Husky 576 XP quit on me

[Plasmech]

Yesterday, I was in the process of flush-cutting a Cherry stump when my 576 XP quit on me like someone flipped a switch. I took it over to my gassing station (tailgate) and noted the gas was low..low enough for me to think it was empty but in retrospect I do not think it was empty. I fueled and oiled the saw and tried to start it again. Long story, it has never fired once since it quit on me in that stump.

The saw is a year old and gets little use since I do not often take down trees as large as the cherry. In fact I believe it has maybe 8 tanks of gas through it, so dying of "natural causes" ain't the problem.

Just now I checked the ignition system by watching the plug spark, no problem there. The weird thing is I even tried starter fluid yesterday and even THAT didn't work.

I guess I have a mysterious low fuel problem? But..even started fluid did not fire...? Makes no sense.

I guess it is either fuel or the ignition system firing out of time, although it sure looks and sounds like it's in time, as best I can tell by sound and eye anyway.

If I can't figure it out in a couple days I'll take it to the dealer and let them look at it. In the mean time I always like to tinker myself with such things. Thanks for your help guys.

-Plas

 

[WoodChuck'r]

Pull the air filter? Check the carb?

You said the saw gets used rarely, saws that sit can have funny things happen to them. I had the same issue with a buddies Poulan years and years ago - turned out there was a spider with a nest wedged in the carb. Not too long ago at work there was a hornet starting a nest under the air filter of a saw. Could be something as simple as pulling a few plastics off and finding something as such instead of having to pay for having it done. I mean, it could be something mechanical but it never hurts to look for simple stuff like that before you take it in.....

 

[hamish]

Pull the muffler or at least pull the plug for a quick piston/cylinder assesment!

 

[zogger]

flush cutting a stump?

Yesterday, I was in the process of flush-cutting a Cherry stump when my 576 XP quit on me like someone flipped a switch. I took it over to my gassing station (tailgate) and noted the gas was low..low enough for me to think it was empty but in retrospect I do not think it was empty. I fueled and oiled the saw and tried to start it again. Long story, it has never fired once since it quit on me in that stump.

The saw is a year old and gets little use since I do not often take down trees as large as the cherry. In fact I believe it has maybe 8 tanks of gas through it, so dying of "natural causes" ain't the problem.

Just now I checked the ignition system by watching the plug spark, no problem there. The weird thing is I even tried starter fluid yesterday and even THAT didn't work.

I guess I have a mysterious low fuel problem? But..even started fluid did not fire...? Makes no sense.

I guess it is either fuel or the ignition system firing out of time, although it sure looks and sounds like it's in time, as best I can tell by sound and eye anyway.

If I can't figure it out in a couple days I'll take it to the dealer and let them look at it. In the mean time I always like to tinker myself with such things. Thanks for your help guys.

-Plas

That's some of the hardest work a saw can do. Especially if it was a big stump with a longiosh cut time and you didn't wedge it. All that weight bearing down on the chain, etc. A bucking cut is one thing, same diameter wood with a felling cut or flush cut is a whole nuther ballgame without a wedge, it is multiples of the work required due to frisction and drag, etc.. At eight tanks, your saw might not be broken in yet either, and it might have been running super hot in the cut and ..well.....you know what happens then. Modern saws run hot and come from the factory already at the bleeding edge of engineering compromises to please das regulators....

Like was said above, time for piston and cylinder inspection. If ya got fuel and spark at the right time, ain't much left other than correct compression. A heat stuck ring and your saw ain't gonna run.

don't ask me how I know this.....

 

[WoodChuck'r]

Hey zogger how do you know this??

 

[zogger]

Hey zogger how do you know this??

well..I asked to not be asked, but if you insist..I can learn from other's mistakes.....all your friends told me about how you run stuff, and to watch out for any of your yard sale items...

 

[Roanoker494]

My guess you ask?? Flywheel key is sheared. It is firing but at the wrong time, if a fuel system failure was the problem it would have fired on the starter fluid. BTW, never ever spray starter fluid into a 2 stroke engine again. I would suggest putting a little oil through the plug hole and pulling it over a few times because that starter fluid probably stripped the cylinder dry.

 

[Plasmech]

Too late on the starter fluid. Good news is that it never actually ran on the starter fluid and now it's long evaporated. I put the saw back together after work and tried to start it one last time before taking it back to the dealer for warranty work. The thing started right up! Frustrating, boring, and exhausting is how these things usually go.

I was going to say something about the heat...these new stratto-charged saws run HOT man. Both my 576 XP and my 261 (both are scavenged) have the hottest exhaust of any chainsaw I have ever used. Are we going to be relaxing our pistons for ceramic ones after a hundred tanks of gas here or what?

 

[MechanicMatt]

Id be worried about your top end anyway, my 362xp did a similar thing on a piece of 3 foot oak. I was bucking it to size when she died. Had to run my uncles 044 the rest of the day, well next day 362 start up runs for one cut and dies again, long story short she now sports the 52mm big bore kit. I know why my saw died though, I leaned the H screw trying to make my 62cc saw hang with my dads MS460. Live and learn right?

edit for the love of your saw, NEVER NEVER NEVER spray starter fluid into it again. Do you know why you mix oil with gas?