Homelite 330 Intake boot symptoms?

[sentinal02]

Hey guys, great forum you've got here. I'm hoping someone can tell me what the problem is with this saw. for the past 13 years my dad has used this saw to cut about 8 cords of firewood a year and it has never given us problems. last year it finally died on us. we were cutting as usual, ran out of gas and after refilling it it would never run right again. it will run at full throttle though with limited power and it won't idle at all. we've since rebuilt the carb (Zama C1S btw) changed the plug, and toyed with the mix and carb adjustments, but nothing works. is this a symptom of the torn boot that I've been reading about or is it something else. a friend told us it could be the reed valve, but that appears to be fine with no chips and still springy plates and since parts for this thing are nonexistant it's hard to get the parts i need to try something. it just seems weird that it would die all of a sudden like that. we've since bought a new saw (another homelite) but dad really loved this saw in all those years and he's used a few. I'd hate to junk it over something simple. thanks!

 

[HiOctane]

Hmm,remove the muffler,you could have surprise there.The piston has probably seized.A broken boot will give you high idle speed,difficult to adjust,etc but not the symptom you describe.

 

[sentinal02]

Hmm,remove the muffler,you could have surprise there.The piston has probably seized.A broken boot will give you high idle speed,difficult to adjust,etc but not the symptom you describe.

ummm, if the piston seized wouldn't the saw not run at all?

 

[HiOctane]

ummm, if the piston seized wouldn't the saw not run at all?

Not necessarily if the the rings are not stuck really tight all around the piston.Probably only stuck in front of the exhaust port.

 

[sentinal02]

Not necessarily if the the rings are not stuck really tight all around the piston.Probably only stuck in front of the exhaust port.

hmm, i'll have to check that. any other ideas on what it could be?

 

[HiOctane]

hmm, i'll have to check that. any other ideas on what it could be?

You could check if the exhaust port or muffler is not blocked,but i think my first idea should be pretty close to truth.

 

[sentinal02]

You could check if the exhaust port or muffler is not blocked,but i think my first idea should be pretty close to truth.

well, finally got around to pulling the muffler today and as can't see any gap in the rings and the portion of the cylinder wall that i can see isn't scored. have a look:

i blew some air through the muffler with the compressor and it passes through fine. i even took off the carb again to have a better look at that boot and even that looks fine, no visible tears/cracks. i'm back to square one.

i did try to start it again just for kicks and to refresh my memory of the sypmtoms (been over a year). it kicked over as expected, ie full choke for 4-5 pulls to a pop, half choke with throttle locked and it fired up, even with year old gas. the saw will run for about half a minute at full throttle and 1/4 choke (dies almost instantly if you let the choke all the way out, even with the throttle down) and then dies on its own. it can be restarted at 3/4 choke pretty much immediately where it will do the same thing again. it's almost as if it's using up all the gas in the bowl and then starving, except i don't think it has much of a bowl, does it? certainly not enough of one to let it run that long i would think. very here

 

[HiOctane]

The story is different now,looks like you got a fuel problem.Check the fuel filter in the tank if not clogged.Check fuel line,sometimes they got "burned" by gas ,kinda sticky to the touch or kink in the hose.You said you changed kit and opened plugs,i guess you blow with air also.I dont know on those Homelite,i guess you got a gasket between carn and reed valve,is it in good condition,pulse hole clear.

 

[sentinal02]

The story is different now,looks like you got a fuel problem.Check the fuel filter in the tank if not clogged.Check fuel line,sometimes they got "burned" by gas ,kinda sticky to the touch or kink in the hose.You said you changed kit and opened plugs,i guess you blow with air also.I dont know on those Homelite,i guess you got a gasket between carn and reed valve,is it in good condition,pulse hole clear.

in tank filter was changed along with the rebuild kit and we've alredy blown out/check the fuel lines for kinks. the gasket between the carb and reed valve is in good condition, but the pulse hole has me stumped. can you explain?

 

[HiOctane]

in tank filter was changed along with the rebuild kit and we've alredy blown out/check the fuel lines for kinks. the gasket between the carb and reed valve is in good condition, but the pulse hole has me stumped. can you explain?

Thats the Small round hole above the venturi hole in the carb.Check on the reed gasket ,you got the big hole and you should have a small hole close that .

 

[sentinal02]

Thats the Small round hole above the venturi hole in the carb.Check on the reed gasket ,you got the big hole and you should have a small hole close that .

sorry, what i took for a gasket between the carb and the reed valve is actually something seperate, looks like a cardboard cover to keep the dust away from the intake side of the engine. the carb sits on top of the intake boot (the one known to fail all the time apparently) and seals to that. there's nothing between the bottom of the carb and the reed except that boot. i do see 3 small (tiny, needle sized) holes right at the throttle plate, one above, one at the plate where it meets the wall, and one just below it. i assume these are the metering holes though, especially since there's no way a gasket could cover them up. thanks for all the help btw, i realy appriciate it.

 

[HiOctane]

sorry, what i took for a gasket between the carb and the reed valve is actually something seperate, looks like a cardboard cover to keep the dust away from the intake side of the engine. the carb sits on top of the intake boot (the one known to fail all the time apparently) and seals to that. there's nothing between the bottom of the carb and the reed except that boot. i do see 3 small (tiny, needle sized) holes right at the throttle plate, one above, one at the plate where it meets the wall, and one just below it. i assume these are the metering holes though, especially since there's no way a gasket could cover them up. thanks for all the help btw, i realy appriciate it.

Then,you must have 2 lines coming to your carb,one for fuel and other for pulse.So,if you still have your problem,next step will a pressure leak test.

 

[spike60]

Have you done a pressure test on the fuel line yet? We are seeing a lot of fuel line failures on new and old saws alike.

You bought another Homelite? Where did you find one?

 

[sentinal02]

Have you done a pressure test on the fuel line yet? We are seeing a lot of fuel line failures on new and old saws alike.

You bought another Homelite? Where did you find one?

we picked up a timberman 45 from HD last year. they still sell the big ticket items but they don't make the parts for them. how do you guys suggest testing the pressure? plug one end of the line and hook up a vac guage?

Hi, there are two lines going to the carb (I was wondering what that second line was for)

 

[HiOctane]

we picked up a timberman 45 from HD last year. they still sell the big ticket items but they don't make the parts for them. how do you guys suggest testing the pressure? plug one end of the line and hook up a vac guage?

Yes,about 4-5 lbs.