"The saw burned itself up without much warning." While possible I doubt it. These things can and do cover up some pretty nasty airleaks. I just can't buy a saw in good repair with the newer autotune/m-tronic is just gonna lean its self out and you're not gonna have a clue.John got back over there. It was some stihl group. That explains it all.=
It was someone on Stihl owners worldwide saying he knows of several that have melted down.
My bad y’all it was Stihl owners worldwide after further review… internet troll.
That’s why I kinda thought it was crazy Sean, I did my research and knew I was making a good decision about my purchase! But wanted to check with you guys because if anyone knew anything about it AS would!
I’m glad to see all of this I knew you guys would make me feel better! I knew the bs would stop here!I tagged you there John. I want to see this thread with all these melted down 400's you talk about?
I can only find a couple from the dealers that posted them above.
New oem piston is only 75 by what a dealer just showed me. Topend kit was 389.
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Mine didn't miss a beat the other day. 5 tanks through it mostly noodling hard dead ash.
It's exceedingly hard to burn up an air cooled motor due to improper warm up. Liquid cooled is a different story.Found a thread back in Jan 2023. Dealer talking about thinning crews burning them up. They said they think because they dont warm them up. Then just peg them for commercial thinning.
Also just a couple saws not nothing like OP is going on about. He must be on page not group
Dealer - I've gotten a few 400's in already from contractors doing commercial thinning and similar work with completely blown up top ends.
Like catastrophic damage, piston grenade inside and taking out both the cylinder and crankcase. All that after just a couple months of use.
OP send me a message with link so I can read this too. Dont seem to be on CR group FB.
Awesome brother! Cannot wait to get out in the woods with mine!
Are bigger crank bearings needed? Some may think so, but often it's not the bearings themselves that contribute to crank failure. It's lack of rigidity in the crank itself. The Suzuki 500 Quadzilla is a great example of this.
I’ve never heard of 362 -400 bearing failures, rod, pin, or mains. Losing 20% of the piston weight sure didn’t hurt the 400 either
Doesn't look over heated to me at all. The "soot" you see above the top ring is normal. My 400C shows the same albeit lighter in color.
A friend gave me his stihl 362C-M, the clutch side crank bearing seized up. The rest of the saw is in great shape. Just need to find the time to put it back together.
Usually they don’t seize. If it did, it’s likely from running a dull chain and prying on the dogs all its life and they melted in place. They have plastic bearing retainers to keep the balls in place and those pieces get worn, become brittle and go through the engine eventually becoming melted to the spark arrestor screen.
When a PTO side bearing fails its almost always from some sort of abuse. Especially given low hours as @PV Hiker alluded to.
My saws look 15 years old after 1 tank.
32:1 in a strato is about the equivalent of 50:1 in an old school 2 stroke
The piston weight is about the same from 362 and the 400. The crank isn't. Slipping clutches and dull chains like Kevin said is what likely starts the seal issues. People who crank the chain tight might have gotten away with it on the 361 and 460. I've seen so many smoked 044 pto bearings and rarely an 046/460 or 361 model. The seal will fail but the bearing usually survives. The 044 losses the bearing before seal many times. Almost every 362 brought here was parts, smoked, on the bottom end. They all run 20" bars so it's the purple clutch drum that gives it away. The seals are hard and crunchy to match the bearings. I won't rebuild them. Don't take used burn saws in anymore now. They need a crank most times. Lower rod bearing is also toast most times.
I'm going with overheated, pinched rings that forced up the ring and broke the piston. If they don't find bearing cages or chunk of something in there or missing throttle shaft screws it's unlikely it ate something.
