Husqvarna 390 pistons?

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Could be. I got it from Island Saw and it was one of the very first ones. My thought would be to heat it up in the oven to around 150 or so degrees F and then run a strong magnet around the ring grooves to see if the locating pins will slide out. My brother was very disappointed to say the least.

Ya I bet he was, that really sucks. I'll do that with one of the pistons, when the wife isn't looking! Or actually I'll just stick it on the wood stove.
 
I got one 385 together and running yesterday. Checked comp tonight, came in at 180psi, that's with just flatten the squish with sand paper on the mandrel and machining the cylinder down to get .020" squish. Pretty happy with that. Not going to be porting these, just not worth it when just flipping the saws, unless someone specifically asks for it and will pay.

Putting a 390 together right now, did the same thing, will see how comp comes in at, suspecting it will be lower.
 
Well something happened to the 390, first few minutes of run time and the saw just bogged out. I took it apart and the piston is scored pretty good, the cylinder appears to be saveable, little bit of transfer. I can't see what caused it though. The pins never backed out, scored on the ex side, lots of oil in the saw, so that's not it. Doesn't act like an air leak, to me it almost looks like something went through the saw? Or possible the alu cast is cheap and just came apart. What say you?

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Judging by the looks of the top ring id say something went through it thats alot harder than aluminum.
 
The muffler you had on this saw- new or used? If used, how bad was it for carbon build-up?

One issue with these aftermarket pistons- low silicon content which means they're softer than most OEM.
 
Hmm...air leak, carbon score, physical defect of some kind, water in gas- I'm running out of ideas here. All I have left is what you mentioned, just the piston being too soft or of inadequate material.

Those black streaks on either side of the damage indicate a carbon score to me. Maybe check inside the muffler for any telltale signs of loose carbon?
 
Hmm...air leak, carbon score, physical defect of some kind, water in gas- I'm running out of ideas here. All I have left is what you mentioned, just the piston being too soft or of inadequate material.

Those black streaks on either side of the damage indicate a carbon score to me. Maybe check inside the muffler for any telltale signs of loose carbon?

I'll take a look.
 
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You guys have seen way more of these failures than I have, but I have never seen a jug scored offset from the exhaust port.
Do you have a way to check the jug for roundness or high spots? Just a thought.
 
I'd double check that jug for any traces of transfer from the last time. If any is left behind that can happen fast.
 

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