Embarassed, need advice...

[nmurph]

Russ, stop beating yourself up on this. His saw was less and you could hold it bf you bought it. I would take Cantdog up on fixing the saw. It might be nothing more than a loose bolt. Even if it's bearings, I bet the two of you can spend an evening swapping them out and you will learn a lot about what makes a saw tick. It is a great education when you see what's inside and how everything works. You will come away a more educated user...who know's, you might even get bit with the CAD bug.

It looks like you are warning others in your neck of the woods about this guy.

 

[Islero]

Russ Brown do you have time to return to the town of your birth?? I have some experience with these saws..and the tools to split these cases..and would be willing to look at it for you and at least give you an honest opinion free of charge. Some dealers are schmucks..some are good...most really want to sell you a new saw so that automatically makes your saw a piece of junk. Just from the read...there has been a lot of trouble with the Walbro carbs that came on these saws, but if your starts, idles and spools up properly the carb is fine. Not sure what the noise problem is but I'm pretty sure we can figure it out in a half hr or so..at least then you would know which way to go from here. The 357 is an excellent saw and is worth repairing if it is indeed broken. Pm me if you're interested...we'll talk it over..

Cantdog,

Thank you so very much for your compassion and willingness to help Russ out!! Rep for you, Islero :smile2:

 

[Bluefish]

Nope wasn't me Murphy. Someone must be taking up for me.

 

[Anthony_Va.]

Yea I'm with Murph on this one. Take it to Cantdog and learn a thing or two while you get your saw fixed.

I was like you not long ago. Only difference is that I am pretty handy with Mechanics. But the reason I can fix most anything is because I watched and learned when other people were fixing things.

I'm working on rebuilding an 075 Stihl right now, which is the first saw I've ever had torn down to the crank. I have had good luck with everything so far. I have a workshop manual downloaded for it that I got offline, kinda like the one Sawtroll posted for you. It's nothing more than just following steps and using a few tools. I feel alot of people could do it if they tried.

It's not so much of whether or not your mechanically inclined, it's a matter of whether or not you are willing to try and learn something new. Good luck with it. I feel oyu will be fine when it's all said and done.:msp_thumbup:

 

[Dan_IN_MN]

The Man has spoken. PM coming your way King of the Red Saw... Thanks, Russ

Feeling any better about this?

Bluefish.......wasn't there a famous fish in a movie that was blue? :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[rupedoggy]

I bought a little husky that was making a heck of a racket. Everyone stayed away because it sounded like major work. I bought it for almost nothing and figured I would take it apart and fix it. I found the air deflection piece by the flywheel was loose. It had shifted over and was hitting flywheel fins. Got it lined up and tightened the screw.... perfect saw! :cool2:

 

[tallguys]

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.

Seriously??? Even though this schmuck advertised the saw "as inspected and new piston, newer oem cylinder rebuilt carb and seals. Works as should ready to cut wood..."

I don't know about you but that to me is false advertising and misrepresenting a product. Whatever the OP dishes out to that seller is more than warranted.

 

[parrisw]

Don't even want to talk about the BOSS. 6'1" redhead who thinks I am an idiot with money.... And she may be right.
She has been ugly since the day I found out the saw wasn't right. Nookie is hard to come by these days. Russ

Seriously man, everyone makes dumb decisions in their life, I'm sure you're wife has or will in the future, $350 isn't much in the big scheme of things, stop beating yourself up about it already.

357 is a great saw and very worth fixing, maybe its simple! Anyway you could post a video of the saw running so we can hear it?

 

[Saw Dr.]

I didn't read the CL ad to see exactly what it said. On CL, you have to be very careful. I stand by the notion that 9 of 10 folks are good ones. The seller is very likely a member here, which would make this thread a whole lot more entertaining. I just wish he would chime in. It matters not if the guy is a snake. If the buyer was not educated, he should have gotten educated or taken a friend along to check it out. Before it gets started, I have had exactly three comebacks on CL ever. All of which were resolved to both parties satisfaction. I would never intentionally rip someone off. It gets touchy with used items. If the tranny drops on the new/used car you bought while you pull out of the parking lot, will the dealer give you the $ back?

It will be interesting to see if Cantdog calls the bearings bad or not. I have been moonlighting for a dealer, and they don't even really want the trades. It takes time and money to sell used saws, and they just don't care when the $10K Exmark customers are standing there. So they basically just do trades in order to make the new saw sale happen. I have gotten several trade-ins from them to look at. They always have the same discrepancy on the tag - "Figure out why this was traded in." So one dealer saying no thanks on the saw, and another saying $100 does not surprise me at all. The saw could be fine.

Neal said something about a warning being posted on CL. I think we should all wait until the autopsy comes back. Now that the owner thinks there is a problem, he is very likely listening for things. I, personally, have not had a 357 or 359 in my shop with bad crank bearings. I'm sure it happens, but my little shop has not seen it yet.

 

[Cantdog]

It's hard to tell how all this will play out.....I pm'd Russ and I think he will be giving me a call in a couple hrs and if he has time this morning, we should have some more info today. If he is busy and can't make it today it will probably be mid week, next week before I have time to look at it. Hopefully this does not need bearings and the problem is something simple...I too, have yet to see a 357/359 with bad berings....there is always a first though.. All the dealers I know are basically honest, but that said they also "size you up" when you walk through the door and every last one might take a little advantge of inexperience.... the sad fact is that there are many, many saws are condemmed simply because there is more money in selling new saws than repairing them and if you have a storefront and staff to support the bottom line is what is important to you. Honesty is be best business policy but that gets stretched nearly to the beaking point often, by many.

 

[Chris J.]

Russ, don't beat yourself up, we've all had bad experiences with used saws. I would be very m-bare-assed to admit how much I spent on repairs on a Stihl 011AVT. Get together with Robin/Cantdog, I'm sure he'll diagnose the problem and show you the proper repair (I doubt that many shops would let you help with the repair).

I can't (nice pun) rep you, Robin, need to spread it around.

 

[Cantdog]

Just got off the phone with Russ....he had to work today and I'm up against it from this afternoon through the long weekend but we did set a time next Wed evening to get into that 357XP. Nice guy to talk to...funny thing....he was born in the little hospital in my town....small world at times!!

Hopefully it won't take much to find the issue. May well be bearings though, considering the seller said he put seals, used cyl and new piston in this saw.....it suffered some sort of major failure earlier. Time will tell.......he seems to have the situation well in hand....but I'll let him take it from here and disclose what he wants..

 

[sunfish]

If the tranny drops on the new/used car you bought while you pull out of the parking lot, will the dealer give you the $ back?

I actually had this happen (not my money back, but). I traded for a used F250 off a used car/truck lot, years ago. A couple days later the trans blew and I was on the side of the road. The dealer I bought it from just happened to drive by and stopped. He apologized and drove me back to his lot, gave me the keys to my old truck and said he'd take care of the other one. A week later I picked up the newer one, with a rebuilt trans (at no charge) and all was good. There was no warranty and I really did not expect this treatment and did not ask for it, but had great respect for the guy after.

 

[Somesawguy]

I actually had this happen (not my money back, but). I traded for a used F250 off a used car/truck lot, years ago. A couple days later the trans blew and I was on the side of the road. The dealer I bought it from just happened to drive by and stopped. He apologized and drove me back to his lot, gave me the keys to my old truck and said he'd take care of the other one. A week later I picked up the newer one, with a rebuilt trans (at no charge) and all was good. There was no warranty and I really did not expect this treatment and did not ask for it, but had great respect for the guy after.

Wow, that's a standup guy right there. :msp_smile:

 

[Chris J.]

I actually had this happen (not my money back, but). I traded for a used F250 off a used car/truck lot, years ago. A couple days later the trans blew and I was on the side of the road. The dealer I bought it from just happened to drive by and stopped. He apologized and drove me back to his lot, gave me the keys to my old truck and said he'd take care of the other one. A week later I picked up the newer one, with a rebuilt trans (at no charge) and all was good. There was no warranty and I really did not expect this treatment and did not ask for it, but had great respect for the guy after.

An honorable used car dealer is rare.

I had a one-armed uncle (now deceased) who would buy, repair/doctor, & resell used vehicles. His nickname, definately not a term of endearment, was The One-Armed Bandit.

 

[Saw Dr.]

An honorable used car dealer is rare.

I had a one-armed uncle (now deceased) who would buy, repair/doctor, & resell used vehicles. His nickname, definately not a term of endearment, was The One-Armed Bandit.

Looks like you bumped the bold function halfway through the post.

 

[Cantdog]

Well Russ (OP) came by the shop this evening...heck of a nice guy...unfortunately the shops he had taken the 357XP to had not steered him wrong.....bad sounds from the flywheel side main....maybe both but definately the flywheel side. You could hear it pulling it over and worse when running. With the recoil and clutch cover off you could feel the bearings "notching" as you rolled the crank well off the magnets.
Bummer.... nice looking saw and ran pretty well too...didn't seem to be suffering from the Walbro "Gremlins". So it looks like we will be doing the deed and splitting the cases for bearing replacement and a few other trinkets along the way..it still has the plastic clamp/boot/partition etc. I guess what ever failure that destroyed the P&C took the bearings along as well...to bad the seller did not pick up on that!! More to follow LOL!!!

 

[Cantdog]

Or not....Russ is certainly between a rock and a hard spot here. Fix it, sell it take a beating.....sell it as a beat saw..take a beating......Russ is an honest man and doesn't want to pass his problems off on some unsuspecting buyer......Me?? I'd fix it and keep til hell froze over....but that's why I have 25-30 perfect rebuilt saws that I will never live long enough to wear out!!! (or sell!!)

 

[Gologit]

Russ, don't beat yourself up, we've all had bad experiences with used saws. I would be very m-bare-assed to admit how much I spent on repairs on a Stihl 011AVT. Get together with Robin/Cantdog, I'm sure he'll diagnose the problem and show you the proper repair (I doubt that many shops would let you help with the repair).

I can't (nice pun) rep you, Robin, need to spread it around.

I got him for you.