372xp starting issues

[Big_Wood]

I'm not sure if it was mentioned as there are to many long posts to read and I don't have a lot of time this AM. Your flywheel and coil are Chinese along with your top end. Can't tell if the muffler is or not. It's the coil. I've used a few of these hutzl coils now and they are absolute junk. Last one I ordered sparked but would do nothing more then make the saw fart. Hutzl sent a new one that works but for how long I don't know. Hopefully you didn't pay much for that saw. I would never trust those coils on the saws I use for work but I put it on a firewood saw to test.

 

[BroncoRN]

just how close can you get these? as long as it does not hit? will it do damage it like a mag pickup for electronic ignition? (too close on one of those saturates the coil early leading to misfires)

Loosen that nut on the coil, put a business card between contact on coil and flywheel, use the business card to set the "gap" and tighten the nut on the coil.

I would also recommend getting an inline spark checker, cheap and easy.

 

[blsnelling]

Preferably, you do not want a blue coil. Those are rev limited and more difficult to tune.

 

[Robin Wood]

I'm not sure if it was mentioned as there are to many long posts to read and I don't have a lot of time this AM. Your flywheel and coil are Chinese along with your top end. Can't tell if the muffler is or not. It's the coil. I've used a few of these hutzl coils now and they are absolute junk. Last one I ordered sparked but would do nothing more then make the saw fart. Hutzl sent a new one that works but for how long I don't know. Hopefully you didn't pay much for that saw. I would never trust those coils on the saws I use for work but I put it on a firewood saw to test.

im assuming what wc90 said is pretty much what you are going through
you might want to swap the ignition module with the flywheel altogether
i've seen AM flywheel come out from factory poorly balanced and sometimes they
wobble really bad at high speed, it usually doesnt meet the desired weight like oem
heavy flywheels will put great stress on crankshaft
its your call though, nothing wrong with a cheap top end if you ask me

 

[ken morgan]

Loosen that nut on the coil, put a business card between contact on coil and flywheel, use the business card to set the "gap" and tighten the nut on the coil.

I would also recommend getting an inline spark checker, cheap and easy.

Bronco originally set gap with a wire style gap gauge but will try that again.

Preferably, you do not want a blue coil. Those are rev limited and more difficult to tune.

blsnelling, when you say difficult to tune, are you referring to a racing saw like you make, or a general use firewood cutter?

im assuming what wc90 said is pretty much what you are going through
you might want to swap the ignition module with the flywheel altogether
i've seen AM flywheel come out from factory poorly balanced and sometimes they
wobble really bad at high speed, it usually doesnt meet the desired weight like oem
heavy flywheels will put great stress on crankshaft
its your call though, nothing wrong with a cheap top end if you ask me

roger that robin, I have a coil on the way, but have no located a source for a stock flywheel.

 

[ken morgan]

im assuming what wc90 said is pretty much what you are going through
you might want to swap the ignition module with the flywheel altogether
i've seen AM flywheel come out from factory poorly balanced and sometimes they
wobble really bad at high speed, it usually doesnt meet the desired weight like oem
heavy flywheels will put great stress on crankshaft
its your call though, nothing wrong with a cheap top end if you ask me

found a flywheel at patanon power sports its en route. I am not so worried about the upper end either. when I bought the saw off of fleabay the seller was up front about the parts he used so I knew going in that the top end was chinese. did not know that the flywheel and coil was but hey can't win them all. according to him the crank and bearings were good 2010 oem, just changed seals new aftermarket jug with a stock piston & caber rings rebuilt stock carb so we shall see

 

[ken morgan]

I'm not sure if it was mentioned as there are to many long posts to read and I don't have a lot of time this AM. Your flywheel and coil are Chinese along with your top end. Can't tell if the muffler is or not. Hopefully you didn't pay much for that saw. I would never trust those coils on the saws I use for work but I put it on a firewood saw to test.

I knew going in on this saw that it had some non OEM chinese parts but the price was within budget, and the seller was willing to ship to my base.

You have no clue how many times I contacted places in the states trying to buy a saw and had them say " I have to fill out a customs form to ship to a military baes? ....can't do that..sorry.

being overseas can really suck sometimes so you take what you can get a lot of times. I figure if it runs for two or three years cutting firewood and croaks I can rebuild it then with decent parts.

thats the primary reason I settled on the 372 popularity ensures that parts should be available for a couple of more years with no issues.

 

[ken morgan]

Preferably, you do not want a blue coil. Those are rev limited and more difficult to tune.

Brad, (If I may call you that),

will it cause any problems for a stock saw? my plan is not to build a race saw and in the future when the time comes to change the piston, rings & jug; while I might look at the base gasket mod, and even possibly a mild bit of porting it would only be because I have it apart and not because I need it, no race saws for me...this is all about the fireplace and the wood that is available to me.

 

[blsnelling]

It only makes it harder to tune. It's very easy to go too lean and be hitting the rev limiter and think that it's 4-stroking.

 

[ken morgan]

It only makes it harder to tune. It's very easy to go too lean and be hitting the rev limiter and think that it's 4-stroking.

I know this might sound strange, but what kind of air fuel ratio are we looking for....I have a wide band and can tig a bung into the muffler to datalog it along with the output from a wired tach to build a speed density table....just need to know if anybody has ever went that far and if so what A/R I should be looking for.

 

[ken morgan]

does it got spark ?

it sparks, weather it's enough or not I am not experienced enough with 2 strokes to say.

Props to Robin Wood. after all of the drama and the fuss it was the coil.....the one in the saw was sparking, but after I put a new OEM blue coil on the spark was noticeably larger and brighter. one crank and it fired right up.

So now I need to decide if it is worth searching up a used OEM black unlimited coil or not. was not really planning on tuning this saw but after pulling it apart and reassembling it several times I am like why not...hold mah beer and watch this I am still waiting on my tach to arrive so that I can check it while cutting etc. but I guess my next question should be directed at the tuners like Brad ( BLSnelling ) the blue coil from what I have read limits the saw to 13,000 and we want it at 13400 out of the cut so the best I can do to avoid the spark cut is tune it up to about 12,900 put it in the wood and then tune it while cutting until it stops 4 stroking while under load. does that sound about right? is there an RPM I should be looking for while under load? I can have my friend hold the tach while I have it buried in the cut and check the RPM then...would that help any?

suggestions welcome and thanks for the help from everyone to this point.

 

[Robin Wood]

nah i might know some stuffs here and there but nothing compared to some of the guys here

 

[blsnelling]

...I guess my next question should be directed at the tuners like Brad ( BLSnelling ) the blue coil from what I have read limits the saw to 13,000 and we want it at 13400 out of the cut so the best I can do to avoid the spark cut is tune it up to about 12,900 put it in the wood and then tune it while cutting until it stops 4 stroking while under load. does that sound about right? is there an RPM I should be looking for while under load?

You nailed it. You can't do any better than tuning it in the cut.

No, don't worry about RPMs under load. That is WAY too variable.

 

[ken morgan]

so update on the Chusqvarna. still running the Chinese cylinder,and PTO side case. All else was swapped to OEM....(not sure about bearings or seals though) Bought another 372 that was from the original owner and it is 100% stock OEM down to the last screw, so I have something to compare the chusky to. Power wise the AM cylinder is a butt nugget compared to the OEM setup. Though, it has risen a surprising amount in the last couple of months. i guess it is finally breaking in props out to all who commented and lead me down this strange path.

I have since cut about 4 cords of hardwood, and about 5 of softwood, including a lot of noodleing....too many knots in the local wood, but it is free so FWIW I am not complaining. its about time to ditch the 42cc poulan and get me a quality smaller cc saw, have been talking on the forum about the 346xp so now I am looking for one of them need something lightweight for trimming and whatnot. My japanese bud just bought a little itty bitty Stihl it is like 25 or 30 cc but cuts like a raging beast for its size i wanna say it is a 180J ( means japan version) and it is kind of strange, it starts out slow and ramps up while cutting...definitely different form the way the husky's and the poulan works. almost like a 4 stroke. in its power curve. Damn quiet also hmmmm....

 

[Big_Wood]

The coil limit on a 372 should be 13.6k. Happily tuned a saw is always above the limiter. That's the purpose of the limiter. So you tuned it to 13.4? Did someone recommend this to you? At least they are making sure you are in the extra safe zone lol guess it really depends where that aftermarket jug wants to run at too.

 

[ken morgan]

The coil limit on a 372 should be 13.6k. Happily tuned a saw is always above the limiter. That's the purpose of the limiter. So you tuned it to 13.4? Did someone recommend this to you? At least they are making sure you are in the extra safe zone lol guess it really depends where that aftermarket jug wants to run at too.

the highest I could get the saw to turn (to date) and still four stroke out of the cut was initially about 11500, now it is up to 12800, and its RPM and its power have been increasing gradually over the last couple of weekends, so I am watching, checking and listening besides buying the 2nd 372 that was all OEM i also just received a NOS OEM single ring piston and cylinder set from EBAY fricking pricey i tell you, andam debating what to do with it.....part of me wants to let the Am cylinder break in all the way and see what happens, the other half of me wants to say frick it send the saw to one fo the tuners have them put the new cylinder on with no base gasket and a mild port....for now I am waiting to see what happens by the end of this winter, it should be fully run it by then and i cancompare it agaisnt the all OEM saw and decided what to do at that time.

 

[Big_Wood]

either that was a really ****** AM jug or you are playing it way safe due to not being able to hear the 4 stroking at leaner tunes. wouldn't be surprising as i have seen many people tell me their saw is barely 4 stroking when in fact it's a piggy rich. i would tune the thing to 13.8 and run it til it dies. if it doesn't you'll be much happier with it at that tune. if it does, put the OEM one on. some might see this as ****** advice but really, if that top end doesn't at least turn the stock limiter RPM's it's a worthless pile of **** anyways IMO. it's probably the cheapest kit ebay has to offer.

 

[Ima Doher]

I was just reading this thread and noticed toolfreak started the thread but got lost. Did he have to start another new thread to get his saw fixed?

 

[ken morgan]

I was just reading this thread and noticed toolfreak started the thread but got lost. Did he have to start another new thread to get his saw fixed?

he started the thread in 2005 and I dug it up while looking for data on what i thought might have been the same issue and the thread grew from there. All the other forums I frequent prefer that you add to existing threads to keep the knowledge in a central thread peculiar to that item. I would guess that he finally did I mean 10 years is along time for a saw to sit not being used

 

[Ima Doher]

I didn't see dates of former posts when I posted that, I was wondering if he got fixed. My bad, sorry.