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Acquired an 18 inch Craftsman 42cc chainsaw. Fired it up for a few minutes to make sure that it worked, let it warm up, then turned it off and stored it in the case. That was two weeks ago. Today I find the saw sitting in 4-5 ounces of chain/bar oil.

Checked the oil reservoir, still oil in there. I fired it up again. Engages the throttle a few times, let it idle and watched the oil drip from the bottom of the machine. I’ve identified where the oil is coming out in the attached photos.

I’m new to a chainsaw, but this clearly seems wrong. What is the purpose of the screw in the photos? I can push it in, then feel a spring snap it back out. Doesn’t seem to screw. Just spin.

The bottom of the machine has a high/low bar oil indicator, but I have no idea how to read the oil level.

Any and all help is much appreciated.

Welcome to the wonderful world of chainsaws.
The oil valve is a simple tapered needle , in for less out for more .
Some have an O ring on them which will flatten so they leak like seive.
Just about all bar oilers leak like a seive I suggest customes pop an old length of towel under the saw to soak it up..
AFAIK no saw has a shut off for the oiler .
The pumps are all fairly primative and will start to leak very early on in there life which is made substantially worse if the owner allows them to run out of oil .
Then there are the connections between the oil tank & pump plus the pump to bar.
Many of these will leak at the joint.
What is important is the oil gets to the bar and lubes the chain after that everything else is an inconvienance .
If you post the model & serial number off the tag members in the trade may be able to pull down the parts break down to see it there is a hose in there than can split.

Chainsaws with automatic oilers use crankcase pressure to pressurize the oil tank and force oil to the chain.

I have found that when I'm finished with the saw, if I loosen the oil fill plug to allow pressure to escape, then tighten it, it reduces--does not eliminate--the amount of oil that leaks out of the saw later. Like Bert, I keep an old rag under the saw to catch what inevitably leaks out.

I prefer manual oiling but that's like trying to find a Packard car.

So the impulse pressure replaces the oil pump ?
Not see one of them but sounds a reasonable idea .

cpurvis said:

Chainsaws with automatic oilers use crankcase pressure to pressurize the oil tank and force oil to the chain.

I have found that when I'm finished with the saw, if I loosen the oil fill plug to allow pressure to escape, then tighten it, it reduces--does not eliminate--the amount of oil that leaks out of the saw later. Like Bert, I keep an old rag under the saw to catch what inevitably leaks out.

I prefer manual oiling but that's like trying to find a Packard car.

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Haven't come across one of those since the Homelite days. Most saws use a rotating plunger type pump that is powered from the sprocket. Still leak on most says partially due to poor seals, and couple that with the one way vents on the tanks makes them prone to temperature changes which in turns pumps the oil out of the tank.

The oil valve is a simple tapered needle , in for less out for more .

Click to expand...

Have to disagree here as there is various ways they are done so not model or oems does it the same way. I have seen some that just change amount of pump movement to change oil flow.

I am not familiar this particular chainsaw so would need to look at the IPL so OP please post the model number. I believed this is going to be MTD or Homelite model playing Craftsman dress up. I haven't seen a Poulan with this adjustable oil pump in this CC class.

Model Number - 316380180

Here's a link to the owners manual: https://www.searspartsdirect.com/manual/69hw5kvj1k-000247/craftsman-316380180-gas-chainsaw

I'm going to read through that now.

Even if some oil is meant to escape, the amount I'm seeing after use is excessive. Does anyone understand how to read the chain oil min/max on this model? It's pictured on the second photo on my first post.

Most of the Crapsman chainsaws i see are made by poulan. Every one of them leak bar oil. Between the gas cap swelling and being hard to remove and leaking bar oil and rotting fuel lines they actually work. I see lots of Stihl and Poulan saws. Cadillacs and Yugos. If he is lucky it is one of the newer MTD saws. I can't believe i said that. I know many folks just need a small saw to trim trees but a stihl MS170 size saw is a far better saw than any of the small MTD/poulan stuff and less than $200. Mine is 25+ years old and still going fine. Every part still available too.

StarTech said:

Have to disagree here as there is various ways they are done so not model or oems does it the same way. I have seen some that just change amount of pump movement to change oil flow.

I am not familiar this particular chainsaw so would need to look at the IPL so OP please post the model number. I believed this is going to be MTD or Homelite model playing Craftsman dress up. I haven't seen a Poulan with this adjustable oil pump in this CC class.

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Thank you original reply suitably ammended .
All of the ones that I have serviced were in for less & out for more or clockwise for less & counter clockwise for more.
Only ones I have attempted to fix were plain needles but I don't do all that many chain saw oilers, unless they are not working at all .
This is what it says on page 20 of the manual although it would have been better if they used the standard image of a double ended curved arrow above the screw with a - on the right & a + on the left.

Hammermechanicman said:

Most of the Crapsman chainsaws i see are made by poulan. Every one of them leak bar oil. Between the gas cap swelling and being hard to remove and leaking bar oil and rotting fuel lines they actually work. I see lots of Stihl and Poulan saws. Cadillacs and Yugos. If he is lucky it is one of the newer MTD saws. I can't believe i said that. I know many folks just need a small saw to trim trees but a stihl MS170 size saw is a far better saw than any of the small MTD/poulan stuff and less than $200. Mine is 25+ years old and still going fine. Every part still available too.

Click to expand...

The new ones are MTD rebranded. The model number comes back MTD for his.

So here's what I think is happening. Please let me know what you think.

At first I did not understand that it's okay and common for chain oil to leak from the bottom of the machine. Once I noticed that it was coming from the chain oil adjustment screw, I started messing with it without knowing what I was doing. At first I thought the chain oil max/min diagram (attached) was for reading the level of chain oil in the machine. I now understand that it is telling the user, screw to the left and get more chain oil, screw to the right and get less, you big dummy. I tightened the screw thinking that would stop the flow of chain oil leaking from the machine, when in fact all I did was stop the flow of chain oil to the chain/bar. As cpurvis mentioned before, if this machine is an automatic oiler that operates on pressure, and I have closed the amount of oil released on the bar, the pressure is causing more oil to leak from the machine. I need to open the adjustment screw to release the oil onto the bar/chain, and not out the bottom of the machine.

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I thought it look more like MTD. I lookup the IPL and Searspartsdirect is only offering a short block to replace the oil pump. What they we are too dumb replace the pump? Things like is only getting worse. So Glad I can semi retire in 5 yrs and no longer put up this bull.