14" Poulan Woodshark

[StarTech]

I have had customers bring in the poulans micro xxv and the craftsman variants not oiling. If it is not just the oil line rotted off i tell them i won't do any more. The check valves are NLA and every used one i or a customer gets off a used saw doesn't work. So to avoid charging for labor and not fixing the saw i just tell them i can't fix the oiling issue.

Ever run across a Skilsaw version?

I having to turn away old Homelite saw now as the oil pump diaphragms are no longer available. Owner don't that like that so I say you can always carry around a hand oiler as I did for 10 years for a McCulloch Wildcat I had. Finally had to retire the saw once the PNC wore out.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

Never saw a skilsaw version. None of the dealer shops will work on older saw so i get see quite a few. Unfortunately, parts are getting scarce and expensive so i must tell folks i won't work on it. Oil pumps and carb for old saws just make it not worth the cost to fix.

 

[StarTech]

I reckon I have been lucky so far as I very seldom ever replace a carburetor, except on Stihl products where they have Zama no longer providing parts through the normal distribution channels. Stihl has the parts priced in such a way that new carbs are just as cost effective. At least CTS and DC Spares are taking up the challenge of making the repair kits available in after market.

The problem Shil's Zama carburetor is that Zama is now deleting info on the carburetors that are used only on Stihl engines. It took me nearly an half hour yesterday go through converting the C1Q-S282 kit from Stihl to Zama RB kit number. Zama don't even list the S282; just a blank screen. At least I had the Stihl 2019 technical guide with the Stihl kit part number and was able to find other carbs using the same kit then I found one those carbs on the Zama site which had the RB kit number. It is however getting difficult to do this.

My current repair to replace carburetor is over 99:1. Most 2 cycles here once it comes to PNC replacement which some of the newer 2 cycle now only have short blocks available which makes it more cost effective to just replace the unit and fill up the landfills.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

Some of the old saw i see have trashed carbs and can't get gaskets for them. Just had one with a weird tillotson on it. Diaphragm was stiff and cracked. Kit i found was ridiculously priced. I like stihl saws. Easy to work on and can get most parts still if cust is willing to use aftermarket. Got a MS251c in couple weeks ago guy burned up the clutch and OEM to fix it same cost as new saw.

 

[Scrubcadet10]

This is because on the PP5020AV and the P3314 the oil pump is driven by the crankshaft and not by the clutch drum. Most newer saws like the Husqvarna 445 are now clutch drum driven so the oil pump only operates when the chain is moving. but older saws pumped oil the whole time running. Solution for these was to just turn the saw off when not using them.

I got a couple Little Red Homelite saws where the oil pump are crankcase impulse driven the does the same thing. Not a problem as I always turn the saws off before climbing back out the fruit trees that I am trimming. I also got several Poulan Micro 25s style saws and one brand new Husqvarna 450 modified with variable oil pump. I have yet to crank it in the three year that I have own it. Usually don't have reason to as most time I have customer saws to test anyways like small project Sunday where I using a Stihl MS250.

Thanks for the info Startech!

 

[Scrubcadet10]

sawed up a big sweet gum limb that dropped of a tree a few weeks ago,about 8" in diameter at the base, that saw cut through it like nothing, it really is a woodshark.

 

[Scrubcadet10]

Well,, saw started running crappy...
story: saw started bogging RPM's at high speed, and idling high, adjusted it, ran good, then started the same thing later that evening. start it up and it would idle high (enough the chain was spinning, ) and bogging at high rpm.

so i ordered a Zama OEM carb from parts tree and put on it, adjusted it this morning, ran great! Idled for about 5 minutes, good, no chain spinning, didn't hesitate to rev up either. start it back up this evening, idling very high again and chain spinning, L adjustment screw does not affect anything, H screw idles it down good but then bogs at full throttle... i'm at a loss. fuel lines and filter are new as well as the air filter and not clogged and both carb mount gaskets are new. I also dumped out the fuel i mixed, and poured in 50:1 True Fuel. no change.

 

[Scrubcadet10]

PartsTree sent me another Zama carb for free, put it on, it required no adjustment, started on the 2nd pull with choke, choke off, idles good without the chain moving, i can pinch the throttle down and it doesn't hesitate at all...
might take apart the "faulty" zama carb and see if there's anything obvious...

 

[Scrubcadet10]

Has poulan done anything about their gas caps swelling up?
If I buy a new one will it swell up again?
Husqvarna or Stihl's don't seem to have this problem.
I'm sure is has something to do with Corn Gas.

 

[StarTech]

Not everything has to be related to ethanol, sometimes it is poor choice of materials. There is a lot other chemicals used in 2 cycle fuel mixes. Some manufactures even refuse to solve the problems with fuel items like Tecumseh and their 631028A fuel bowl that swells everytime fuel touches it. But I think Poulan (Husqvarna) has resolved the problem with the fuel caps, only time will tell.

I even had one case on my personal chainsaw where I installed new Tygon fuel lines to only a week later to find completely destroyed that were in the fuel mix. Replaced with the exact same Tygon lines out of the same batch (box) and they are still intact five years later. I chalk that to a bad mix of rubberize plastic in the section that gave the problem.