Frustration

[Al Smith]

Now I don't claim to be the best troubleshooter in the world,better than the average bear though .

Along comes this 038 Mag that I rebuilt two or three years ago .Darned good running saw after I got done with it .Used daily in a tree service since .All of the sudden,no putt putt,sits on the shelf for a year .

The carb was funky,a Bing but I found the parts ,cheap too .Rebuild it,no putt .Hmm,maybe the impulse line or boot,replaced line,no putt,gas line still no putt .

The only thing left is the crank seal .No way I thought to myself.Well ,I was wrong,bad seal .

Usually a seal will show up after the saw is warmed up and it kind of leans out,they usually start .Not this time .Learned something today .

 

[stehansen]

My Dad always told me when troubleshooting "assume things at your peril".

 

[Al Smith]

Oh I have the tenacity of a wolverine about this stuff .No saw or any other engine has gotten the best of me yet .I would have rebuilt that whole son of a brick if I would have had to .Glad I don't though .

 

[gf beranek]

That crank seal must have been completely gone for the piston not to draw enough fuel to pop.

Wouldn't put it past the chance of it happening.

 

[Al Smith]

--that was the odd part.The danged thing would run if I primed it .Only for a short time though .I checked the impuse,which was weak but still there .Evidentley though too weak to operate the fuel pump diaphragm in the carb .Really a good thing or it would have siezed the engine .

In thinking this over I remember now that I had used a seal from a real old Sten's after market seal kit .It seemed somewhat stiff to me at the time but I installed it anyway .Should not have done it I realize now . Live and learn they say .

That damned clutch side seal had completely seperated around the shaft .I've never seen that before .Literally spun the center right out of it so it must have happened all at once .One for the books I guess .

 

[Rotax Robert]

Canadian 038 mag

I am almost positive that it was a canadian saw and have heard of this happening many times. They are known for blowing seals.

Sorry, just could not help myself there.

 

[SkwerI]

"No, it's just ice cream, I swear!"

 

[stehansen]

I am almost positive that it was a canadian saw and have heard of this happening many times. They are known for blowing seals.

Sorry, just could not help myself there.

I've heard that all the seals are smiling up there.

 

[Ax-Man]

I can relate vey easily to your problem AL. Got a 46 in here that I know needs to torn down and split at the case because of a so so bearing with a little play in it. The trouble is it isn't that bad though. The darn saw passed the pressure and vacumm test with flying colors when it was on the bench and it was cold. Start the darn thing and it runs beautiful till it gets warm then this pesky air leak shows up and it quits and is hard to restart.

Instead of following my common sense and just going ahead and tearing the saw down I did some more detective work. The module didn't seem to be working as good as I thought it might thinking that might be the cause of the trouble I am having with this saw. Went and replaced the coil instead of breaking the saw down. Replacing the coil did make a difference but hasn't solved my problem. Now I am ticked off and going to split the thing and replace both bearing and crank seals.

I have learned from this experience that even though a saw may pass the pressure and vacumm test does not mean that seals are good after the engine gets good and hot.

All this sums up what I have suspected for a long time but needed to work on many saws to prove to myself that a finicky fussy starting, won't hold a good steady long idling saw has problems on the bottom end. To me changing the seals will only mask the problem of marginal bearings in the case halves, a worn crankshaft, or the big end rod bearing.

 

[Al Smith]

I have learned from this experience that even though a saw may pass the pressure and vacumm test does not mean that seals are good after the engine gets good and hot.

----and that is usually exactly how a seal acts when it's getting weak .The one I experianced really kind of caught me off guard because it normally doesn't happen that way . I guess the moral of the story is not to discount anything on those damned things .

Fact is while I'm changing seals I just as well pop a new one in the Rocky 038 Mag I souped up before the same deal happens to it . I should have actually done that when I rebuilt it but figured they were ok .Here of late though the "Pheonix " is starting to run out lean after it gets warmed up .Better safe than sorry . Too nice of a saw to screw up from my stupidity .

 

[darkstar]

I have a freaky truck problem.
My 97 nissan acts like youve turned off the ignition anytime it hits a bump.
We checked the distributor and found that the module was faulty.
Put in a whole new distributor and puff it actiall ran better but didnt solve problem.
Ok checked fuel press. Its ok
OK here is a clue.
If i put it in reverse you can barely move it.
It sounce like the engine is just getting cut off.
Any suggestions?

 

[stehansen]

Beats me.

 

[darkstar]

Yeash talk about frustration i got about 350 in the new dist.

 

[GASoline71]

Jerry... try posting this in a different thread... This is the chainsaw area...

"Gear forum" might be better... or "Odds and Ends"

Gary

 

[Rotax Robert]

providing that you can get the saw to run by any means, try and get the saw warmed up (somewhat at least) and then compare your numbers verse cold on the vaccume/pressure test.