385xp oiling issues

[Chris_In_VT]

Alright, so I put a new meteor piston in my 385xp right after I got it, it had low compression, piston was roasted due to detonation. It was one of my winter projects.
Anyways, my grandparents had a big dead elm they wanted taken down, so I figured I'd use the 385 for that, be a good job to break it in.
Dropped it just fine. 24" bar just barely poked through on my bore cut. After the tree was down, I looked at my chain and noticed it was dry and felt hot and too tight. Uh oh. Revved it a few times to check if it was oiling, nope, not slinging it off the tip. Nothing even in the bar groove. Hmmm.
Finished bucking the elm with my 372 and 357.

I checked out the 385 today. The bar oil hole was clear, the bar groove was clean. Ran the saw with the bar and clutch cover off, and it pushed oil out of the oil port.
Adjusted the oiler to maximum setting, put the B+C back on, revved it up a few times, still not oiling on the bar+chain.
The bar is a 24" oregon powermatch D009 mount. Yes I am sure the clutch was aligned with the plastic worm gear.
What do you guys think? Oiler weak and not putting out enough pressure to get to the bar?
Or under load (bar and chain) something isn't catching, like the plastic worm gear? Maybe the oil plate is warped somehow (it doesn't seem to be)?

I am open to suggestions, I'd like to get this saw functioning as it should so I can use it!
Thanks!

 

[angelo c]

Start with the simple stuff like make sure the holes are all open on the bar and the gunk is removed from between the rails. Then try to turn the bar upside down and see if that helps.

 

[Chris_In_VT]

Start with the simple stuff like make sure the holes are all open on the bar and the gunk is removed from between the rails. Then try to turn the bar upside down and see if that helps.

Yes, I did that already, minus flipping the bar. The oil holes are clear and I ran a bar groove cleaner through it but there wasn't anything there. I had cleaned it up well before I used it on the elm tree.

 

[Termite]

Chris, could you explain why you had detonation on this saw?
Worked on a Husky 460 and the suction line was plugged because the filter screen had too big of holes.

 

[Chris_In_VT]

Chris, could you explain why you had detonation on this saw?
Worked on a Husky 460 and the suction line was plugged because the filter screen had too big of holes.

I don't honestly know. I assume bad fuel\too low of octane. It did have a small stihl fuel filter on it, not sure if that was a contributing factor or not.
The saw was like that when I got it, bad piston. I got a good deal on it because the compression was low, I pulled the muffler and showed the seller the piston was pitted\scored a bit.
It was odd, because the saw was extremely clean, and had new paint in places. Almost like it was split, had the bottom end rebuilt, etc. But had the melted piston...
I didn't cut any wood with it before I rebuilt it. Put a new meteor piston in it, tank vent, fuel line+filter, impulse line and rebuilt the carb. Was hoping it would be good to go, but nope, not oiling!

Paid $300 for it and he threw in 3 stihl 028's and a pile of parts. I've since sold two of the 028's and got my money back out of the deal.

Any more ideas on the oil issue guys?
I have a spare oiler from a 2171 that I don't know for sure works, but i'm tempted to try that in this saw.

 

[Termite]

And here I was all feeling sorry for you and your sittin on a deal like that.
I read that thread where they convinced me how hard it is too get a chainsaw to detonate, even with high compression and 87 octane.

 

[Chris_In_VT]

Yeah, it was kind of a good deal
Frustrating when you think you had it all set and then there's an issue like this.

I do wish I knew how the piston became that bad though...

[photo="medium"]1016[/photo]

 

[StihlFroling]

It looks like dents in the piston where the squish band is. Are those actual dents or the pic not showing clear

Are those actual flash melted pot holes?

 

[Chris_In_VT]

It looks like dents in the piston where the squish band is. Are those actual dents or the pic not showing clear

Are those actual flash melted pot holes?

Pretty sure it's melted.
Here's the rest of the pictures I have of it.

[photo="medium"]1015[/photo]

[photo="medium"]1014[/photo]

And one of the cylinder. Sorry for the poor quality, cheap cell phone camera...

[photo="medium"]1011[/photo]

You can see the combustion chamber is a bit pitted.
The saw did have a base gasket in when I got it. Also had a brand new air filter, so I don't know if other problems were half ass corrected or what was up with this saw.
But I have very little money into the saw so I'm not gonna worry too much. Might sell it, who knows?

And the issue isn't the piston This thread is about it not oiling!
But we can still talk about the piston if ya want I guess

 

[Chris_In_VT]

Bump this up. Any ideas on the oiling problem???

 

[ford4500]

drain the oil and flush the tank out. could just be a plugged filter. you could also try thinning the oil with a little diesel to clean the pump out.

 

[mbrick]

I would take off each oil line and blow them out with air backwards to make sure there are no clogs.
To help prime the pump after reassembly you can put a small amount of pressure on the vent until oil comes out of the feed?

 

[Chris_In_VT]

Well I drained and flushed the tank. It wasn't dirty.
Took the oil pump and all the lines off and blew them out as suggested.
Got it all reassembled. Oiler on maximum and it's still not slinging oil off the tip of the bar, but there is some oil on the chain anyways.
Maybe I'm overreacting and it isn't an issue, or maybe it's the dry dead elm I'm cutting.
But my other saws definitely put out more oil than this saw. It's a 385xp, it should put out enough oil to supply a 30"+ bar right? And it seems stingy on a 24"....

 

[Chris_In_VT]

I noodled the butt log pieces of that 24" elm this afternoon. Saw ran good, seemed to get "enough" oil but not as much as i'd like. Used ~ 1\2 tank oil to a full tank of fuel.

[photo="medium"]1075[/photo]

[photo="medium"]1076[/photo]

 

[mbrick]

Wanted to mention it just incase, you turned all the way left (counterclockwise) for position 3, max oil?

Based on some oiler issues I'm having on another saw, many guys said it should use gas and bar oil in a 1:1 ratio.

 

[cat-face timber]

Does this happen with different bars as well?

 

[Chris_In_VT]

Does this happen with different bars as well?

Yes, I have the oiler turned the correct direction, I can still see the little picture on the fuel tank.
I put a 20" b+c on it and same deal, no oil slinging off the tip.
It oils now, but not as much as I would like it to.

 

[cat-face timber]

If it was me I would pull the oil pump and make sure everything is correct and reinstall.

 

[Chris_In_VT]

Took the oil pump and all the lines off and blew them out as suggested.

Did that today. Didn't notice anything amiss.
I have a spare 2171 oil pump. Worth swapping? They appear to be the same, but the plastic pump gear on the 385 is different, appears taller?

 

[cat-face timber]

Can you use the 385 gear in the jred oiler?
I would worry that the gear is not right.