Quality "E" clips for wrist pins??

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Here is a pic of a homemade tool I made this aft on a grinderView attachment 426555 View attachment 426556 to help with inserting the clips. I used an old set of needle nose pliers that were bent at the end and pretty useless. You will note they have been ground back and thinned at the ends. They make inserting the clips much easier but probably not as easy as the factory tool. The tool makes it easier to get the clip "down in" the piston while still compressed. I used a small screwdriver to then push the circlip out of the pliers and into the groove. The price was right and it is universal.:clap:

I like this!! I just so happen to have an assortment of crappy needle nosers and a grinder. I will start my adventures into it tomorrow!!

Appreciated!!

~Moose
 
Heat will make them lose the spring but I think only if it had got hot . I've never seen an OEM go bad but Chinese materials are questionable .

It t'was chinese unfortunetly and i did question the durability upon installation but figured i had em locked in and good to go. Just inspected the jug again, entire top end is now garbage:(
 
One thing I do on clip installation is rotate the clip slightly to check seating and align, then after both are in I use a pick to push the wrist pin outward on both sides to seat the clips. This also will reveal nonseated and ill fitted clips if they push out. Anyone lacking confidence in installing clips or back ups a large clear plastic bag over the area and work inside will limit the search for flying clips to the bag. Ken
 
One thing I do on clip installation is rotate the clip slightly to check seating and align, then after both are in I use a pick to push the wrist pin outward on both sides to seat the clips. This also will reveal nonseated and ill fitted clips if they push out. Anyone lacking confidence in installing clips or back ups a large clear plastic bag over the area and work inside will limit the search for flying clips to the bag. Ken

good idea with the flying clips!
 
Heat will make them lose the spring but I think only if it had got hot . I've never seen an OEM go bad but Chinese materials are questionable .
this saw never failed. it had many hours and i decided to rebuild it. it was very clean and oily, piston and jug in very good condition. only damage at all was the wrist pin seemed a little pitted.
 
this saw never failed. it had many hours and i decided to rebuild it. it was very clean and oily, piston and jug in very good condition. only damage at all was the wrist pin seemed a little pitted.

Chinese questionable? These wer brand new full top-end kit and maybe 5-6 tanks through it and ka-boom. total destruction. couldnt imagine what they'd look like after 20-50 cords of woods, if they were still there at all. looked almost like a copper color and the flexibility of mechanics wire...
 
I'm curious as to exctly what fails on these. If there is any movement the clip can pound away at the groove. The clip could break too. It seems to me that the key is to have no movement at all between the clip and the piston.

With no movement how do they fail? There should be no fatigue failure unless something flexes. Those little tabs on the ends of some could allow fex, but I have some of those on factory engines too and they seem to work.

Is there a caertain direction clips should be oriented? I make sure the end is not in the slot for removal on smoe pistons.

There are really only two explanations:

1. Improper fitment - as you said
2. Metallurgy
 
The aftermarket clips with the "loops" on the end are the easiest to install (for me) but usually low quality. I believe putting in an OEM clip with needlenose pliers increases the chance of the clip being bent and prone to pop out. We all know these clips are installed at the factory with a special tool. Wrist pin clips are similar to seals. We, as shade tree mechanics, get by using hand tools or jury rigged screwdrivers but if you want to see how easy it is to pull a seal, try the factory seal puller. I bet if we all used the wristpin clip install tool, we would never have a clip pop out. I too have had a clip pop out and trash the piston and it is frustrating.

A nail head nearly the size of the wrist pin works great for installing circlips, get one in copper or aluminum if you can.
 
A nail head nearly the size of the wrist pin works great for installing circlips, get one in copper or aluminum if you can.

This is an interesting idea.....but my pea brain needs some additional info as to how it works:reading: Do you lay the circlip on the piston and force it in using the nail ?
 
This is an interesting idea.....but my pea brain needs some additional info as to how it works:reading: Do you lay the circlip on the piston and force it in using the nail ?

Im about to wrap a zip-tie through the wrist pin an under the piston skirt, or maybe some mechanics wire lol
 
image.jpg

Uh oh, never open up the bag of c-clips while standing over gravel. If anyone can spot it, that would be helpful.

Crap!
 
was thinkin that, now i just gotta find one big or strong enough, it could have went anywhere really, i didn't get to see when/where it fell out of the bag, i think im screwed. is there a way to find out a part number for this 390 c-clip? heading to my local saw shop for a chain anyway
 
Back
Top