Poulan chainsaw help?

[Kenneth Brown]

Help me please! My "wild thing" has bit the dust. I know that this is a disposable saw but it has been a good one. Recently it has been a bear to start. After you finally got it running you would have to keep the throttle tapping so it wouldn't die. Once revved up it was great, no problems at all, till today. I fired it off and started cutting. I cut for about a minute and then it just stopped running. I think I pulled about ten muscles trying to get it to fire back up. No go. I brought it home and started the disassembly process. I puled the plug and cleaned it. Still no fire. I cleaned the magnets on the flywheel and the coil surfaces.I then used a drill to spin it over real fast and it started getting fire, but only very small spark. Put it all back together and its still no go. I then tryed the death spray (ether) since I figured it no longer mattered. Well, it didn't matter, still no go. Any ideas?

 

[ED21]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

Check that wood chips aren't binding up the saw at the drive sprocket. Sometimes it can be hard to see unless you take the bar & chain off.

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

Thats not a problem. It wont crank. I can spin the crap out of it.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

Might be that the coil is getting weak and not putting out enough spark to start.

 

[ZmOz]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

Yeah, sounds like something wrong with the spark. Did you try a NEW plug? (not just clean the old one) SEVERAL times I've cleaned a plug, thought it was good, and couldn't get the engine running until I bought a new plug...

 

[DJ]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

I agree with the spark plug theory. They look good and will sometimes make a snap, yet they won't make the machine run.<br /><br />BTW, when is the last time you "decarbed" that thing?

 

[bubbakat]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

Kenneth check the off and on switch I had one that went bad and it would not let that thing fire.<br />DJ is on to something here to . I decarb my saws oncer every spring

 

[eurolarva]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

Check your air gap on the flywheel magnet. Not sure if yours has a ing module but the gap should be about the thickness of a business card. I believe the spec is .012 inch. Because of the heat of the chain saw you might want to replace the gasket between the carb and the motor. Also check to make sure the coil is not being grounded, Does this motor have a kill switch or do you choke it to kill? Verify kill switch is good with a meter. Also test for TDC in respect to the ing module. You might have a busted key.

 

[wrenchtrnr72]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

try a new coil. never ever use either on a 2 stroke cause there is no lube in it, that will burn a cylinder faster than running straight gas. use wd-40 instead it has a little lube.

 

[ZmOz]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

Originally posted by wrenchtrnr72:<br /> try a new coil. never ever use either on a 2 stroke cause there is no lube in it, that will burn a cylinder faster than running straight gas. use wd-40 instead it has a little lube.

WD-40 no longer works as a starting fluid since they changed the formula in 1998. I use a squirt bottle of 40:1 mix as starting fluid for everything...2 cycle and 4. I have seen "2 cycle starting fluid" in a marine catalog, which apparently has some oil in it...

 

[Terry H]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

Not wise to use ether on any motor...bad things can and do happen...got stories if you need 'em...

 

[sloopy]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

I would like to hear some stories

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

I agree that its not good to use, I refer to it as "death spray". As a plus fo rit it does include a top lube. <br /><br />Anybody know how to check the coil using a fluke meter?

 

[mrm]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

Try a new spark plug, most important is make sure it's gaped right. Too short of a gap and you will have a weak spark.------It's what worked for me on same machine.<br />mrm

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

What gap did you use mrm? Mines almost 3 years old and the manual is long gone. Truthfully if it can't be simple like a plug or if the coil is easy to check and cheap to replace I think I'll just buy another one. I had a super nice Stihl for a year and somebody decided they needed it more than me and didn't bother waking me up at night to pay for it. I was broke and replaced itwith the Walmart special and it has performed flawlessly till now.

 

[ED21]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

Troubleshooting guide for the coil assembly for my kohler 12 1/2 hp tractor says:<br />Connect ohmmeter laminations of coil & spark plug lead. The resistance of the secondary should be 7,900 to 18,400 ohms.<br />If the resistance is low or 0 the secondary is shorted-replace.<br />If resistance is high or infinity the secondary is open -replace<br />Hope this helps. It may or may not be similar.

 

[Terry H]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

Sloopy...my dad used to start the old JD diesel, in the winter, with a burning newspaper under the carb and fuel lines...worked fine. First time someone talked him into using ether...KABOOM...tractor is still sitting in the same place, 40 years later with the top of the motor gone. I have more, but they are other folks' stories that I can't verify...

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

Cheif- Not doubting your story but I gotta wonder, you said JD diesel and then ya say under the carb. Just wondering?<br /><br />Ed- Thanks for the info, I figure I'll try it. Way high or low either way points to being bad.

 

[ehenry]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

Ken Brown, have you checked the screen in the muffler? If that screen gets stopped up or plugged it'll give you fits trying to figure out whats wrong with it. Had something similar happend to a weedeater....took it to the old greens keeper (he's a 2-stroke wizard) up at the coutry club and that was the 1st thing he checked. CLeaned it up and it cranked and ran like a top after that.

 

[12Footer]

Re: Poulan chainsaw help?

What EF said---big time!<br />The first thing I do when a 2-stroke air-cooled engine wont start, or has to be "throttle-nursed" to stay running, is to remove the muffler and try it. If it runs like new, replace the baffle screen, or (in the case of some cheaper engines), the muffler itself.<br />But then, I've drilled 1/4" holes thru the ones with cheap muffler assemblies, and outside of the decibel level, they ran fine.