Husqvarna 350 Aftermarket Seals

[Bama Raised]

I picked up a cheap locked up Husky 350 to rebuild. I figured it would be smart to go ahead and replace the seals while I have it torn apart. Does anyone know of any decent aftermarket seals? I haven't had much luck finding OEM ones. Thank you!

 

[smokey7]

I've found its almost easier and less stressful to just change the bearing and the seal at the same time. If you buy one they come assembled in the bearing.

 

[svk]

I just got a set off of Ebay when built my 345 to 346 hybrid. If you can get the bearings off easily, smokey's advice to do it all at once is good.

 

[cuinrearview]

You can't buy the OEM seals by themselves, you gotta pony up the $60+ for the bearings and seals. Tough to swallow on a $200 saw. This is the one place I go aftermarket. Use plenty of YB4 or sealant of choice when assembling. You can get a set of good quality (Nachi, SKF, Koyo, etc.) bearings on Ebay for under $10.

 

[jltrent]

The oil seals that came in it will 95+% of the time still be good, I would just re-use. While you have the cylinder off put the upgrade metal intake clamp on, and after running a few minutes while still hot torque the muffler studs as tight as possible and it will be about bullet proof.

 

[Bama Raised]

I appreciate the help fellas. I might just throw it back together with the old ones installed and run a pressure test. If I have a leak i'll check out some aftermarkets.

 

[Bama Raised]

The oil seals that came in it will 95+% of the time still be good, I would just re-use. While you have the cylinder off put the upgrade metal intake clamp on, and after running a few minutes while still hot torque the muffler studs as tight as possible and it will be about bullet proof.

I'm pretty sure this one burned up due to the plastic intake boot clamp to begin with. I read that is the leading cause of failure for this model saw. I appreciate the tip on the muffler as well. I have heard that these are some solid saws for a homeowner model. I'm looking forward to getting it up and running and I may even look into doing a couple of things to liven it up a bit.

 

[Huskybill]

I always try to figure out why it Seezed first? Inspect everything. I’ve seen tight crankbearings till we split the case then they can wiggle and have play in them. They can fool us.

I just ordered a piston/rings for my 350 with low compression. Judging the age of the saw I’ll do crankbearings and seals too. I don’t trust using the old piston. I seen the pin that holds the ring from turning come loose overtime and score the cylinder. If your going to use the old piston inspect this pin closely. I’d rather replace the piston.

At first rebuilding dirtbike two stroke engines I learned really quick to just split the case and always change the crankbearings and the crankseals. The next thing I learned is to do the leak down test. Once it passes the leakdown test your good to go.
I do things right up front then I can depend in it running.

With saws your near your truck with dirtbikes we could be many miles away and over mountains and through valleys, I never had to push a bike. It’s pay upfront now or pay the second time. Do it right.

 

[Brent Adams]

I just did a 350 last week. New piston. Intake boot clamp issue. Also had loose clamshell screws that let it leak, so check those.
Ran a while and quit. Found that problem to be tank vent. Someone replaced the vent with a plug. No bueno.
Runs great now. Put a 353 flat top Meteor piston in. Really helped it out.

 

[old guy]

By all means put the flat top 353 piston in, or even use the hyway popup piston.
Makes a good saw even better.

 

[Bama Raised]

I always try to figure out why it Seezed first? Inspect everything. I’ve seen tight crankbearings till we split the case then they can wiggle and have play in them. They can fool us.

I just ordered a piston/rings for my 350 with low compression. Judging the age of the saw I’ll do crankbearings and seals too. I don’t trust using the old piston. I seen the pin that holds the ring from turning come loose overtime and score the cylinder. If your going to use the old piston inspect this pin closely. I’d rather replace the piston.

At first rebuilding dirtbike two stroke engines I learned really quick to just split the case and always change the crankbearings and the crankseals. The next thing I learned is to do the leak down test. Once it passes the leakdown test your good to go.
I do things right up front then I can depend in it running.

With saws your near your truck with dirtbikes we could be many miles away and over mountains and through valleys, I never had to push a bike. It’s pay upfront now or pay the second time. Do it right.

I really should have done what you suggested before I took everything apart, but I got a little ahead of myself. This is my 2nd rebuild so i'm still a rookie. I will be sure to run a pressure test once everything is put back together though. When I took the top end off the intake boot just fell right off which leads me to believe that was probably why the saw ran lean which lead to failure. The piston is completely shot so I will be ordering a new flat top for it. I am trying to salvage the cylinder though. I am going to post a few pics of it, I would like a 2nd opinion from you guys on if it can be reused or not.

 

[Bama Raised]

By all means put the flat top 353 piston in, or even use the hyway popup piston.
Makes a good saw even better.

I plan on doing at least that much to it. I'm also interested in possibly opening up the muffler a bit and deleting the base gasket. Would that be a unwise thing to do without getting into measuring squish and all of that? I have never done that before. I appreciate the suggestion and i'm open to any other input.

 

[Bama Raised]

Do you guys think this cylinder can be salvaged? I worked on it quite a while today with some 340 grit and scotch brite and this seems to be about as good as i'm going to get it. I can run my fingernail over it and not feel anything but the transfer is still visible in a few specs as you can see. I was able to remove like 98% of it but that last little bit is giving me a major headache. The last 2 pics are probably the best.

 

[Deleted member 117362]

Plating has peeled around ports. May catch a ring without some grinding and beveling.

 

[old guy]

Duce is right, you've sanded the plating away around that port, it may be a problem. I did that on a couple of my first ones, but I got by with it.
I find if I start out with much coarser paper, that I have some 60 or 80 grit emory cloth that takes transfer off very quickly without harming the plateing so I don't have to rub half the day and damage the ports.