372xp questions

[woodrat]

I've had this ported 372xp since 2004 or so. I bought it off of ebay brand new but ported, and it was my main saw when I was doing a lot of custom milling, then it sat in the shop for a few years when I wasn't doing much of that, and then last year when I started doing firewood commercially, I pulled it out and freshened it up and did about 50-60 cords with it before it blew up last week.

One of the main crank bearings lost a ball bearing and it went zooming around in there and made a big mess.

So, now I'm looking to rebuild this thing because it was my favorite chainsaw ever, and I have a few questions.

Are the Taiwanese cranks reliable? I see Hiway and New West on the Wolf Creek Saw website for pretty affordable.

Is there any worthwhile benefit to the 52mm and/or the pop up piston top end kits, or should I just stick with stock?

I don't have the skills to port a cylinder, so whatever I do will not include any of that.

My main use is fir firewood, sometimes up to 36" diameter or so. Every now and then I'll get some spruce even bigger than that. I'm running 28 or 24 inch bars and skip tooth chain.

thanks in advance for any tips offered.

 

[bwalker]

The 372 is a great saw. Don't disgrace it with aftermarket parts.

 

[irhunter]

Is there any worthwhile benefit to the 52mm and/or the pop up piston top end kits, or should I just stick with stock?

I don't have the skills to port a cylinder, so whatever I do will not include any of that.

In what way were the cylinder and piston damaged?

+1 for OEM bottom.

Roy

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

The 372 is a great saw. Don't disgrace it with aftermarket parts.

Agreed.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

If a ball came out of a main crank bearing- why do we now need an aftermarket crank?

 

[woodrat]

well, see, the reason I'm asking is if I buy only OEM parts from the Husky dealer, I might as well go find another used saw for less than it would take to rebuild this one with only OEM parts, and just keep this one on the shelf as parts.

That's the decision I need to make, rebuild or just replace.

In what way were the cylinder and piston damaged?

well, a ball bearing went rattling all over the place, so... lol... Piston trashed with a ball bearing embedded in the skirt, could barely get the piston out of the cylinder.

 

[woodrat]

here's what's left of the piston

 

[woodrat]

I think the groove in the crank counterweight might have been from the loose ball bearing. And a mark in the case, too. I'm not sure how much play is acceptable in the rod bearing, but it seems pretty loose. And the bearing looks worn if I look closely, too.

Anyway, that's why I'm thinking I need a new crank and rod.

 

[TLG]

Totally agree with your assumption. Too many small particles are embedded in the piston. You can imagine what toll that has taken on the rod bearing that you can't see. Only a guess. For all you know that crank may have a slight bend to it as the counterweight is heavily gouged.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

I think the groove in the crank counterweight might have been from the loose ball bearing. And a mark in the case, too. I'm not sure how much play is acceptable in the rod bearing, but it seems pretty loose. And the bearing looks worn if I look closely, too.

Anyway, that's why I'm thinking I need a new crank and rod.

Oaky, so the crank sustained some damage as well. Case is scored up. Top end is rooted.
What does the rest of the saw look like?
Might be time to retire this one and buy new.

 

[flatsfisher]

I've compared a couple of aftermarket pistons and cylinders to OEM (they were Stihl). the ports in both pistons and cylinders were quite a bit smaller. the port timing was way different. I did compare a Meteor (Italian made) piston to OEM and it was a pretty close match.

 

[woodrat]

Oaky, so the crank sustained some damage as well. Case is scored up. Top end is rooted.
What does the rest of the saw look like?
Might be time to retire this one and buy new.

The rest of the saw isn't too bad. scuffs and wear and so forth, but overall not bad for its age and 20 years of service. Initially I was thinking I would buy a replacement, or just live with my 272 for a while and then rebuild this one. But if I go all OEM I'm looking at 800-ish in just parts plus the time spent. And I can find a whole new saw for around that price. That's why I was looking at aftermarket options. I know there's a lot of saws out there doing fine with aftermarket parts.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

The rest of the saw isn't too bad. scuffs and wear and so forth, but overall not bad for its age and 20 years of service. Initially I was thinking I would buy a replacement, or just live with my 272 for a while and then rebuild this one. But if I go all OEM I'm looking at 800-ish in just parts plus the time spent. And I can find a whole new saw for around that price. That's why I was looking at aftermarket options. I know there's a lot of saws out there doing fine with aftermarket parts.

Yep- but there is aftermarket- and then there is aftermarket.
Often saw parts places import the cheap as chips versions and add their mark up to make them less than OEM in price- but way less than OEM quality.
Meteor or Hyway seem to be the only real accepted top end aftermarket options, after that it becomes a crapshoot of quality (or lack thereof) and loss of performance compared to original.
Aftermarket crank- well I have no personal experience with those.

Top end, crank, bearings and seals minimum- you are looking at a lot of time and money into an old saw.

 

[flatsfisher]

you can buy a used one as a replacement and you might get a good one or you might get one abused by an idiot.

 

[SteveSr]

I think the groove in the crank counterweight might have been from the loose ball bearing. And a mark in the case, too. I'm not sure how much play is acceptable in the rod bearing, but it seems pretty loose. And the bearing looks worn if I look closely, too.

Anyway, that's why I'm thinking I need a new crank and rod.

Possibly not. The debris is likely aluminum or magnesium (piston, crankcase) which is considerably softer than bearings (big/small) end. Side play in your video is normal. What you really need to check is for any vertical play which would be a deal breaker. What does the rod/pin bearing look like? Any damage? if not the big end is probably alright as well.

 

[steele_109]

You can probably rebuild it for half of your estimate using oem parts.Oem cylinder from a dealer about 230.00 find a good used crank 75.00 bearings and seals 50.00.New saws run better but cost a lot more and will they last as long as that old 372 nobody knows,we won't know for another 20 years or so.

 

[woodrat]

You can probably rebuild it for half of your estimate using oem parts.Oem cylinder from a dealer about 230.00 find a good used crank 75.00 bearings and seals 50.00.New saws run better but cost a lot more and will they last as long as that old 372 nobody knows,we won't know for another 20 years or so.

I guess I worry that a used crank might have issues as well, but I guess if the only thing to check is to make sure the rod doesn't have the wrong kind of play, and that the threads are good and the part where the bearings press on are good, maybe that's all I need to know?

The aftermarket cranks I was looking at on the Wolf Creek website were about the same as a used OEM one on ebay.

 

[Chevboy0167]

I see The Tinman likes these.....

https://www.baileysonline.com/nwp-c...-371-372-chainsaws-replaces-503-74-87-03.html

 

[bwalker]

I guess I worry that a used crank might have issues as well, but I guess if the only thing to check is to make sure the rod doesn't have the wrong kind of play, and that the threads are good and the part where the bearings press on are good, maybe that's all I need to know?

The aftermarket cranks I was looking at on the Wolf Creek website were about the same as a used OEM one on ebay.

I would be a new OEM crankshaft. If the crank goes to hell it will take out all those other new parts with it in many cases.

 

[steele_109]

I ordered another cylinder yesterday it had gone up from 230 to 299 in 2 months.I have 13 or 14 372s that I have built on used cranks and none have failed so far.I have no experience with with after market cranks.I used a few about 5 years ago and they all failed but they weren't from wolf creek.If the aftermarket ever figure out there plating issues they would be alright but till then I'll run oem.