Attention Poulan 330 owners

[Cliff R]

Since our local Husqvarna dealer moved further North, I did a dealer search yesterday and found one less than 10 miles from my house. I figured it was another Amish saw shop (Yoder's Small Engine Service), so I haven't checked them out before.

Well, turns out it's a very small shop on the side of a guys house in a double wide garage. He's been a Husqvarna dealer for 24 years, and used to have a shop in town, but the economy has caused him to set up shop at home. He left the Amish 40 years ago when he got married.

Anyhow, I noticed a Poulan 330 box on the floor, and we talked about them briefly. Turns out his the local Poulan repair facility as well. He said that Poulan knows about the carb troubles and has been supplying new ones for the customers who decided to fix the idle issues with them instead of taking them back for a refund.

He said that they idle and run fine with the new carburetors installed......Cliff

 

[7sleeper]

Since our local Husqvarna dealer moved further North, I did a dealer search yesterday and found one less than 10 miles from my house. I figured it was another Amish saw shop (Yoder's Small Engine Service), so I haven't checked them out before.

Well, turns out it's a very small shop on the side of a guys house in a double wide garage. He's been a Husqvarna dealer for 24 years, and used to have a shop in town, but the economy has caused him to set up shop at home. He left the Amish 40 years ago when he got married.

Anyhow, I noticed a Poulan 330 box on the floor, and we talked about them briefly. Turns out his the local Poulan repair facility as well. He said that Poulan knows about the carb troubles and has been supplying new ones for the customers who decided to fix the idle issues with them instead of taking them back for a refund.

He said that they idle and run fine with the new carburetors installed......Cliff

Do you miss yours now?

7

 

[Sprintcar]

What was the carb issue?

 

[7sleeper]

What was the carb issue?

I heard of erattic idling problem. Some had problems others loved them!

7

 

[Sprintcar]

Yeah, I've got four of them, two upgraded to the 60cc version and have never has an issue with any of them. They are one of the last great designs of the saws produced in Nashville. Most folks make fun of these saws with the 22 inch bars with Vanguard chain, till they run one with an 18 inch bar with .325. These saws can hold there own with just about anything in the 55cc class, and in the majority of cases out perform the rest. Good saws overall, just never seen or heard of a carb issue with them.

 

[Cliff R]

"Do you miss yours now?"

Not in the least. Even when I got one of them running up to par, it wasn't as strong as a muffler modded Echo CS-510. Ran decent, but nothing overly impressive. Considering the weight, and the fact that the air filter was full of chips after just about every outing, I let them go back and miss them about as much as the IRS tax auditor I had to deal with a few years ago!.....LOL.....Cliff

PS: this doesn't have to turn into a Poulan lovers post, or a Poulan bashers post, just that our local dealer confirmed the carb issues we've seen with these saws, and that Poulan will replace them with good working carburetors under warrantee, if you choose to go thru the process instead of returning the saw.....FWIW

 

[Sprintcar]

Thanks Cliff, I've just never seen an issue with the carbs on these saws. I wonder what the problem really is? If its an issue with the idle circuit on these carbs, what did they do to fix it? Now I'm curious if it was a quality issue from the carb manufacturer, or the fact these saws sat on shelves for 5 to 10 years before being sold.

Thanks,

Jerry.

 

[Cliff R]

It's directly related to the carburetor. The Dealer told me that if you have a troubled 330, the ONLY was to correct the idling issues is to replace the carburetor. Not sure at this point how many were released with defective carbs, all three that I obtained were DOOMED. No matter what I did to them, they idled all over the place when warmed up.

A LOT of them were returned here to our local TSC. The Dealer I talked to got several of them in and fixed them easily with a carb replacment. I suspect the word traveled pretty fast in this small town. There have been 9 330's at TSC on display now for months, and they are marked down to $179.95. NO ONE is going near the display!....FWIW......Cliff

 

[Sprintcar]

At that price even with a "defective" carb is still a good price. I'm just wondering what the underlying problem may be? Now I'm going to go dig into the one upstairs and do some research. Uh oh, wait a minute, someones yelling bout time to go to church. Like I need too.

Thanks,

 

[Cliff R]

I put those carbs "under the microscope" here. They fuel inlet line was against the plastic cover on them, so needed to be bent down (or the cover notched slighlty) a tad to keep from "pinching" the line. Although this didn't solve the idle issues, something to check on all of them.

The idle feed supply hole in the bore is offset from the "notch" in the throttle plate. Probably am emission deal there. I very carefully moved the "notch" over so it uncovered the supply hole, or was in line with it, but it didn't solve the hunting around at idle problems. The main fuel discharge is also HUGE and has some material around it (bulge) that may cause a low pressure area over the idle feed port. I tried removing some of the "bulge" in the bore, but it didn't seem to help.

I replaced the carb on one of the 330's, and doing so IMMEDIATELY corrected any and all idle issues with it. As luck would have it, that saw had a shortblock "issue" or something in the clutch end of the crank. About the time I got it running flawlessly, it started making a LOT of bearing/clutch noise. I was right at my 30 days, so decided to scrap the entire project, even though I had some time and money in it.

Back to my Husqvarna's, as I have a 100 percent success ratio with them......Cliff

 

[JohnnyBoy1986]

its good to know, we're a poulan warranty station as well here in VA. i've heard plenty about this issue but never had one actually come into the shop with the issue. Poulan saws are not the quality they ever used to be, they are 'cost effective'. for the price you pay for the saw you can only expect so much, for the cost and especially if you only plan on using it occasionally its probably the way to go for the budget based home owner.

 

[Sprintcar]

its good to know, we're a poulan warranty station as well here in VA. i've heard plenty about this issue but never had one actually come into the shop with the issue. Poulan saws are not the quality they ever used to be, they are 'cost effective'. for the price you pay for the saw you can only expect so much, for the cost and especially if you only plan on using it occasionally its probably the way to go for the budget based home owner.

Valid point. Most if not all Poulan Pro saws are now " Consumer Grade" and the biggest one is the 4620. It's the 295 that's been renamed, but not a real upgrade from the original 295 series.

The Poulan Pro that I have had some experience with is the 330, 380, 415, and the 505. All these saws in their own right are pretty good designs and have history with the Husky and J-Red product line. The 505 that I ran could hold its own with just about anything, well anything below 100cc.

The major problem with the "box store" saws regardless of manufacturer or color is the fact that these saws need to be tuned out of the box. The typical consumer that may trim branches or other small jobs doesn't understand how critcal and the importance of fuel distribution curves and the transition from idle circuit to WOT under load.

I know guys that have the Poulan Pro 220, 260 and swear by them. Or course these guys tune their own saws and aren't afraid if by chance they blow one up. As one guy said to me, it's JAFS. Come up with your own acronym.

:greenchainsaw:

 

[Sprintcar]

As you can see in the last paragraph, going to church this morning didn't fix anything with me.

My pastor owns a couple Homelites. That for sure will get him into heaven.

 

[wse8562]

Yeah, I've got four of them, two upgraded to the 60cc version and have never has an issue with any of them. They are one of the last great designs of the saws produced in Nashville. Most folks make fun of these saws with the 22 inch bars with Vanguard chain, till they run one with an 18 inch bar with .325. These saws can hold there own with just about anything in the 55cc class, and in the majority of cases out perform the rest. Good saws overall, just never seen or heard of a carb issue with them.

Had 1 come thru the shop with broken ring. Customer decided not to repair, bought it cheap. Did a slight muffler mod. Holds it own with any ms290!

 

[leeave96]

Old thread…

What model carb are you using for a replacement for the 330 and is it a direct bolt-on or are mods required? Are these replacement carbs still available?

Does this carb replacement render this saw a good trouble free firewood saw? Got a couple 330’s I’d like to keep going.

Thanks!

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

Old thread…

What model carb are you using for a replacement for the 330 and is it a direct bolt-on or are mods required? Are these replacement carbs still available?

Does this carb replacement render this saw a good trouble free firewood saw? Got a couple 330’s I’d like to keep going.

Thanks!

14 years ago was last post. So they may not be here now.

330 mostly used HDA-164. IMO just rebuild the one on it unless it is one with valve issue that pops up rarely.

HDA-137 was on some 3450 3750 and 380 with 164's too.

No they are NLA. Harder to find.

Can use the smaller HDA-49 on them that came on the older 3000-365 etc. A bunch of those carbs out there for rebuilding.

Echo carb can be used if you pull the linkages off and install the poulan ones. If needed to in a must have deal.


IMO try a new rebuild kit for about 8 bucks first.

 

[drumbum]

Old thread…

What model carb are you using for a replacement for the 330 and is it a direct bolt-on or are mods required? Are these replacement carbs still available?

Does this carb replacement render this saw a good trouble free firewood saw? Got a couple 330’s I’d like to keep going.

Thanks!

Haven't seen you around for a good bit.
Did you have a sanity attack?