Echo CS330t Broken Flywheel

[TheCrunge]

Hello all, I just picked up a Craigslist Echo CS330t for $25 with a broken flywheel. The guy said it was running great then stopped and voila, broken flywheel.

After some searching, I haven't been able to find any other accounts of something like this happening. Has anyone else ever seen this happen and what could have caused this? My first thought is a casting defect in the actual part, but I'm curious if there is anything else I should be worried about.

Another thing that has me potentially concerned is when i turn the crank it moves freely in both directions until it gets near the sparkplug, at which point it seems to stick. I can turn it past this point, but it takes a reasonable amount of force. I've pulled the plug and muffler and from what I can see of the cylinder and piston, there doesn't appear to be any marking. Anyone have any idea what is going on here?

 

[pro94lt]

I'd suspect it's been dropped...

 

[TheCrunge]

That's certainly a possibility, but the plastics are all what I would consider in great shape. Until you open up the cover, the outside of the saw looks exactly like it should.

 

[rynosawr]

The crank may have gotten bent when the flywheel broke.

When you say it takes considerable force to turn the crank when it gets near the plug, are you leaving the spark plug in the cylinder at that time or no plug?

In other words, if the plug is still in, I would say it just has good compression...

If the plug has been removed and it is still tough to turn....

Then there is a mechanical issue.

Did you pull the clutch off yet to see if something is stuck under there or messed up?

 

[HarleyT]

define "broke"..

 

[rupedoggy]

"broke" is what you will be after you finally fix this $25 bargain!

 

[TheCrunge]

So the flywheel was in two pieces when I got it. Still not sure how that could happen.

Clutch is off so nothing there. The piston moves back and forth freely with no issues until it gets to the plug. It then takes considerate force to get it to continue on its way.

You guys are confirming my fears that this was too good to be true. I guess I'm going to learn how to take the whole thing apart now.

 

[rynosawr]

Do you still have the plug installed or not?

 

[TheCrunge]

Sorry, meant to clarify. I've taken the plug and muffler off with no change. I'm assuming this means the crank is bent.

 

[TheCrunge]

Question for the experts. Would it even be possible to bend the crank like this? Looking around, I don't see many (or any) instances of this actually happening. I'm assuming if the crank was bent, it would look somewhat off kilter on either the clutch or flywheel side?

Is there something else that could be causing the piston to bind up slightly in one position? Sorry for all the messages, this definitely has me confused.

 

[HarleyT]

If a flywheel split in two while running, it would have been quite exciting. Any visible signs of this happenning?

Folks will come up with any story, usually, in place of the truth.

Got any pics?

 

[pro94lt]

I assumed it was dropped because I've dropped to many plastic case saws and what your describing is how mine were. The screws hold the plastic together even though it's now ruined. Not sure that's what happened but very well could be. That's why we love magnesium...

 

[TheCrunge]

Pictures are below. Sorry for the bad quality, my workshop doesn't have the best natural light.

Obviously the flywheel is shot. The recoil housing looks fine to my eye, I don't see anything obviously wrong there. Even the area around the crank looks okay to me. I will note one peculiarity. Since the flywheel was broken, it came off without removing the nut that holds it on. I blocked up the piston using the usual cord method and took the nut off. It was all kinds of stuck on there and kind of cross threaded. I was able to get it off without visibly damageing the threads on the crank, but I may need to chase them and will definitely be using a new nut to hold the new flywheel on.

I'll leave it up to your expert eyes, but I don't see anything too out of the ordinary (except the whole broken flywheel thing).

 

[Moto Vita]

I'll suggest that the flywheel could have broken when somebody tried to pull it with a gear puller and may have nothing to do with the underlying problem(s) with the saw.

 

[HarleyT]

Yeah, if it came apart while running, those little fins would be gone. Most likely destroyed by someone that didn't know what he was doing, and won't admit it.......

 

[TheCrunge]

That's kind of what I'm thinking as well. I'm hoping the internals of the saw are okay, but this piston movement has me worried. I've been trying to avoid it since I've never done it before, but I think at some point I'm going to have to take the entire saw apart so I can check the piston and cylinder. At this point I'm not sure what else I can do. I'm not sure what would really be stopping piston movement in only one place. When moving it the rest of the way, I hear what sounds like good compression. Could it just be that the crank is just that much more difficult to turn without the mechanical advantage of the flywheel and clutch on it?

Another question as well. When taking the clutch apart, the shoes came off the triangular piece that holds them. Does anyone have a tip on how to reassembly the three shoes onto clutch hub?

 

[GlynnC]

I'll suggest that the flywheel could have broken when somebody tried to pull it with a gear puller and may have nothing to do with the underlying problem(s) with the saw.

I second this suggestion! I also bought one off CL for about the same dollars--locked up engine--straight gas still in tank. I bought a new short block for around $115, now one of my favorite saws!!

 

[chainsawman2011]

I got a mostly complete cs330 with low compression $50 shipped if u are interested pm me


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TheCrunge]

I appreciate the offer. I need to dig into this one a little bit to see what the deal is first. I don't wanna get too far into something I don't know anything about.

 

[TheCrunge]

So I had a few minutes and pulled the engine. I got the piston out and lo and behold, it looks like the ring gave up. What was clunking was pieces of the ring at the bottom of the cylinder. The cylinder has one minor score on it (hard to get good pics in there) and a bunch of damage at the bottom. The piston is pretty mucked up too as can be seen below. I'm kind of bummed, I was looking forward to using this saw. At this point, I guess I'm going to either have to part out the few valuable parts or keep an eye out for a cheaper fresh piston and cylinder. At least I am only out $35, but I hate tossing something like this.