Husky Plastic Crankcase

[huskyboy1978]

Well I've had my first experience with a Husky plastic crankcase and I have to say this has turned me into a mag only man.

I picked up a nice (so I thought) 345 on ebay and as with all my ebay saw purchases I buy them with the assumption that they may need a new piston and a cylinder clean-up regardless of what the seller claims.

Sure enough I got the saw and wow, it is in excellent shape. I proceeded to pull the muffler to have a peak at the piston. There was some minor scoring on the exhaust side of the piston but terrible scoring on the intake side of the cylinder. So I figured I would tear it down to take a better look to see if the cylinder could be saved.

When I was trying to get the cylinder off the base it seemed stuck on one side which I figured may be sealant. After wrestling with it for a while I was able to break it free. So I found out what was holding the cylinder, the crankcase bearing seat on the clutch side was actually melted into the crank bearing seal.

So now I have a bad piston/ring, bad cylinder (not so sure it would clean up), and bad crankcase.

Now the bearing seems to have the seal factory molded on it, is this correct?

At this point I think this is going to be a parts saw but what a great first hand experience with a plastic crankcase.

 

[JONSEREDFAN6069]

that sux bud. why do they make plastic cases any way is it weight or cost?
personally i'd rather suck up the weight issue and have a saw that lasts rather than save a couple buck's with tha plastic.

 

[excess650]

That makes me think the clamshell design is actually better! The :censored:cat mufflers make these saws run hot, and often melts plastic, and not confined to any particular brand.

 

[teacherman]

That really sucks. I'm sorry to hear about your saw. Seems they could reinforce the material with some fibers, or change the formulation. I remember seeing a thread last year about carbon-fiber pistons. That was amazing they could take the heat of direct combustion

Expect more of that sort of thing. Husky has been rapidly gobbling up chainsaw companies. I stihl don't understand why. Oh, well. It only makes the choice clearer.......

 

[taplinhill]

Yes, the bearing has a seal moulded around it.

 

[SawTroll]

That makes me think the clamshell design is actually better! The :censored:cat mufflers make these saws run hot, and often melts plastic, and not confined to any particular brand.

I don't think those saws ever were made with a cat muffler, at least they weren't offered with that option here.

 

[PB]

The bearings on that saw suck. They often fail and then the resulting heat melts the case. If it was a magnesium case it would most likely be spun and still just as useless. I have fixed a melted 2145 case with great success, but it wasn't that bad. Do you have pictures?

 

[huskyboy1978]

The bearings on that saw suck. They often fail and then the resulting heat melts the case. If it was a magnesium case it would most likely be spun and still just as useless. I have fixed a melted 2145 case with great success, but it wasn't that bad. Do you have pictures?

I think the case could be fixed but at this point I can't justify putting the additional money into it to replace the bearings, piston, and salvage the cylinder (maybe). I wouldn't want to put the money in only to have a saw that may or not be ok in the long run. As of right now I can part it out and get my money back which I can then put into my project 359.

I was just surprised about the case melting like that because despite the magnesium vs plastic debates these Husky's (340,345,350) are usually well regarded as tough and reliable saws. Given this experience I don't know if I would buy another plastic cased saw (especially used).

It was still a great learning experience in terms of seeing the construction of this type of saw and what can go wrong.

 

[PB]

I think the case could be fixed but at this point I can't justify putting the additional money into it to replace the bearings, piston, and salvage the cylinder (maybe). I wouldn't want to put the money in only to have a saw that may or not be ok in the long run. As of right now I can part it out and get my money back which I can then put into my project 359.

I was just surprised about the case melting like that because despite the magnesium vs plastic debates these Husky's (340,345,350) are usually well regarded as tough and reliable saws. Given this experience I don't know if I would buy another plastic cased saw (especially used).

It was still a great learning experience in terms of seeing the construction of this type of saw and what can go wrong.

Bearing/Seal is $18 each, or that's what I bought them for. do you have a picture?

 

[excess650]

I don't think those saws ever were made with a cat muffler, at least they weren't offered with that option here.

You could be correct, although the EPA might have forced their hand to sell here. The smaller, Poulan assembled Huskys do have cats.

 

[huskyboy1978]

Bearing/Seal is $18 each, or that's what I bought them for. do you have a picture?

I don't have a picture right now, the crankcase is in the shed and the wife has the camera with her at work.

The way I figure it, I have to sink an additional $100USD into the saw to get it up and running (if the cylinder cleans up), and then I will always be questioning the reliability of the crankcase repair. Thanks for the info though; if I had extra cash to throw around I would probably go for the repair just to try it but I'd rather focus my attention on the 359 project which I want to port.

 

[huskyboy1978]

You could be correct, although the EPA might have forced their hand to sell here. The smaller, Poulan assembled Huskys do have cats.

This saw does not have a CAT, so extra heat thanks to the EPA wasn't an issue on this saw.