Husqvarna 55 cylinder

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stihl041avhog

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just got a 55 air injection with a toasted piston and cylinder for free. It's an 46mm with a decomp valve. I'm not going to waste my time on trying to save the cylinder it's gone. Just got off ebay and saw cylinders kits from 23.00 to 150.oo . My question would you spend the extra $ for the Meteor kit. Or what kit would you get? Sorry no pictures because i run over my cord with my chair.
 
If it were me, I'd buy one from Huztl/Machinesdoctor. I've used their cylinders on the 55 in the past. There's two considerations:
One is that you need to move the impulse hole in the cylinder base closer to the center of the cylinder.
Two is that you will want to delete the base gasket as the squish is very big on this setup. (check it though)
I guess there's a third thing and that is if the piston pin circlips have the long ears on them, cut about 60% of it off.
 
It seems like a well built saw. I will check the squish because i plan on going with no gasket. All of that will get replaced. I need to get setup to vac/pressure these saws!!!!
 
These saws sell used in the $150 to $225 range so be careful about how much you put into it. (Unless it doesn't matter to you)
I agree OEM is great and all, but if your gonna keep it, china kits are the way to go. As stated above AM top end kits are in the $25-$50 range.


-chimpboy
 
It seems like a well built saw. I will check the squish because i plan on going with no gasket. All of that will get replaced. I need to get setup to vac/pressure these saws!!!!
They are well built saws except for the intake between the carb and cylinder. the impulse pipe is worth replacing and be sure the carb screws going into the bulkhead plastic aren't stripped. I've not had problems with the bottom end, not even crank seals yet. I haven't seen one that didn't like a base gasket delete but it's always worth checking squish.
I've never regretted buying the Mityvac 8500 for press/vac testing. I busted out the center of a spark plug and screwed in an air chuck barb (like what screws into any air tool) and lathered it up with JB weld. Bicycle inner tube to block off intake and exhaust. It's worked for years now.
And for $106 I can't see going with anything else than OEM.
 
hyway makes a closed port cyl for theses....
i just got one and it looks great for fit and finish....
have not installed it or even checked squish yet though...
 
I used a cheap AM kit off ebay and my biggest complaint was squish. U might have to cut base down some even without a base gasket. I would not spend much on the saw in parts. It would be easy to buy new oem and if you need other stuff you can end up with more in the saw than its worth. If you want oem i would try to pick up a used saw for cheap with good usable cylinder. These saws are a dime a dozen. Jmo
 
If it were me, I'd buy one from Huztl/Machinesdoctor. I've used their cylinders on the 55 in the past. There's two considerations:
One is that you need to move the impulse hole in the cylinder base closer to the center of the cylinder.
Two is that you will want to delete the base gasket as the squish is very big on this setup. (check it though)
I guess there's a third thing and that is if the piston pin circlips have the long ears on them, cut about 60% of it off.
I have a 55 needing a cylinder and am wondering why you need to move the impulse hole and how you did it?
 
I have a 55 needing a cylinder and am wondering why you need to move the impulse hole and how you did it?
If you use the base gasket, you probably will be ok but these Farmertec cylinders have a lot of squish and I leave the base gasket completely out. (just use some sealant)
Anyway, if you put the gasket on the cylinder with it upside down, you'll see the problem. There is a small hole in the cylinder base that is open to the crankcase, that hole gets partially blocked off because it's not in the correct location. With a drill or dremel just enlarge the hole towards the center of the cylinder. You don't want to make a larger round hole, make it oval. Make sure not to fill it with sealant.
I suppose I could cut the base on the cylinder down a few thousands and still use the gasket but it's too much work for a saw that's gonna sell for $175.
 
Going OEM is always the best choice. I've never used any of the el-cheapo P/C's for these saws. I'd much rather get a parts saw with a good P/C and go used OEM instead. I've owned a dozen 55's over the years, and currently have two closed port models in the line-up, they are really nice saws with a lot of professional features for a "mid-range" saw.

I've never thought the carb to P/C plastic intake set-up to be a problem, and have never stripped one out or had a leak at that location either from the gaskets or impulse seal. Advice in that area is to use some common sense when tightening things up.

They made the open port with and without decompression, all the closed port have decompression far as I know, and they need it.......Cliff
 
The only 55 I have is open port, only reason I got it is because some of the parts can be used on 254. Never knew they also had closed port design.
Was there different jugs on 50 as well,? mine is open port
 
The later Rancher 55's are all open port, larger 46mm bore, and they upgraded to .375 chain from .325". They really don't have the "ump" for pulling the larger chain or a bar longer than 18", IMHO. I think the "Rancher" 55's were an attempt to steer folks who cut a decent amount of firewood and do some land clearing, etc to go that direction instead of the more expensive Professional models. Must have worked pretty well, you still see a LOT of 55's in service, and Ebay usually has a decent selection to choose from.

The entire series of 55's are very rugged and well made, aside from the weaker direct oil pump drive and plastic intake parts being a few weak spots they are tough little units. Also good parts supply and most of the parts are still available on the IPL's.

The EPA "closed port" 55's are a great find. You either have to know the model years they ran them or be able to see the bottom of the cylinder, simply seeing the compression release and not seeing "Rancher" on the cover isn't enough to ensure you're going to get one. You really need to see the flange on the cylinder, it's lined with a bunch of "X's" across the flange from what I can remember.

The down side to the closed port models is that they were set pretty lean with limiter caps being "EPA" models, and a high percentage of the used ones that show up on Ebay will have some damage across the exhaust side of the P/C.......Cliff
 
So this is a manufacturing defect? I might not have looked for that hole in the base. Thanks for clearing that up.
Yes, I would consider the location of the impulse hole to be a manufacturing error. I've been in communication with Machinesdoctor/Huztl who distribute the Farmertec parts and they said they would look into it. It's an easy fix if you know what to look for. The case can also be slightly enlarged in the same area and it would probably be simpler but I usually just tweak the cylinder.
Sorry, but I am just not going to buy oem parts for a sub $200 saw. Most of the saws I fix would get tossed or parted out if it wasn't for aftermarket parts availability. Of all the many saws I've worked on I've only had one failure ever that was due to a mechanical issue. That was a broken circlip mentioned in another thread on this forum.
I will also say that all aftermarket parts are not equal and the only way to know which ones are good and bad are to experiment around a bit. I've done that and narrowed myself down to just a couple vendors for most parts.
 

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