The Tale of Three Saws *lengthy read*

[Dutch42]

**WARNING this is unnecessarily lengthy. Skip to the 3 portions labeled “Questions” if you don’t care to read all the background info**

The 345 Husqvarna

About five years ago I picked up a 345 and it has been a trustworthy loyal friend. I used it to cut a modest amount of pinion pine every year (2-3 cords) for firewood.

Two years ago we had some pretty big wind storms that took out some residential trees. One of my cousins had what I think was an Ash tree get downed (12-18inch trunk). My little 345 really struggled cutting up the Ash, that coupled with property in Oregon I recently purchased (I still live in Northern Nevada) that has some mature trees I would eventually like to harvest, led me to purchase a big saw (Husqvarna 385XP). This is where things go south.

I way overpaid for the big saw because I bought it from a saw "builder" who assured me the saw had been gone through (more on this under the 385 section). Needless say the 345 got relegated to backup/limbing duties until the big saw was BROKE and went back to the builder.

At some point before the big saw got broke I may have made some poor decisions cutting up some limbs with the 345 and broke the rear handle where it connects to the anti-vibe spring at the front of the saw. More poor choices were made and I continued to cut with my 345 despite it potentially being a safety hazard. I cut a bit more wood and my 345 started acting up. It would run fine until I ran about a tank to a tank and a half of gas through it. Then when I finished a cut it would die, but start right back up after a pull or two and idle fine. It started doing this when I was almost finished for the year so I finished what I needed to cut and decided to re-attack the issue at a later date. I dumped the fuel out of the saw and ran it dry to store it until I had time to look into its issues.

Fast forward a few months to present time and I have purchased a new handle and installed it. Unfortunately I purchased the wrong new handle because it does not have a nipple for the return line from the primer bulb (aka air purge bulb?). When I was swapping out the busted handle for the new one I noticed the air filter was pretty dirty and the so was the fuel filter. I chalked up the issues I was having to one of these two things, so the 345 got a new air filter, new fuel line, and new fuel filter.

I'm not really sure how crucial the return line from the primer bulb to the fuel tank is. I know older saws don’t have a primer bulb at all so I went ahead and tested out the saw with the return line just dangling (not connected to anything). My understanding is the primer bulb draws fuel from the tank via the fuel line into the carb and any excess fuel drawn gets sent back to the tank via the return line? I'm no small engine mechanic so please chime in if that is not correct.

Anyways, I started the saw up and it idled fine. I let it idle for about 5 minutes and had no issues. To further test the saw I made a few cuts on some limbs around my property that needed to be cut. After only about 5 limbs the saw started acting up again. This time after about the 4th limb I cut the saw idled high, so high in fact the chain started spinning as if I was depressing the throttle (I wasn't) I blipped the throttle and it quit idling high. I made the last cut and it did it again only this time after a few seconds of idling high the saw died. I decided not to make any more cuts but was curious if the saw would start back up and idle. It didn’t really want to start but after 7-8 pulls it started and idled fine for about 30-40 seconds before I flipped the kill switch.

Questions about 345

How important is the return line that connects the primer bulb back to the fuel tank? Would leaving it disconnected cause the saw to run the way I described?

Is there a way to "delete" the primer bulb so I don't have to buy yet another new/used handle (they aren't cheap)? Maybe buying a new carb that doesn’t have the bulb would be cheaper? Would an older model carb work with my saw?

I haven't messed with tuning the carb because it has run fine for years but I did change my fuel mixture from 50:1 to 40:1 on the recommendation of the saw "builder" I purchased my 385 from. Could fuel mixture change be causing the issue?

I will probably try tuning the carb to see if there is improvement, but with no improvement maybe I need to pull out the carb, tear it apart and see if something is blocking it up? Afterall, the air filter and fuel filter were pretty dirty (I might not be really good about cleaning the saw after each use).

I had been using fuel with ethanol before and I know it can wreak havoc on small engine carbs so I’m thinking I will probably tear the carb apart and see if its gummed up if tuning doesn’t do anything.

 

[Dutch42]

The 385 Husqvarna aka lil’ Pig

I have affectionately, or not so affectionately, named my 385 lil’ Pig because it eats up a lot of my time and money. I bought the saw used for ~$700 from a saw builder about 2 hours from where I live. I paid a little more for the saw than I wanted to but it came with a 26” bar and chain, a 32” bar and chain, and I was assured the saw had been gone through and would run like new.

I was out cutting some pinyon pine and used the 385 to drop a big tree (24” trunk is big for pinyon). The 385 had no trouble dropping the tree. I did most the cutting with my 345. Once I took care of pretty much all of the limbs I fired the 385 back up and 2-3 cuts in it started dying on me. I thought maybe I just hadn’t tuned the carb right and I didn’t want to run it too lean even though it should’ve been running rich because it had been tuned for about 4k feet lower than where I was cutting (builder lives at ~3000 ft and I was cutting at ~7300 ft). I finished cutting with up the tree with my 345 and called it a day (this was also the day I broke the handle on the 345).

Because I am not a small engine mechanic I took the saw in to get tuned by the “pros” at a local saw dealer. I got a call a few weeks after dropping the saw off at the dealer and he says the saw has low compression and that’s why it’s not running right. He also thought the “fuel pump” might be bad in the carb. They gave me an absurdly high quote to put a new piston, rings, cylinder, and rebuild the carb on the saw and I told them no thanks. I called the saw builder I bought it from and he said to bring it out to him.

I was a little irritated with him but was glad he was going to make it right and fix the saw free of charge. I stood there and watched as he tore down the saw and put a brand new piston, rings and cylinder in the saw. He fired it up and did a couple of cuts on a pine he had laying on his property. It seemed to be in working order.

When I got it home I made a couple cuts on some big pine rounds (32”) and once it was hot it started dying on me. Except this time it would fire right back up. I didn’t want to damage the saw again so I immediately quit cutting. I called the builder and he suggested I replace the fuel line, impulse line, and maybe replace the walbro carb with a tillotson carb. To his credit he offered to do it again free of charge but I figured by the time I made the 4 hour round trip in my truck it would be cheaper just to buy the parts and do it myself.

I bought a used Tillotson carb, carb rebuild kit, fuel line, impulse line, and fuel filter. I rebuilt the Tillotson carb just to make sure it wouldn’t be a problem. I was a little surprised to find the fuel filter being as dirty as it was since he had assured me the saw had been “gone through”. I also pulled the Walbro carb apart out of curiosity and it was full of the gunk ethanol leaves behind (he obviously hadn’t pulled the carb apart). I probably could’ve got by with just a rebuild kit on the Walbro, but I have read/been told the tillotson is a better carb (not sure how or why its better).

One of my buddies got a line on a bunch of standing dead oak that had been killed by fires a couple years ago. I thought what a great opportunity to test out the 385 (even though I didn’t really need any more firewood). The oak was at about 4k feet so I tuned had to tune the carb as I usually cut around 6-8k feet. The saw seemed to be running well, it idled a little high but I just attributed that to a poor job tuning the idle because I was anxious to get cutting (my buddy has one of them fancy new auto-tuning stihl 441). I made 10-15 cuts on 28”-32+”oak and that thing impressed!

I killed the saw to start rolling the rounds into my trailer and when I went back to start cutting the dang starter cover busted! I was red hot mad as I inspected the starter cover you could see the plastic where the screws held it to the saw was all cracked. It must’ve been just barely hanging on because I certainly didn’t do this to the saw. Cutting slowed once we were down to one saw (I didn’t have my 345 because I was in the middle of replacing the handle). Luckily the owner of the property showed up with a track-ho and loaded up my trailer with 6-7’ long 28-30” rounds of oak so I could finish cutting it at home. It was a heavy load with the long bed loaded cab high and my 5’x10’ trailer loaded up to the top of the 4’ high sides, but the 6.7 Cummins handled her over a 8500ft mountain pass without too much complaint (I need to get bags on the truck cause it was squatting pretty hard).

Once I got lil’ Pig’s (385) new starter cover and some replacement screws ($90), I went out to get that oak cut up and off my trailer. I warmed up the saw for about 5 minutes and went to tune it again for my house’s altitude ~6300ft. It cut through that oak like a hot knife through butter. After about 2 tanks of fuel it started idling higher and after a cut it would spin the chain without me applying any throttle. It would only spin the chain for about 30 seconds if I didn’t do anything to stop the chain. If I set the chain on a log to slow it, it would stop and idle without spinning the chain. I thought maybe I just hadn’t warmed up the saw enough before adjusting the idle so I tried adjusting the idle. I leaned out the idle until it started to not want to maintain idle then richened just a smidge. It continued to spin the chain after each cut so I just finished up the job being careful and slowing the chain on a log after each cut.

Questions about Lil’ Pig (385)

Should I be concerned about the issue of the chain continuing to spin after a long cut on big oak? I don’t have any more pine that needs cutting but maybe I should try it out on some easy/short cuts to see if it does it.

I was thinking maybe it’s a carb issue since I rebuilt and installed the Tillotson carb myself and have ZERO experience doing that kind of thing. I have some experience with 2-stroke dirt bikes and 4-stroke street bikes, so I’m not a complete moron when it comes to wrenching on things but am far from a mechanic. How can I trouble shoot carb installation issues?

I did a little reflecting and reading and thought maybe this chain continuing to spin issue is a problem with the clutch? Or perhaps I have the chain a little too tight? Thoughts?

 

[Dutch42]

Stihl 440

Just picked up a Stihl 440 that came with one old 32” bar, one brand new 32” bar, and one chain for $250, a heck of a deal. It fired right up despite the air filter being filthy. The fuel cap leaks VERY bad as well, which is why the seller was pretty much giving it away. I ordered a new fuel cap for $6 hopefully that will solve the leaky issue if not I’ll probably replace the handle/tank. I don’t need another saw but it wouldn’t hurt to have a back-up and I just couldn’t pass up on that price.

It will probably end up being my Oregon property saw, although my father-in-law lives right next to my Oregon property and will probably be using it. He doesn’t always treat his equipment very well so I’m a little reluctant to leave it there for him to use. He said he’d help me clear my property so I can build on it, so I guess free help might be worth the risk of neglecting my newly acquired saw.

Stihl 440 questions

I figure I’ll pull the exhaust and see how the cylinder looks. I’ll clean the air filter, replace the fuel filter, check the fuel and impulse lines, and do some cuts with it in the fall.

I might see about doing a compression test on it as well. Do you have to block off the exhaust to get an accurate compression test? I have a compression tester for cars but I haven’t checked to see if it would work on a chainsaw.

Before I take the saw 8 hours from my home up to my property in Oregon are there any issues I should look for? Issues these saws are known to have?

I want to have it in tip-top shape so my father-in-law isn’t tempted to tinker on it.

 

[NSEric]

On the 345 you need to block off the primer bulb line going to the carb, you can put a small screw in it if you want.
Without the primer bulb hooked up normally or blocked off the carb can suck air through the line which would make it idle high.
Not sure whats up with the 385, you changed a lot of stuff on that one.
The stihl sounds like it works fine, I'd just clean it up good and run it.

 

[Dutch42]

On the 345 you need to block off the primer bulb line going to the carb, you can put a small screw in it if you want.
Without the primer bulb hooked up normally or blocked off the carb can suck air through the line which would make it idle high.
Not sure whats up with the 385, you changed a lot of stuff on that one.
The stihl sounds like it works fine, I'd just clean it up good and run it.

Thanks for the reply! I'll give a that a try on the 345. I guess I was thinking whats stopping the carb from sucking air through the bulb and back from the fuel tank when it is connected to the tank like its supposed to be? Do you think I could plug the hose that goes to the tank instead of the one that runs between the carb and bulb? There is just more hose to work with on the end that goes to the tank. I suppose I could just put the long hose on the carb.

I was reading through a build thread on a Stihl 440 and they were talking about break-in and how the more you run a new piston, rings, and cylinder the saw gains in power as the rings "seat." I wonder if maybe thats what i'm experiencing with the 385? As its breaking in/rings are "seating" I am getting more power and I need to continue to re-tune it? I'm not really sure I just don't want to damage the saw and have to fork out a bunch more money to repair it.

 

[NSEric]

You can plug the end of the primer hose that hooks to the tank. You can also pop the primer bulb out and plug the line going to the carb there easily.
The reason some guys hate primer bulbs is when they get old and the bulb or line cracks the saw leans out and runs funny at times. When working properly the primer line in the tank must be in gas or there isn't enough air in the tank for the saw to suck air for whatever reason if not hooked up or cracked the saw runs bad.

 

[Dutch42]

Yeah, I think I'll just try plugging the hose to the carb. If that works. I'll solderthe carb nipple closed and leave the plugged hose as a back-up. I never used the primer bulb anyways, and it always started right up as long as I choked it when starting it cold.

 

[mdavlee]

Yeah, I think I'll just try plugging the hose to the carb. If that works. I'll solderthe carb nipple closed and leave the plugged hose as a back-up. I never used the primer bulb anyways, and it always started right up as long as I choked it when starting it cold.

385 L is probably a touch lean. If you can’t adjust it with the idle screw try to turn the L CCW just a touch and then idle it back up. You should get good spool up and then tune the H

 

[Dutch42]

385 L is probably a touch lean. If you can’t adjust it with the idle screw try to turn the L CCW just a touch and then idle it back up. You should get good spool up and then tune the H

Thanks for the advice mdavlee, I'll give that a shot. I split all of my pine rounds so I'll have to try it on some of my oak rounds.

 

[Ronie]

Just to be safe I would do a vacuum test on it. At the very least I would spray some carb or brake cleaner around the seals and intake boot. Listen for any rpm change while you do it.