My STIHL MS290 was down, so in a bind, I purchased at LOWES, a Craftsman 42cc, 18 inch chainsaw. It has the Model number CMXGSAMY421S on it followed by (41AY421S793) in a few places.
It was a complete Bxxxh to get it started, but I finally got it going & I was doing the work with it, but found the bar very wimpy & too flexible, especially after it started heating up. It started to run so hot, it started melting the plastic casing in a few spots (that houses the brake band, clutch & sprocket, crappy tension adjuster, and useless rubber dust skirt that's supposed to keep saw dust off all the parts under it), and NO I was not running it with the brake on.
I tried adjusting the oil flow a few times, but it seemed it was always either too little or so much, that oil was spraying all over the place & the chains dulled very quick.
The saw came with one bar & 2 chains, stamped craftsman but with an Oregon number on them. So, aggravated, I quit for the day & called the Craftsman phone line that came with it to see if they had a heavier bar & better chains for it, & that's when I knew beyond a doubt that I purchased a big TURD, not a Chainsaw. The service rep spent the first part of the conversation telling me that he could not do anything to help me until I give him the Sears Model #, which would be in the XXX.XXXXX type Sears format, after I explained to him that I had removed every single removable part on the saw looking for the Sears number as he referred to it, but it does NOT exist anyplace on the saw. It ended with me telling him he was as useful as tits on a bull & he should find another line of work, because all he could do was read from the Sears SCRIPT and piss people off. I then tried searching the net for info but only became more enraged over this TURD I bought!
I finally decided to try this forum, & began asking on here about these saws and someone on here suggested that it could be a re-badged Poulan. Then someone mentioned said a Countyline bar & chain combo at Tractor Supply should fit it. So I bought that & the chain worked, but the bar doesn't fit because, the bar is different at the mounting end. It turns out the saw is actually an MTD. I ended up contacting Oregon and they researched and told me that right now, no thicker bars are available for this saw but they might me in the future.
Onto the hard starting & lousy running, I ended up dismantling the saw & checking for Vac leaks, and the only leaks I found were at the carb where it attached to the cylinder head, replaced the gasket & tightened that. I also noticed that for some reason the choke rod was not actually laying in the right position because when they assembled the body cover on they didn't position it where it belonged so it had a slight angle on it and would not engage properly so I re-positioned the choke rods rubber bushing into the molded slots and reassembled it all & it starts & runs great now, no matter how long it sits.
Next the oil pump. I searched every parts site I could find for a replacement oil pump. Cannot find one. Found some barely readable markings on the pump, Peng something & PF43. MTD doesn't even show or list the pump on their site or in their drawings. I found 2 on amazon, one is by Haishine & the other is Asin?, listed as "Drive Chainsaw Oil Pump with Gear Worm Set for Chainsaw 4500 5200 45CC 52CC 58CC Chain Saw. Mine is a 42CC but this is the only one I could find so I ordered it.
While I am waiting for the pump, I decided to mess with the original one. I took it apart, and cleaned it well then reassembled it. I put it back in, ran the saw and oil was just flying out the oiling hole with the adjuster turned as low as it could go. I noticed when I first removed it, that the tiny roll pin that holds the adjusting shaft into the housing, was bent at one end, where it should have hit against a stop when adjusting the oil flow, so that eliminated reusing the pin when reassembling the pump because it was then to short to gram with pliers or to tap with a hammer to put it back in, plus I think it was not put in properly when first assembled, and that's how it bent because it passed between the stop & the shaft when adjusting.
On the worm drive shaft, it appears that the rubber collar in the indent on the shaft was a bit beat up looking so I am guessing that is why the oil just pours through the pump and goes all over the place. I was hoping to find O rings on the shaft so I could replace them, but this looks more like a flat tube shaped collar in the indent, so couldn't replace that. Waiting on the replacement oiler now.
Lastly, had no problem at all, removing the Clutch Assembly to get at the oil pump, and when I reassembled it all to test the pump, everything seemed fine. That is until I revved the saw about 10 times while checking for the oil pressure to come up from the tank to the oil hole at the bar. After the oil began pumping out furiously, as I let go of the throttle, I see something go flying & hit the ground. I hit the off switch, put the saw down the went to look. I see the Clutch Assembly unscrewed from the shaft, flew off & hit the ground in 5 pieces! It was the 3 clutch plates, the ring & spring and the Y shaped center piece that goes between the 3 clutch plates and threads onto the drive shaft. So I reassemble the 5 pieces, and thread it back onto the shaft and am trying to get it tighter this time, and the Y piece with the threaded hole for the drive shaft split in 2 places! Waiting for my NEW clutch assembly now along with my new oil pump.
So much for my OBSERVATIONS, Trials & Tribulations with this CRAFTSMAN Mega TURD I purchased! Now, this brings me to my questions, for anyone still reading:
1) anyone know of any better Oil Pump by name and or part number that might fit this turd?
2) Does anyone know if Anybody makes/sells any kind of wrench or Spanner type wrench that can make tightening the clutch assembly back on and for removal as well?
3) does anyone make/sell a piston stop for this? The rope in the hole thing is really getting annoying.
Clutch Assembly Pic
Bar Oil Pump Pics
Looking forward to responses and other horror stories about these CRAFTSMAN turds made by MTD.
It was a complete Bxxxh to get it started, but I finally got it going & I was doing the work with it, but found the bar very wimpy & too flexible, especially after it started heating up. It started to run so hot, it started melting the plastic casing in a few spots (that houses the brake band, clutch & sprocket, crappy tension adjuster, and useless rubber dust skirt that's supposed to keep saw dust off all the parts under it), and NO I was not running it with the brake on.
I tried adjusting the oil flow a few times, but it seemed it was always either too little or so much, that oil was spraying all over the place & the chains dulled very quick.
The saw came with one bar & 2 chains, stamped craftsman but with an Oregon number on them. So, aggravated, I quit for the day & called the Craftsman phone line that came with it to see if they had a heavier bar & better chains for it, & that's when I knew beyond a doubt that I purchased a big TURD, not a Chainsaw. The service rep spent the first part of the conversation telling me that he could not do anything to help me until I give him the Sears Model #, which would be in the XXX.XXXXX type Sears format, after I explained to him that I had removed every single removable part on the saw looking for the Sears number as he referred to it, but it does NOT exist anyplace on the saw. It ended with me telling him he was as useful as tits on a bull & he should find another line of work, because all he could do was read from the Sears SCRIPT and piss people off. I then tried searching the net for info but only became more enraged over this TURD I bought!
I finally decided to try this forum, & began asking on here about these saws and someone on here suggested that it could be a re-badged Poulan. Then someone mentioned said a Countyline bar & chain combo at Tractor Supply should fit it. So I bought that & the chain worked, but the bar doesn't fit because, the bar is different at the mounting end. It turns out the saw is actually an MTD. I ended up contacting Oregon and they researched and told me that right now, no thicker bars are available for this saw but they might me in the future.
Onto the hard starting & lousy running, I ended up dismantling the saw & checking for Vac leaks, and the only leaks I found were at the carb where it attached to the cylinder head, replaced the gasket & tightened that. I also noticed that for some reason the choke rod was not actually laying in the right position because when they assembled the body cover on they didn't position it where it belonged so it had a slight angle on it and would not engage properly so I re-positioned the choke rods rubber bushing into the molded slots and reassembled it all & it starts & runs great now, no matter how long it sits.
Next the oil pump. I searched every parts site I could find for a replacement oil pump. Cannot find one. Found some barely readable markings on the pump, Peng something & PF43. MTD doesn't even show or list the pump on their site or in their drawings. I found 2 on amazon, one is by Haishine & the other is Asin?, listed as "Drive Chainsaw Oil Pump with Gear Worm Set for Chainsaw 4500 5200 45CC 52CC 58CC Chain Saw. Mine is a 42CC but this is the only one I could find so I ordered it.
While I am waiting for the pump, I decided to mess with the original one. I took it apart, and cleaned it well then reassembled it. I put it back in, ran the saw and oil was just flying out the oiling hole with the adjuster turned as low as it could go. I noticed when I first removed it, that the tiny roll pin that holds the adjusting shaft into the housing, was bent at one end, where it should have hit against a stop when adjusting the oil flow, so that eliminated reusing the pin when reassembling the pump because it was then to short to gram with pliers or to tap with a hammer to put it back in, plus I think it was not put in properly when first assembled, and that's how it bent because it passed between the stop & the shaft when adjusting.
On the worm drive shaft, it appears that the rubber collar in the indent on the shaft was a bit beat up looking so I am guessing that is why the oil just pours through the pump and goes all over the place. I was hoping to find O rings on the shaft so I could replace them, but this looks more like a flat tube shaped collar in the indent, so couldn't replace that. Waiting on the replacement oiler now.
Lastly, had no problem at all, removing the Clutch Assembly to get at the oil pump, and when I reassembled it all to test the pump, everything seemed fine. That is until I revved the saw about 10 times while checking for the oil pressure to come up from the tank to the oil hole at the bar. After the oil began pumping out furiously, as I let go of the throttle, I see something go flying & hit the ground. I hit the off switch, put the saw down the went to look. I see the Clutch Assembly unscrewed from the shaft, flew off & hit the ground in 5 pieces! It was the 3 clutch plates, the ring & spring and the Y shaped center piece that goes between the 3 clutch plates and threads onto the drive shaft. So I reassemble the 5 pieces, and thread it back onto the shaft and am trying to get it tighter this time, and the Y piece with the threaded hole for the drive shaft split in 2 places! Waiting for my NEW clutch assembly now along with my new oil pump.
So much for my OBSERVATIONS, Trials & Tribulations with this CRAFTSMAN Mega TURD I purchased! Now, this brings me to my questions, for anyone still reading:
1) anyone know of any better Oil Pump by name and or part number that might fit this turd?
2) Does anyone know if Anybody makes/sells any kind of wrench or Spanner type wrench that can make tightening the clutch assembly back on and for removal as well?
3) does anyone make/sell a piston stop for this? The rope in the hole thing is really getting annoying.
Clutch Assembly Pic
Bar Oil Pump Pics
Looking forward to responses and other horror stories about these CRAFTSMAN turds made by MTD.
