Crankshaft seals?

[AngelofDarkness]

So I was messing around with my little XL I just picked up, cleaned up the carb and put it all back together, I take it out back and fire it up, tweak a bit and decide it's not running too bad. So I put the bar and chain on and fill up the oil tank. As soon as it restarts, it starts to smoke, bad, I mean this thing is chugging and laying down a thick smokescreen. I fiddle with the adjustments on the carb and I can't get the smoke to go away, and after about 10 seconds the saw dies out and I can see oil dripping out of the muffler.

So I suspect the oiling system, I open the case again and pulled out the little rubber line going to the oil tank. I put it back together and fire it up again, the smoke clears away in a few seconds and it's back to normal-ish.

So is this an oiler problem or a block problem? It would seem that I should get positive pressure out of the little port on the block to push the oil up to the oiler. Could the oiler be plugged?

 

[mattinky]

There is a check valve, commonly called a duckbill valve that goes in the end of the line that feeds crankcase pressure into the oil tank. The line rots over time and the duckbill falls off and allows the bar oil to get sucked back into the crankcase - thats why it's smoking so bad.

Take the oil tank off and rinse it out with some solvent, drain the solvent out through a screen or some sort of strainer and you will most likely find the check valve and it's connector. Some of them also have a pump with a diaphram / plunger that can cause problems.

This topic has been discussed many times here, do a search and you'll find lots of info about the little Homelites. I've got quite a few of those little saws and they all have this very same problem with age. It's very easy to fix, and these saws are easy to work on. Matt

 

[lesorubcheek]

Try here.
Dan

 

[AngelofDarkness]

Thanks Matt.

I just troubleshot it a bit more, I removed the tank and the two connecting lines, and with the aid of a drinking straw blew air pressure down the short line that comes from the crankcase, and I got oil to flow out of the longer line to the oiler port. So I do not have a clog in that part of the system. I did the same to the little brass oil port by the bar and it is clear as well.

There was nothing on the end of the little oil line coming from the crankcase, and it appeared to have rotted away as it was jagged and chewed up. I will check the oiler setup on my Super 2 parts saw to see if it has that valve on it.

 

[AngelofDarkness]

Allright, I guess I am a bit confused. Is this valve on the end of the line at the bottom of the tank as part of the pickup strainer? I checked the oil tank on this saw and on two other Super 2's I have and none of them have anything on the line coming from the crankcase. Is it possible to overfill the oil tank and cause this to happen? Is there supposed to be an air gap at the top of the tank?

 

[asharrow]

The valve is supposed to be on the line from the crankcase that enters the top of the tank to the right of the filler hole. If you don't see the duckbill there, it's off and (hopefully) in the bottom of the oil tank.

 

[AngelofDarkness]

I found it, and yes it is quite tiny. I took one off of a parts saw tank, as the tank on this XL was cracked, and I think I may have poured the check out with the remaining bar oil.

I should be good to go, I checked the check valve blowing through it with a drinking straw to make sure I have it in right. Should be back in business.

 

[OnlyHomelites]

Just make sure the oil ines get hooked up correctly though...if you get them backwards, the saw will suck oil and make a smoky oily mess! Don't ask me how I know that!

 

[berryman70]

Just make sure the oil ines get hooked up correctly though...if you get them backwards, the saw will suck oil and make a smoky oily mess! Don't ask me how I know that!

Is that what a suck-back preventer is for (A joke on AS awhile back)
I'm glad this thread is here as I just dissasembled my XL because of the oiler not working, but I'm going to freshen it up too.

 

[mattinky]

Allright, I guess I am a bit confused. Is this valve on the end of the line at the bottom of the tank as part of the pickup strainer? I checked the oil tank on this saw and on two other Super 2's I have and none of them have anything on the line coming from the crankcase. Is it possible to overfill the oil tank and cause this to happen? Is there supposed to be an air gap at the top of the tank?

The filter / strainer goes on the line that runs to the bar, the check valve goes in the end of the line that comes from the crankcase. I've seen the line from the crankcase go down to the bottom of tanks on the saws that don't also use a pump. On the saws with the pumps the line goes into the tank about an inch. You can fill the tank all the way up.

In the photo below the duckbill valve is on the right, the connector it uses to attach to the crankcase line is on the left. These saws also use the same duckbill valve in one of the holes in the fuel tank, so it can vent. The oil cap has to seal tight for the oiler to work. And, like I said in my earler post some of these small Homies also use a diaphram oil pump with a plunger, on these saws you need 3 lines to make the oiler work. I'm no expert but I've spent the last couple weekends getting several of these saws running and oiling (and asking questions here just like you), with a little practice you'll understand it better and it'll be a piece of cake!