Want to walk me through a piston replacement?

[sneezer]

OK, so now where to buy a piston. I know there are a bunch of places but this is an old saw
so it may be less common than others. I have seen several online but with few specifications
given.

One place that interests me is called DLA Engine Parts. Their online pages are everywhere. Google
for "162SE piston" and there they are, right on top, with a "new aftermarket piston" at $22.37.
They give more details in terms of part numbers and fit to specific saws than anyone else and they
say specifically, "Piston Kit fit HUSQVARNA 61, 162, 162 SE, 162 SG (48mm) [#503517401]".
They also have a bearing and a gasket.

Only thing is they are in Athens, Greece. From the looks of it, they do a lot of business with all
sorts of engines. Prices low but will surely be made up with a shipping charge though that may
not even be so bad. They say, "Our Piston Kits are branded and come directly from the top-quality Manufacturers METEOR and EPISAN. I've never heard of Episan but have heard of Meteor.

Has anyone ever dealt with this outfit or know anything about it?

 

[chuckwood]

OK, so now where to buy a piston. I know there are a bunch of places but this is an old saw
so it may be less common than others. I have seen several online but with few specifications
given.

One place that interests me is called DLA Engine Parts. Their online pages are everywhere. Google
for "162SE piston" and there they are, right on top, with a "new aftermarket piston" at $22.37.
They give more details in terms of part numbers and fit to specific saws than anyone else and they
say specifically, "Piston Kit fit HUSQVARNA 61, 162, 162 SE, 162 SG (48mm) [#503517401]".
They also have a bearing and a gasket.

Only thing is they are in Athens, Greece. From the looks of it, they do a lot of business with all
sorts of engines. Prices low but will surely be made up with a shipping charge though that may
not even be so bad. They say, "Our Piston Kits are branded and come directly from the top-quality Manufacturers METEOR and EPISAN. I've never heard of Episan but have heard of Meteor.

Has anyone ever dealt with this outfit or know anything about it?

I've purchased parts for my old L series Huskys from this company via ebay. They've always given me first class service and fast shipping for being international. They are also quick to answer emails. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them again.

 

[pioneerguy600]

Yes, they are good to deal with, bought plenty of parts from them.

 

[pioneerguy600]

The Meteror brand piston for the 61 and 162 are about $35. right from the US, good quality and fast shipping.

 

[sneezer]

@chuckwood
Thanks. Then unless I hear something else I'll probably try them. Still don't know if it's Meteor or Episan but I did track down the
Meteor p/n, which is PC 1417B.

Also, I found another thread here with a lot of good comments for this dealer and good reviews of Episan.

My cylinder is a B size, so I guess I'll ask about that first although it seems that may have gone out the window with all
being the same size now. Is that true?

 

[huskihl]

In reference to the nick at the top of the exhaust port. As this is the only spot I see that definitely should have left corresponding marks on the rings, but doesn't appear to have done so, could this possibly be due to inserting a screwdriver through the sparkplug hole and into the exhaust port in order to remove the clutch and/or flywheel while the op was tearing it down?

 

[sneezer]

Here's a couple of pics of the cylinder. Still haven't got very good lighting but not too bad.
At least you can see some details.

384 is the exhaust port and shows "little nick" fairly well.
384A is a crop of 384 and enlarges the damage area. As you can see, it's pretty small.
399 is the intake port.

These should clear up a lot.

 

[sneezer]

@huskihl
Thanks for the thought but no I never did that. I have the official piston stop tool.

 

[huskihl]

@huskihl
Thanks for the thought but no I never did that. I have the official piston stop tool.

Your latest pics show the nick to be much smaller than what I thought earlier. File it, sand it, run it

 

[drf255]

If it wasn't mentioned already, Duke Thieroff (Sawsalvage.com), is an awesome guy to buy your meteor from.

Right in PA with you.

And kudos to you. I hope I'm cutting 20" oaks at 75 years of age. Heck, I hope I'm walking.

 

[smokey7]

@sneezer the piston pic shows alot of heat on the exhuste side near the chip. Those look to have been there for atleast a little bit. What i was trying to say with the questions on bearings is if you know your bottom end is good (nothing came from it) and nothing came from intake side. Then something caused it to knock the pieces loose. Now as far as the heat..... how long had this saw sat before the run that this happened? I have had bugs go in and build nests. That would or could explain the heat as well as the no start. The damage on piston does look fresh on the sides. I am only trying to lead you how i would be looking.

 

[sneezer]

@drf255
I knew about sawsalvage from finding the website and figured his last name is Thieroff from his Youtube posts.
Didn't know his first name but one of the first things I did was email him with a a couple of questions and
the saw specs. Asked if he had a piston that would fit. It's been a couple of weeks now and no answer. I'm
sure I sent it to the right place because I got that directly from his site. I don't want to be picky because, of
course, anything can happen but I have no way to deal with someone I can't contact.

 

[sneezer]

@smokey7
I get the impression you don't want to sound too critical but please be sure I don't mind.
I'd like to accomplish two things:
1) Get a repair done that will allow this saw to last a while longer and at least allow me to get that log
at the end of the driveway gone. (red oak, butt diam 30", 2 yrs dead)
2) It would be nice to be able to figure out what happened here. Curiosity about such things is what
keeps me going.

So, any conjecture, thesis, interpretation or question is most welcome, either to be disproven or
eventually accepted as likely, even if it implies that I may have misused or neglected my
equipment in some way. These things happen and I hope to still have a few years left to correct
anything or possibly help someone else later. Your kind of assistance (and that of others) is
exactly what I need, so please don't hesitate to mention anything you can see.

As far as the points in your post:

I'm not familiar with what heat damage would look like and the pic is pretty crappy too,
with a lot of reflections. Everything looks pretty shiny to me on the actual piston except
there are what looks like carbon deposits around the top edge though not mainly in the area
of the exhaust. I'll try to get some better pics and hope you may still be willing to look at them.

I haven't really had a thorough look at the bottom end, only glanced at it. I think it's OK but
surely it can bear more thorough examination.

It's only been a couple of weeks between previous use and this occurrence. The saw has had
what I would call occasional use over the years but I don't see any sign of intruders.

Finally, I hope some of this remains online long enough to possibly help others. I know that
by wandering through and looking at other threads I have had a few "aha" moments from
things that may have seemed trivial at the time they were posted.

 

[Chris-PA]

Was there a spark screen in the muffler?

Somehow one must reconcile the melted cover and the chipped/scored piston. It seems unlikely that these two things are unrelated. Where is the outlet in relation to the melted spot?

I'm wondering if there was something in the muffler that partially blocked the outlet, then burned up and was blown out. Otherwise, it seems like a chunk of old carbon could have broken loose in the cylinder and caused the damage, but how does that melt the cover?

 

[smokey7]

No problem. I am willing to help any way i can. I have seen some aweful things run. All rules of right and wrong change with parts availabity, intended use/outcome, and ability. Did the saw ever seem to have lost compression? Also i dont remember if it was a used saw before you owned it. Even a poor service center can cause damage and close it up moveing on. The top of the piston right near the exhuste port had a 1/4 moon shaped cleaned area on it that looked suspect to me. I couldnt tell from the pictures if that mark corresponded to the chamber of the head. As far as the chip in the jug i would knock it down to be sure, otherwise i would always wonder. Other than the nick on the jug it neds a little scuff with some sand paper and scotch brite and itll be fine. You can also check piston to cyl clearance, i would bet it should be less then .003. I tend to be over critical of checking everything so i know what i got. Then i decide what to replace and reuse. Oh and can i see a picture of the base gasket?

 

[blsnelling]

I've purchased parts for my old L series Huskys from this company via ebay. They've always given me first class service and fast shipping for being international. They are also quick to answer emails. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them again.

It took more than a month for me to get a gasket kit from them, just this month.

 

[sneezer]

@smokey7
Never seemed to lose compression. On the last cut made it had full power except that's when it got hot.
I've had it from new in 1981. Never had it repaired anywhere as it never had many problems and I
was able to do any small-parts maintenance myself.

Here's a repeat of the same pic with some annotation. If you refer to the area of the red mark, that
isn't really there. An artefact of lighting I suppose but on examination of the actual part in all
angles of light, that doesn't show. Along the green line, that does show but is very light and looks to me
to be wear related as I can see some scuffing arount the perimeter of it. I could be wrong.

I've looked again at the gasket and it looks perfect but, yes, I will get and post a pic.

 

[sneezer]

@blsnelling
Thanks. Yes, I've experienced some of the shipping times by mail from Europe. Often as
long as 6 weeks, even from Amazon with their "fast" service. Guess that's just part of
the equation. Anytime I order from "over there" I know to take tha into account.

 

[smokey7]

I was talking about the carbon on the dome of the piston and combustion chamber. As far as the cause of damage we are narrowing it down with the info you are posting. We are getting close.

 

[huskihl]

The aforementioned "gunk" could have been the culprit if 30 years worth of excess bar oil residue finally built up to the point that the flywheel could no longer push cooling air through the fins and out the front of the saw. Maybe.