Husky 353 Not Oiling

[DPDISXR4Ti]

It would appear that the automatic chain oiler on my 353 has stopped working. I tried turning the adjustment screw fully counter-clockwise, with no change. I need to tear this thing down for a cleaning regardless, but anything in particular I should be looking for? And yes, the oil is full.

 

[SawTroll]

Here is a workshop manual.

 

[buck futter]

Clean your bar out. the hole that puts the oil in the bar groove is likely plugged. some people use a putty knife, I use compressed air.

let us know if you need more help.

buck

 

[HiOctane]

Most likely your pump or hose is blocked.Check also the oil strainer in the tank if not clogged.The plastic gear could be stripped too.The clutch is L.H. threads.

 

[Hard Knocks]

Replace the oil pump with the updated pump part # 5441801-01. The new pump has two locking tangs that fit tightly into the pickup hose and stop it from drawing air instead of oil. You should also replace your oil pickup hose while you are at it. If your saw is still under warranty your dealer will fix it for no charge. This has been a semi regular problem with the 353.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Replace the oil pump with the updated pump part # 5441801-01. The new pump has two locking tangs that fit tightly into the pickup hose and stop it from drawing air instead of oil. You should also replace your oil pickup hose while you are at it. If your saw is still under warranty your dealer will fix it for no charge. This has been a semi regular problem with the 353.

Appreciate this very specific feedback as well as the others. Any idea offhand what the warranty is on this saw?

 

[Hard Knocks]

The saw has a two year warranty. If it is just past that period you might want to talk to your dealer to see if he can get it looked after for you.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Replace the oil pump with the updated pump part # 5441801-01. The new pump has two locking tangs that fit tightly into the pickup hose and stop it from drawing air instead of oil. You should also replace your oil pickup hose while you are at it. If your saw is still under warranty your dealer will fix it for no charge. This has been a semi regular problem with the 353.

Okay, I'm finally getting back around to this - need to use the saw, but need to fix it first (go figure, huh?) Anything else I should do to the saw while it's apart aside from a mixture adjustment? A no-cat muffler or modify my existing one perhaps?

I've probably let this lapse too long to think that I'll get it covered under warranty - any suggestions on a qualified dealer/service center in the Orange/Rockland/Passaic/Bergen County area? I imagine I could do the job myself, but time is at a premium right now, and we see how far I've gotten on getting this fixed over the past 6 months.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Nothing like a 90 degree Summer day to think about chain saws, but for some reason I decided today to either fix this thing or take it to a shop for repair. So I tore down the three covers and power washed it (if only to see what I was doing). Re-assembled without the bar & chain, started it up, and lo and behold, there's oil coming out of the oiler. Put the bar & chain back on (made sure the oil hole was open), start it up, and there's oil on the chain.

Best guess here is that the oil delivery tube was clogged, but I didn't know enough beforehand to check it. I haven't cut any wood yet - it is 90 degrees after all - so we'll see if I get enough oil when cutting. Along those lines, if either the plastic drive gear was stripped or the oil pump was sucking in air (two possible issues described above), might I get some oil, but not enough?

 

[SawTroll]

Good to know it had a happy ending - the learning probably is to look for the simpler issues before the more complicated ones.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Well, so much for a happy ending.

I knew the best way to really test this was to cut some wood, so that's precisely what I did yesterday. First thing I did was sharpen the blade - done. Made one cut through a ~18" Cottonwood log and by the time I'm doing the second cut, I'm starting to see smoke coming off the blade. :censored: Stop engine, chain is screaming hot and doesn't really seem to have any oil residue.

I manage to get through the small batch of logs I wanted to cut, stopping after every couple cuts and splitting some logs while things cool off. Oil IS being consumed, so I'm really not sure what is going on here. It seems that roughly 2/3rds of a oil tank is used for every full tank of fuel. I do however notice that some oil leaks out the bottom (enough to make a small puddle), when the saw is left stationary. This seems to be more the case when the oil tank is full.

Thoughts?

 

[fiasco]

Probably the little holes on the bar that mate up to the oil hose discharge on the body of the saw are clogged. If it's leaking out the bottom and not getting on the chain, that's usually the problem. Take the bar off, and give it the pressure washer treatment all round. If you have air, you could just run some air down the channel. Also, look above and below where the bar attaches to the saw on the bar. That's where there should be a little hole on each side.

If you set the bar down with the bolt hole area to the right, the hole should be above it. Some bars have bigger oil holes than others, so if the bar is really grimy it might not be obvious. Clean out the hole. A picture would be a big help...

http://i22.ebayimg.com/03/i/07/c0/bb/63_1_b.JPG

Look to the left down low on the picture linked above, you'll see the little hole to the right of the two vertically oriented holes. That's what's probably clogged.


I'd rather run out of gas before oil, but if the chain seems too dry, maybe the pump needs turned up. My 2159 seems to use about the same ratio, and the chain stays pretty well lubed, IMHO.



Shouldn't you be on the Merkur club forums?

--Andrew
88 XR4Ti

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Thanks Andrew - I'll investigate what you've suggested. I'm wondering if it could be the pump, as "Hard Knocks" originally suggested above.

And yea, unlike the Merkur forums I feel like such a newbie on here.

Edit: I believe this is a seperate issue, but you can also see the straightness cutting issues I'm having here:
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?p=1069971#post1069971

 

[parrisw]

Thanks Andrew - I'll investigate what you've suggested. I'm wondering if it could be the pump, as "Hard Knocks" originally suggested above.

And yea, unlike the Merkur forums I feel like such a newbie on here.

Edit: I believe this is a seperate issue, but you can also see the straightness cutting issues I'm having here:
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?p=1069971#post1069971

Don't feel bad being a newbie. We were all there once upon a time.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but it sounds like you might be a little inexperienced with saws?? Sounds like maybe you have a dull chiain issue as well. Post up some pics for us.

 

[redlaker]

Replace the oil pump with the updated pump part # 5441801-01. The new pump has two locking tangs that fit tightly into the pickup hose and stop it from drawing air instead of oil. You should also replace your oil pickup hose while you are at it. If your saw is still under warranty your dealer will fix it for no charge. This has been a semi regular problem with the 353.

would this part fix a bar oil leaking problem as well? my saw started leaking bar oil a while ago, and I just attributed it to temperature.. but it kept leaking every time I would let the saw sit overnight with oil in the tank.. so I changed the pickup hose and that solved it for a while, but now its leaking again. is there any easy fix for this? or should I just try another pickup hose?
I cleaned the saw up tonight and will try and find where exactly the oil is coming from, I had thought it was getting around where the hose goes into the tank

 

[SawTroll]

Don't feel bad being a newbie. We were all there once upon a time.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but it sounds like you might be a little inexperienced with saws?? Sounds like maybe you have a dull chiain issue as well. Post up some pics for us.

:agree2:

 

[parrisw]

would this part fix a bar oil leaking problem as well? my saw started leaking bar oil a while ago, and I just attributed it to temperature.. but it kept leaking every time I would let the saw sit overnight with oil in the tank.. so I changed the pickup hose and that solved it for a while, but now its leaking again. is there any easy fix for this? or should I just try another pickup hose?
I cleaned the saw up tonight and will try and find where exactly the oil is coming from, I had thought it was getting around where the hose goes into the tank

Try cracking the oil cap loose then tighten it, before storing. Maybe the tank is building a little pressure.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

I don't mean to sound harsh, but it sounds like you might be a little inexperienced with saws?? Sounds like maybe you have a dull chiain issue as well. Post up some pics for us.

No worries with calling me out as a newbie - at the most, I've cut maybe 20 cords of wood in my life. I'm mechanically inclined though, so not clueless in general.

Anything in particular you're looking for with pics? As I mentioned in the other thread, I'm having some camera issues at the moment, but I'll get those resolved one way or the other.

 

[parrisw]

Im looking for a pic of the chain, maybe close enough to show 4 teeth, and it needs to be a well focused shot.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Okay, so back at this again. I figured I should take a look and determine if indeed the oil pump sprocket might be stripped. I presume the clutch needs to come off, and that's where I'm stuck. I can see by the pointers that it's reverse-threaded, but how do you hold the shaft stationary to be able to spin it off?

I've visited the on-line workshop manual located here:
http://www.gardening-tools-direct.co.uk/content/husqwm266_hwen2003_1140147-26.pdf
...but that didn't really help, other than suggesting I needed specialized tools, which I imagine are preferable rather than required.

This thing is tryin' to kick my ass, but I'm just not gonna let it!