Getting a Husqvarna 288XP back in service. Husky newbie.

[SamT1]

Hey guys some of you may have seen my thread asking some advice before buying a 288 that had been sitting. Well I bought it and it needs some help. 0420098 is the SN if that helps. I want to get it ready to work, but I’m no husky guy so I have a few questions. I’ll be getting it going in stock form and running it a bit. If I like it I’ll probably do a base gasket delete, muffler, and mild port work.

So I dumped the gas and it fired up.


I can’t seem to find this air filter. And I’m suspecting there are some mix matched parts. This looks like a 394 elbow to me, but I’m just a google machine no husky expert. How do I tell if my carb is a limited one?


The oil pump housing is all sorts of jacked up. The guy I bought it from says from cutting palm trees. I’m guessing I need to smooth up the housing with JB weld and put a new oil pump in it. Is it ok to run it as it is for a bit?



Any other stuff that should be done to get it ready to work? I see that rim sprocket is trash too. I need a bar since I’m not a husky guy I don’t have any. Just stihl bars and bars for Poulan 4000 type saws. I may just buy a 18” husky bar but That’s a frustrating issue since they all say 68DL. I see that I can most likely switch to 20” and all my chains match DL. So I donno what to do there. May just go on and get a 20 for this saw.

I donno what to do about a stihl bar adapter, I’d kinda like to have one for my 30” bar and this big powerhead. But money wise it makes more sense to just buy a husky 18 or 20 bar.

 

[Colt Marlington]

I might tape up the carb and take it to the car wash to start with.

 

[Sepia]

You can still get the tall pleated filter from husqvarna for the 288. I would try to find out the internal diameter of the pleated filter horn and see if it matches the intake horn on your saw. I would guess you have an aftermarket filter kit on your saw - possibly the Eliminator? And I wouldn't run it much with that hole in your oil pump housing. You might want to keep an eye open for a pto side case as well. That mag rot is hard to stop once it gets going. I had a consol out of a car last summer that had a magnesium shifter tower/mount. It was missing an entire half from the floor to the top from rot. It was quite a sight! I should have taken a picture.

 

[cus_deluxe]

I think thats a k&n filter kit or some kind of aftermarket, i remember readin about em somewhere, but as said above the factory HD filter is still available and just as good, and thats an oem hd elbow there, just pop that clip outta there. If i recall right, the hs228a was governed, other ones were not.

 

[cus_deluxe]

Oh and that case half and oil pump is f-ed.

 

[SamT1]

Well I’m stuck in the city today and all my parts are at home on the porch.

I bought a cheap archer 18” bar and oem air filter and a stihl 8 rim sprocket. I’m excited to run this thing. If I like it I’ll put a new oil pump in it and do some mods.

 

[SamT1]

Funny looking guy with the 18”

 

[SamT1]

So the saw runs great. Power is excellent, even better than a modded 440. It pumps more oil too. Seems to be fuel efficient. Anti vibe is excellent. I like the bigger felling spikes.

It’s a bit heavy and the wrap handle gets in the way felling mesquites that many times have small regrowth down low that I usually don’t take time to remove.

 

[Yotaismygame]

I’ll port it, checkout the one I did in the for sale section

 

[Huskybill]

Jb weld will fix the area around the clutch. An oil pump is next. She sounds good but with some porting you will love it. An 18” bar is perfect for the 88.