xl little red

[thomilee]

i loaned my saw to my neighbor to trim some palm trees. it was running fine.after 4 tanks of fuel he sez it acted like it ran out of fuel, just slowed and stopped.
pulled the muffler, sure enough its stuck.piston has a smear near the edge of the exhaust and the cylinder like wise. good news, if any , it is below the exhaust port so i think i can clean it up and get it to go again.
the only thing is the cylinder appears to be aluminum in the bore, doesn't look chromed !is this possible ? want to make sure so i don't do any further damage by using acid,etc. the piston is aluminum and cleaned up nicely. what do you think ?

[mikem]

The bore should be chromed. Acid should not affect the bore if it has sufficient chrome. The aluminum from the piston that has transfered to the cylinder can be cleaned off with 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper if you are opposed to using acid. I have used both and IMHO, the acid is too slow. The piston can be re-used(if not badly scored) but I would plan to replace the rings. I would also want to mic the piston to ensure it is in specs.

What caused the piton to seize ? Wrong fuel mix ? You need to find the cause or it may happen again.

I treat a saw just like my wife....don't loan her out either.

[thomilee]

thanks mikem, i'll go with the 600 like you say.
as to cause, when i asked what the mix was and what kind of oil they used, the wern't sure(mix) and were using outboard oil. the plug looked perfect though, nice dry greyish ash.
however i did notice the green foam air filter was a little crumbly and showed signs of coming apart. when i got inside i found some debris in the crankcase that was probably that foam. my bad there.
this saw has the limiter caps also.

[mikem]

Feb 10, 2010 11:51:19 GMT -5 thomilee said:

thanks mikem, i'll go with the 600 like you say.
as to cause, when i asked what the mix was and what kind of oil they used, the wern't sure(mix) and were using outboard oil. the plug looked perfect though, nice dry greyish ash.
however i did notice the green foam air filter was a little crumbly and showed signs of coming apart. when i got inside i found some debris in the crankcase that was probably that foam. my bad there.
this saw has the limiter caps also.

You just may have determined what the original problem was ....outboard motor oil(water cooled). Not the same oil as oil needed for a two stroke air cooled motor(chainsaw). Sounds like your neighbor owes you a couple six packs and a new set of rings. As for the air filter, I don't think it significantly contributed to the piston seize but may have let some dust dirt in the saw that was not too good for it. You mentioned he trimmed some Palm Trees. Could sand have been sucked in the saw ?

[thomilee]

it cleaned up pretty good, mostly sanding w/600 grit and a little acid to check if the aluminum was gone. going to put in a new ring, the seals look good. will clean carb just in case some foam lingers there.
no sign of sand, he was on a 15' ladder ! definitely going to supply the gas mix IF i every loan one out again !
thanks for the inputs.

[mikem]

The way I check a cylinder after cleaning it up is run a dental pick(or my fingernail) lightly over the cylinder. If you have left anything on the walls, your pick or fingernail will catch. It does not sound like there was much aluminum transfer. Most saws will run ok with a little scoring anyway. Sounds like yoou are well on your way to a fix !!

[mikem]

Before you re-ring.

1) Clean the ring grooves with a piece of your old ring. Get all the carbon out of the grooves.

2) I am not sure about the XL...but most saws have a ring orientation pin in the groove(s). This is the location where your rings come together and the pin must be in this gap when you slide the cylinder over the piston. I like to lightly oil the cylinder. Some use fuel mixture. There are different ways to compress the ring as you slide the cylinder over the piston. Some use their fingers, there are tools available(Baileys and others) and you can make one from thin metal roof flashing. See the "Tips & tricks" forum.

3) Are you using a new base gasket under the cylinder. If not, you should buy or make one from the same thickness gasket paper. Easily done at home with scissors and a paper punch to punch the bolt holes. I use a leather punch.

Let us know how it goes. We like to hear the end result !!

[925fetish]

Outboard oil has ruined many a cylinder.I personally hate the stuff.

[blackoak]

Not good for air cooled engines, but works good in my Johnson 9.9

[mikem]

Feb 14, 2010 22:49:57 GMT -5 blackoak said:

Not good for air cooled engines, but works good in my Johnson 9.9

Never had a problem with Quicksilver in my 125 Evinrude...but it is sucking 75 degree lake water for cooling ;D Not sure what temp a chainsaw runs...but on a Texas summer day (104 degrees), I bet it's pretty hot. Has anyone put an infrared temp gauge to a saw when it is working hard ??

[925fetish]

My big problem w/it is on the bottle it says you can run it in anything 2 cycle,then you get some cheap ass that is thinking ''cost effective'' and he gets pissed when his saw burns up and trys to say you're stoooopid when you tell it's his fault.It's outboard oil it goes in outboards,not aircooled stuff.Dirtbikes get it w/the stuff too.

[thomilee]

she runs ! fired right up on the second pull like it never happened.
mikem , i followed your tips on reassembly. i put some synthetic oil in an old ink cartridge refill bottle and liberally oiled everthing as it went together. this has a clamshell case so i used some yamabond to seal it up.
i explained to my neighbor about the TCW meaning two cycle water use, but i fear he remains unconvinced. oh well.
i'm a devout top of the line synthetic man myself.
thanks again for all the great tips.

[mikem]

Feb 15, 2010 20:07:09 GMT -5 thomilee said:

she runs ! fired right up on the second pull like it never happened.
mikem , i followed your tips on reassembly. i put some synthetic oil in an old ink cartridge refill bottle and liberally oiled everthing as it went together. this has a clamshell case so i used some yamabond to seal it up.
i explained to my neighbor about the TCW meaning two cycle water use, but i fear he remains unconvinced. oh well.
i'm a devout top of the line synthetic man myself.
thanks again for all the great tips.

That's great that the saw runs again :-/and thank you for letting us know how it turned out . So many times people come and go without reading us the final chapter. We are interested in how the book ends too.

I know a lot of folks will disaggree...but i figure a premium quality synthetic 2-stroke air cooled oil is just good insurance. What if you get some bad gas...or your mix ratio is not quite what it should be. I just sleep better