figure this one out

[kansan]

Got an xl400 on ebay awhile back. Its a good looking saw that starts good but is a little short on grunt, not alot short but alittle. Today I had the muf off to change an oil line and gave piston a quick look and what to my wondering eyes should appear..... the piston only has one ring on it. This baffles me because the p/c look perfect and the compression is 150 at 4 or 5 pulls. So the question is how the hell did the ring come off and not destroy things, and if it was never put on to begin with why the heck would anyone do that. It is the ring closest to the spark plug. I guess the good news is that when i get a second ring on her she'll be a beast. Bad news is its not a carb problem. Any thoughts other than, (thats whatcha get for saw shoppin on ebay)

 

[Bushmans]

I would say there never was a ring to begin with. Unless it's welded/smashed to the top of the cylinder? Seems unlikely because they are steel. Weird!:msp_confused:

 

[fastchevys]

impossible for the ring to come off while the piston is in the cylinder unless the top of the piston broke off.

 

[struggle]

I bet someone reringed it and broke one ring and said screw it and left it with one ring. Maybe they were familiar with DOlmars having one ring and went with it

 

[ndlawrence]

I would say there never was a ring to begin with. Unless it's welded/smashed to the top of the cylinder? Seems unlikely because they are steel. Weird!:msp_confused:

Ok that is not possible, unless the piston broke apart and that didn't happen because it has 150 psi. Even if the ring was placed on top of the piston it would not rotate because of the "squish" which is at most .050" most are .035/.040" stock, a ring is thicker than that. That ring was either taking out by somebody or never put in in the first place.

 

[eiklj]

I bet someone reringed it and broke one ring and said screw it and left it with one ring. Maybe they were familiar with DOlmars having one ring and went with it

I would agree too. I've seen people do weird stuff to small engines just to say they're "fixed" and then sell them right away.

 

[fastchevys]

Beware of eBay saws

I bought a 359 on eBay last week, the guy told me it was a 2008 that was only used 5 times and the pictures looked like a new saw. I had him ship it directly to Brad for a port job. When Brad checked it out he said it was a 2002 model with a new after market piston and cylinder but the saw looked like it had very little to no use. I sent the seller an email and told him that he had lied about it and he admitted that he bought it at a dealer going out of business sale and did not know anything about the saw. I don't think I would believe anything he tells me. If you buy from eBay beware!

 

[ndlawrence]

I bought a 359 on eBay last week, the guy told me it was a 2008 that was only used 5 times and the pictures looked like a new saw. I had him ship it directly to Brad for a port job. When Brad checked it out he said it was a 2002 model with a new after market piston and cylinder but the saw looked like it had very little to no use. I sent the seller an email and told him that he had lied about it and he admitted that he bought it at a dealer going out of business sale and did not know anything about the saw. I don't think I would believe anything he tells me. If you buy from eBay beware!

You need to threaten him with bad fb and get him to refund you part of your money!