550xp running on 20% Ethanol = Bad News

[Ben Duffy]

Purchased new late this spring, I've ran 8 tanks of the Husq premix in the can through the saw. Put 1 & 1/2 tanks of Cumberland Farms gas mixed with the Husq oil at the correct ratio through and the saw was acting up, bogging down and dying at the end of a cut. Took it into the shop and got the bad news that the piston, ring and cylinder around the exhaust was scored and burnt.

They measured the ethanol content in the tank and it was at 20%, with the saw's error code pointing to bad fuel/lean mix.

Dealer says it's not covered under warantee and wants $400 to replace put a new cylinder/piston kit in along with a new exhaust gasket.

Needless to say I'm bummed. Called up Maine's QA office which handles weights and measures and will pursue the Cumberland Farms end. State law says they aren't liable for the ethanol mix but 20% is crazy.

I'm thinking of buying the parts and assembling over at my step-brother's shop. He's a mechanic and knows what he's doing while I'm a bit of a hack at this stuff.

Does anyone know a good source for my Husq parts or should I just pony up at the dealer? Am I crazy to do the cylinder swap with a little mentoring or would you just pay the dealer?

I'm reticent to spend another $400 on this $600 out the door saw...

Thanks in advance for your thoughts. I've trolled this site for lots of great info before signing up and am happy to now be a site member.

Cheers,

Ben

 

[LogSawyer74]

Is the "bad" gas still in the saw? I realize this is probably not likely, but I would want to verify the 20% ethanol content. I've got a glass vial ethanol tester that I've used to check different gas stations around town. All those that claimed to be ethanol free were indeed ethanol free. But one of the 10% ethanol stations showed to be a quite a bit over the 10% line, I'd guess about 15%. Plus if you still had the bad gas and could show evidence of the 20% ethanol, I bet you would have a lot more clout with the weights and measures in Maine. Hope your story has a happy ending....

 

[watsonr]

That sux! and it looks like more stations will be going to higher ethanol soon. Couple guys here give better deals than the dealer on OEM parts.

 

[sunfish]

Sorry to hear that! No ethanol in my saws!

 

[sunfish]

Cylinder can likely be saved, just needs a new piston/ring. $50 or less...

 

[Bluefish]

Oh Man, that is horrible! Hope it works out. Where in Maine are you? RD Faulkner has bulk ethanol free pre mix, 1 gallon, 5 gallon. I know it isn't cheap but it is all I run. There are some marinas and airports that have ethanol free too. Shoot me a pm, I can list a few. Russ

 

[D3B Dave]

A few years ago the Kansas City Star newspaper had a front page headline, multi page story, about ethanol fuel. It seems the alcohol is not mixed at the refinery by the refinery. When a tanker driver gets a load of fuel, he will load pure gasoline first. Then he goes to another section of the refinery and loads the alcohol based on how many gallons of gasoline he loaded. The Company he is hauling for has supplied him with a chart that shows how much alcohol to load for a given amount of gasoline. The process is called slosh blending, as it is suppose to blend in the moving truck.

The newspaper did some testing of alcohol content through out the State od Missouri at different retailers. The results were interesting. Only a very small amount of retailers actually had 10% mix. Most were above the 10% limit with some around 22%. One retailer in particular averaged 15% at every station tested. Since alcohol is cheaper that gasoline, there in lies the motive.

This lead me to acquire my own testing bottle. After testing the fuel here in town I discovered that the retailer in question, which has 3 locations in my small town, will average from 15% to 18% week after week. The other retailers will average 10%. The one retailer which claims alcohol free premium is indeed alcohol free.

The article made for some interesting reading.

 

[Termite]

Get your parts from TK site sponsor and he is in Maine too. Mastermind has a video on cleaning up cylinders. Do a search.
Logger buddy seized a 562 and a 7900 on the same day with the same fuel. All these sawyers that say they have never had any trouble with ethanol pump gas are the lucky ones.
I used a rubber mandrel with fine abrasive roll to clean up those cylinders. So far they are running good.
If a piston kit is all you need it will only set you back about 75. I replaced the wrist pin bearing too.

 

[tlandrum]

I can get you that oem cylinder for $185

 

[walexa07]

I too am betting the cylinder will clean up and you can just put in a new piston. Plenty of guys on here with experience on that model that will help you as much as you need on breaking the saw down, cleaning up cylinder, and installing new piston. You will just need to take your time. If anything stumps you on the teardown or reassembly take photos, post them, and ask questions. You'll be back up and running and have some experience under your belt.

Waylan

 

[sunfish]

I can get you that oem cylinder for $185

Piston & cylinder? If so, that's a hell of a price!

 

[rullywowr]

I'm sorry to hear that! Makes me think twice about what I am feeding my beloved 550xp. Here in ct we are supposed to have 10% ethanol max too. Gotta get a testing kit.

 

[Chris-PA]

What oil ratio were you using?

 

[dl5205]

Not to doubt your dealer, but "Bad Gas" is often a culprit, sometimes a cop out.

I'd take the muffler off and have a peek for myself before I did anything drastic.

I'd also strongly consider getting a second opinion. How local is TK to you? He ain't
skeered when it comes to AT saws.

Have you tested your fuel jug for E %?

 

[mountainlake]

You need to learn to tune a saw so you can quit running it when it's lean. When they really scream, the owner will be screaming shortly after. Steve

 

[HuskStihl]

You need to learn to tune a saw so you can quit running it when it's lean. When they really scream, the owner will be screaming shortly after. Steve

Hard to tune a 550.

 

[HuskStihl]

How difficult would it be to make an auto tune saw have some sort of warning light when it senses bad fuel? If it has a fault code, couldn't it have that connected to a warning system?
My saws are old, and I can't pump ethanol free, but I make sure they are 4 stroking appropriately before cutting

 

[mountainlake]

Maybe the auto tune doesn't work as good as advertised. If any one knows how to tune a saw they will quit running it when it's lean auto tune or not. Steve

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

How difficult would it be to make an auto tune saw have some sort of warning light when it senses bad fuel? If it has a fault code, couldn't it have that connected to a warning system?

Better yet it should just shut itself down when it senses something catastrophic.

 

[spike60]

Piston & cylinder? If so, that's a hell of a price!

Yeah, that's what I sell them for also. so that's a legit price. List is $230 something.

Unfortunately, the full kit is the only option if it's gotta get done quick. 550 pistons are backordered til August. (not really that long). And the rings are September. Only the full kit is in stock at the moment.