Embarassed, need advice...

[Bluefish]

Hi, My name is Russ Brown and I screwed up. I could have bought a 357xp from nmurph but purchased one locally on craiglist.
Things were not right from the beginning and the guy refused to address my concerns.
Advertised as inspected and new piston, newer oem cylinder rebuilt carb and seals. Works as should ready to cut wood...
Ran ok in my Nube mind except high pitch noise in the cut and pulled over a little strange.
Decide to take an educational beating and trade it in for a 562xp which I wanted in the first place.
WAKE UP CALL!!! Go to 2 separate dealerships and they crap on the walbro carb and inform me that the crankshaft bearings are on their way out. One shop wont insult me with a trade offer, the other says 100$ I am not handy guys... They quote parts and labor to make it right and I almost cry. I thought I would get 200$ and I have 350$ in it as of the purchase 3 weeks ago.
Wife is pissed, I have wood to cut, and am not sure what to do... There is a guy I know who is good with Huskys about 100 miles from me that gets 25- 30 an hour. Anyone around Bangor where I live is getting double that. The saw is clean and has 155 psi compression, new bar and chain.
Do I trade it and cry, try to get it fixed, or light it and throw it threw the guy who sold it to me bay window.
Wife wants to raise hell with him on craigslist as he has many saws online for sale but I doubt there is any recourse.
Give me some guidance, I probably wont sleep well tonight. Shoulda gone with Murph's saw. I SUCK!!! Russ

 

[Saw Dr.]

Are you SURE the crank bearings are "on their way out?" It will have a dead spot when you pull it over without the plug in. That is the magnets on the flywheel attracting to the laminations on the coil. How does it run? I would not raise a stink with the CL seller. That will get you nothing but an enemy. Sounds like he let you inspect it before you bought. It is NOT his fault that you did not know what you were looking at when you bought it. Failing crank bearings make a whirring or rushing sound corresponding to the speed of the engine. Either way, we can help you fix it yourself. At the very least if it does need crank bearings, you could carry (or ship) the bare case somewhere and have the bearings changed.

So how does it run?

 

[sunfish]

That sucks man! Like the Doc said, it can be fixed and it's not that hard.

 

[nmurph]

You can get the bearings and seals for about $30. The hardest part will be splitting the saw. As Doc mentioned, strip the saw down to the case (you only need a 4mm and 5mm allen wrench, and a screwdriver) and take it to the saw shop for them to split it. It is about a five minute job if everything is removed. Take lots of step-by-step pics as you remove parts. It sounds much harder than it is in reality.

 

[Showme]

Go buy the 562XP and be happy. Then you'll have a good running saw and can figure out the other saw without the pressure of "I've got to get it working".

 

[SawTroll]

I'm really sorry to hear about this - buying used saws from someone you don't know and trust is always a risk, unless you are able to check it out properly before the money changes hands. E-bay offers some buyer protection if the item is misrepresented - but I suspect Craigslist dont?

If only the bearings are bad, someone on here may be able to "walk" you through the repair, but I guess we don't really know that? I am no mechanic, so I am not able to do it.

Far from all those Walbro carbs act up, and As sponsor Tree Monkey has offered a cure for them, for 25 USD I believe.

 

[Yoopermike]

Hi, My name is Russ Brown and I screwed up. I could have bought a 357xp from nmurph but purchased one locally on craiglist.
Things were not right from the beginning and the guy refused to address my concerns.
Advertised as inspected and new piston, newer oem cylinder rebuilt carb and seals. Works as should ready to cut wood...
Ran ok in my Nube mind except high pitch noise in the cut and pulled over a little strange.
Decide to take an educational beating and trade it in for a 562xp which I wanted in the first place.
WAKE UP CALL!!! Go to 2 separate dealerships and they crap on the walbro carb and inform me that the crankshaft bearings are on their way out. One shop wont insult me with a trade offer, the other says 100$ I am not handy guys... They quote parts and labor to make it right and I almost cry. I thought I would get 200$ and I have 350$ in it as of the purchase 3 weeks ago.
Wife is pissed, I have wood to cut, and am not sure what to do... There is a guy I know who is good with Huskys about 100 miles from me that gets 25- 30 an hour. Anyone around Bangor where I live is getting double that. The saw is clean and has 155 psi compression, new bar and chain.
Do I trade it and cry, try to get it fixed, or light it and throw it threw the guy who sold it to me bay window.
Wife wants to raise hell with him on craigslist as he has many saws online for sale but I doubt there is any recourse.
Give me some guidance, I probably wont sleep well tonight. Shoulda gone with Murph's saw. I SUCK!!! Russ

Id sure like to know why?? I suppose they prefer the cheap Chinese made zama carbs??? Ive never had a problem with a walbro carb, hell over half my saw collection runs walbro carbs.

 

[Bluefish]

Both shops were surprised how well it ran and idled. One shop said 160 psi and the other said 155. I told them I ran tru fuel 50-1 and one of the 2 shops stated that that was why the saw ran decent with that "####ty" carb. If the parts are that cheap maybe I can find someone to do it cheaper than a shop. I would love to "assist" someone but am scared to tackle it myself.
Sounds like I shouldn't take 100$ for a trade though... Both shops said the bearings were going so I believe them. Bottom line, I know too little to buy used from a stranger. Expensive lesson for me. Russ

 

[roncoinc]

Are you SURE the crank bearings are "on their way out?" It will have a dead spot when you pull it over without the plug in. That is the magnets on the flywheel attracting to the laminations on the coil. How does it run? I would not raise a stink with the CL seller. That will get you nothing but an enemy. Sounds like he let you inspect it before you bought. It is NOT his fault that you did not know what you were looking at when you bought it. Failing crank bearings make a whirring or rushing sound corresponding to the speed of the engine. Either way, we can help you fix it yourself. At the very least if it does need crank bearings, you could carry (or ship) the bare case somewhere and have the bearings changed.

So how does it run?

If you read his post he admits he dont know much about saws,so he relies on the honesty of the seller and it's HIS fault ???? taking advantage of somebody is OK when the buyer knows not what to look for ??.. $350 for that saw it should be in VG condition,as was ADVERTISED ! was it not advertised that way ??
If TWO saw shops say it has a problem i would be at the sellers door with more than demanding my money back !!
But it IS nice to know it is now acceptable to sell crap because after the buyer looks at it i am free from any moral obligations and responsabilities..

 

[Bluefish]

Yes on the zama. The shop that offered me a trade in said the zama was about 80$ I think I see it on e-bay for 58$ It has idled and spooled up fine since I have had it but there is a strange noise that get worse at wot. Russ

 

[Yoopermike]

Yes on the zama. The shop that offered me a trade in said the zama was about 80$ I think I see it on e-bay for 58$ It has idled and spooled up fine since I have had it but there is a strange noise that get worse at wot. Russ

There putting a hell of a markup on that carb, zama carbs are about 20-40 bucks new!
Edit.. I see there running around $60 on ebay, at the same time I do not see any walbro or tillotson carbs for the saw either.

 

[SawTroll]

You can get the bearings and seals for about $30. The hardest part will be splitting the saw. As Doc mentioned, strip the saw down to the case (you only need a 4mm and 5mm allen wrench, and a screwdriver) and take it to the saw shop for them to split it. It is about a five minute job if everything is removed. Take lots of step-by-step pics as you remove parts. It sounds much harder than it is in reality.

Sounds promising, as I thought it would. :msp_smile:

Bluefish, here is a 357xp Workshop Manual, that maybe can get you started.

 

[Bluefish]

This guy has had saws on CL for a while so I figured he was legit. You can see his saws on maine craigslist right now. The town listed is Vienna. I think he burned me and I am just a trusting fool. His ads make him sound pretty thorough and trustworthy. High price to pay for an education. Russ

 

[sunfish]

Yes on the zama. The shop that offered me a trade in said the zama was about 80$ I think I see it on e-bay for 58$ It has idled and spooled up fine since I have had it but there is a strange noise that get worse at wot. Russ

The walbro is a good carb and as long as it runs good, it does not need replacing. Sounds like all ya need is crank bearings and seals.

 

[SawTroll]

Yes on the zama. The shop that offered me a trade in said the zama was about 80$ I think I see it on e-bay for 58$ It has idled and spooled up fine since I have had it but there is a strange noise that get worse at wot. Russ

If the saw idles and revs up well, there is no need to change or repair the carb - as I said, far from all of them act up. :smile2:

 

[Jacob J.]

If the crank bearings truly need replaced and you're willing to strip the saw down to just the bare crankcase, I'd swap out the bearings and seal for free but it would cost you the parts and shipping. I don't know that this is your best option, it's just one of many.

 

[procarbine2k1]

If you would be willing to list it, you would get a decent price on Ebay. In the description, list all that you have posted here (155-160psi, strange noise at WOT, selling for parts/fix). I would think you would grab 150-200. May make a nice weekend project for someone, and you can get some of your funds back toward a new saw.
If you are pinched on cash, hold off on the 562, grab a 346 or the like from nmurph and when the time comes that you want to grab the 562, resell the saw you bought from nmurph (346's hold their value pretty well).

 

[Bluefish]

Looks like good reading Niko, can't open it though. Russ

 

[Bluefish]

I see your train of thought. Don't want to dump my hassle on someone else though. Need a bigger saw than a 346xp and murph was gonna hook me up on a nice 357xp. I got anxious and thought I was saving money, now look at me... If I had gone that route I might not be jonesing for a 562xp now. I really blew this one. Russ

 

[SawTroll]

Looks like good reading Niko, can't open it though. Russ

It opens fine for me, through that link - but it takes a little time. I guess it depends on your Internet connection.....