Husqvarna 288xp problem

[sawkiller]

I recently acquired a husqvarna 288xp off of ebay for $260. Of course the seller said the saw starts and runs good which it does.
After recieving I immediately pulled muffler and what I can see looks new you can almost see yourself in the finish. I then did a thourough cleaning and after the saw had a steady diet of carb cleaner and compressed air it lost over a pound. I then drained all fuel and oil from saw as not to take any chances and replaced fuel with 50:1 premium/husqy xp syntheic. Sharpened the chain and deburred the undersized (18"0 bar). I then started the saw and it does start and run, matter of fact started on 1st pull which really surprised me. Also cleaned and checked filters.

After starting I started noticin a little blue smoke and figured this was probably from shipping and setting, warmed it up and adjusted the carb as much as I could but this is one of the carbs with the plastic stops on it (should I remove those?).

Figured I would take it to the farm and cut a little to see what it did and after cutting a few the smoke will just about run you out. No bugs though. I noticed that the bar was overoiling and adjusted the oiler a little and this somewhat improved the smoke in the area but I am still getting a little blue smoke from the saw especially when accelerating to max rpms.

Took saw home last night and checked compression and it was about 130 PSI which seems a little low. The decompression was not on and I could not find any leaks in the setup.

What else can I try? Is it time for a rering possibly? Will it damage the saw further if I continue to use it? And one more question after 15 or 20 minutes of cutting this thing used a tankfull of fuel which is about a qaurt is that normal for a bigger saw in the 80-90 cc range?

 

[mtngun]

Your fuel consumption sounds normal.

Smoke, if it continues, could be a sign that bar oil is being sucked into the crankcase. Or it could be that the saw is tuned way too rich.

Remove the limit caps, trim off the tabs, then reinstall the caps. Then tune the carb, or have it tuned by a dealer.

I'm not familiar with that model but other huskies like the 372 commonly only have 130 psi. You might want to set the squish to 0.020" or so and see if that boosts compression.

 

[SawTroll]

...
I'm not familiar with that model but other huskies like the 372 commonly only have 130 psi. You might want to set the squish to 0.020" or so and see if that boosts compression.

No, only 130 is a sign of a problem, if the valve etc of the comp. gauge is fit for saws.

It could be as simple that it needs a new piston ring though, due to normal wear.

I am also thinking about a bad decomp valve (if the saw in question has one), but I guess that would have meant lower compression than 130.

 

[mdavlee]

The 372 I had never had over 135 lbs until I took the base gasket out and it made it to 150 then. I think a 288 should have higher compression. I would probably put new rings in it or maybe a new piston.

 

[sawkiller]

It does have a decomp valve but it seems to be holding well. i actually sprayed a little soapy water on things when I checked compression to look for leaks and none were found. On a side note the compression with the decomp pushed was aroud 80 PSI.

Is there a reason to replace more than the ring ( I am told it has only 1)? I guess what I am saying is what would indicate a bad piston besides obvious scoring/damage

 

[SawTroll]

It does have a decomp valve but it seems to be holding well. i actually sprayed a little soapy water on things when I checked compression to look for leaks and none were found. On a side note the compression with the decomp pushed was aroud 80 PSI.

Is there a reason to replace more than the ring ( I am told it has only 1)? I guess what I am saying is what would indicate a bad piston besides obvious scoring/damage

I am not sure if some late ones had two rings, due to EPA, in the US.....

 

[jockeydeuce]

Compression is definitely low!......First make sure you're using a good comp tester with a "shrader valve".

I hope it's not bar oil being burnt, making all the smoke......The only way that can happen on a 288, is a cracked case or a bad case gasket, I'm afraid.

 

[mdavlee]

Excssive piston skirt to cylinder wall clearance would be why you would replace the piston. I think anything over .003 would be considering worn and needing replaced. Are there any machine horizontal marks left on the skirt?

 

[Brian VT]

Also, piston skirt metal does fatigue over time. If I had it apart I'd put a new piston in, just as insurance, but if money is tight you can get away with just ring(s) as long as the cyl./skirt clearance is within spec.

 

[mdavlee]

A meteor from baileys is $45 so I would do that unless that breaks the bank.

 

[discounthunter]

some of that smoke could just be residual buildup. probably old fuel/oil buildup being cleaned out by the new fuel. run i little more to see if it clears up. pull the muffler again and move the piston down , you should see if its one vs two rings.

 

[lone wolf]

My 288 170 lbs. You need to double check with a different gauge then rebuild top end.

 

[andrethegiant70]

Just a thought.... to detect whether there was bar oil leaking into the crankcase (on this and many saws the oil tank shares a wall with the crankcase), you could empty out the oil tank, leave the cap off, and pressure test the crankcase. If the case holds pressure, you can't be leaking oil into the crankcase. If you DO have a leak, you're going to have to do a little work to figure out where it is. You are now, however, on the road to fixing an important problem. Your dealer will be able to help you with the pressure test.

Provided it's tuned right (it is, isn't it?), I would run the saw some more... I've seen a lot of varnish burned out of gas tanks.. it clears up after a few tanks.

 

[Grande Dog]

Howdy,
To check wear, you'll need to remove the cylinder. You remove your ring from the piston, and put it back into the cylinder. If the ring end gap measures more than 1mm, the ring is worn. If you put a new ring in the cylinder and the gap is more than 1mm, the cylinder is considered worn. Neither of these things will stop the saw from running but, it certainly won't make full power. As far as the smoke goes, as mentioned earlier, it sounds like a crankcase gasket leak. Another indication of this is when you remove the oil cap and look at the bar oil, it will have air bubbles in it and maybe a little milky. You can try cleaning and flushing the oil tank, and then run the saw with out the chain (just bar and clutch cover) on it. The extra smoke should clear up quick if it was the crankcase gasket.
Regards
Gregg

 

[lone wolf]

Sawkiller click on the 288 in my signature.

 

[sawkiller]

Ok I just learned me something here, the bar oil was and keeps turning milky. I just thought it was some bio crap oil that needed flushed out with some good dyno oil. Ok I guess I have a problem now what are the possible worst case/best case scenarios?

And yes it was a snap on compression tester with schrader and hold valve so you can pull until you reach max pressure. I also tried warming the saw up and the compression got no better.

I called D & D enterprises today after seeing it mentioned in another thread and they said the compression on that saw should be around 165 PSI and that it would atleast need new ring and possibly a piston.

 

[SawTroll]

Ok I just learned me something here, the bar oil was and keeps turning milky. I just thought it was some bio crap oil that needed flushed out with some good dyno oil. Ok I guess I have a problem now what are the possible worst case/best case scenarios?

And yes it was a snap on compression tester with schrader and hold valve so you can pull until you reach max pressure. I also tried warming the saw up and the compression got no better.

I called D & D enterprises today after seeing it mentioned in another thread and they said the compression on that saw should be around 165 PSI and that it would atleast need new ring and possibly a piston.

It sounds as they are right - btw, what is dyno oil - lol!

 

[little possum]

Worese scenario- case gaskets are busted up and allowing bar oil into the bottom end.

Or the case has a hole in it.

Best scenario, that saw could always come stay with me lol

 

[sawkiller]

Sorry Dino oil!:agree2:

 

[sawkiller]

Sawkiller click on the 288 in my signature.

Thank you sir! I can now visualize the possible problem and hope that a bad gasket is the extent of it rather than a busted crankcase. I have been looking everywhere for an easy to use diagram like that and I saved it to my puter thank you!

I think I will go pour out the bar oil and see what i can see!