of principals in school for heating certain parts and cooling other to do a tight fit with bearing, its just a practical application to my schooling. We all have to learn somewhere, I planned on making a simple case splitter to do the clutch side and then pop the PTO out with a bass hammer. I should be able to measure the bearings and seals and order them from a local supplier instead of ordering from the dealer. It wouldn't make much sense for Husqvarna to design their own specialty bearings when there are companies that do this, Husqvarna would just base their design on an off the shelf product that would suit their needs. Its cheaper for them to produce their product that way instead of designing their own bearing and having a bearing company tool the machines to do a non standard bearing. I could be wrong, I know that the 346xp one side can be hard to find an off the shelf bearing with the seal to fo in between the inner and outer race.

Thanks for the reference on the carb. I've heard a lot about carb problems, and don't want to ditch the walbro for a zama.