Homelite 995D Has Me At Wits End

[onlyhomelites]

It's my ugly mutt saw that I picked up last summer and have been collecting parts for. I finally got a really nice looking spark, rebuilt the carburetor and figured I was home free. Oh no, not even close.

The saw is pulling fuel just fine, but for almost an hour of screwing around, all I could do is get it to fire and die in a cloud of smoke. Most of the time, it was "kicking back" like the timing was off, but I didn't believe that for one minute. 2 starter ropes later it finally appeared to flood so bad that it wouldn't even try to fire. It still had great spark, but now there was raw fuel in the muffler.

So I stopped, cussed, had lunch and then went back to it. I took the carb back off and rechecked my work...still good, still passed the pressure check with no problems. I replaced the reed block gasket while there and sopped up the fuel in the bottom of the crankcase. I pulled the flywheel yet again to check the key and all is fine. Put it back together and the same horse manure. It pulls fuel fine (can see it in the Tygon) but doesn't even try to fire.

So I've got it standing on it's nose and hopefully some of the fuel will evaporate over night.

The carburetor is a Tillotson HL-150A, which I've never seen on a Homelite before. It has all the right linkage and looks just like the HL-119 that should be there. I've closed both adjustment screws down to a 1/2 turn open just to see if I could get it to clear and that didn't even help.

If anyone has any ideas, I am all ears! In a few minutes I'm gonna be in the beers!


EDIT: Forgot to mention that is has 155 PSI of compression.

[Deleted]

Do you have the pop-off springs set to 10-12 pounds? More than that wont work

[Deleted]

I know this is a long shot and I know far less but if that saw was used heavy like my old C-72 was there could be some wear in the linkages and shafts in that carb. I think everyone here is familiar with the troubles I had with the tillotson carb on the C-72. All I know is a little hit and then flood was all I could get. After sending it out it cranked on the second pull. They said the throttle shaft had too much wear allowing too much air to enter around it. Now if that makes sense or not I do not know that’s just what they said and I took it and ran cause I have no idea. It worked when they were done. They also changed all the prints and stuff on the low and hi needles. P.S. I’m already in the beers I don’t know how people look at what I’ve seen the past few weeks and don’t get into beer or something

[onlyhomelites]

May 26, 2018 20:31:52 GMT -5 oologahan said:

Do you have the pop-off springs set to 10-12 pounds? More than that wont work

I'm assuming you mean the inlet needle spring? If so, I test them to 9-10psi.

[onlyhomelites]

May 26, 2018 20:33:00 GMT -5 jselden78 said:

I know this is a long shot and I know far less but if that saw was used heavy like my old C-72 was there could be some wear in the linkages and shafts in that carb. I think everyone here is familiar with the troubles I had with the tillotson carb on the C-72. All I know is a little hit and then flood was all I could get. After sending it out it cranked on the second pull. They said the throttle shaft had too much wear allowing too much air to enter around it. Now if that makes sense or not I do not know that’s just what they said and I took it and ran cause I have no idea. It worked when they were done. They also changed all the prints and stuff on the low and hi needles. P.S. I’m already in the beers I don’t know how people look at what I’ve seen the past few weeks and don’t get into beer or something

That does make sense; this carb appears pretty tight but clearly I'll be going through it again. I haven't scrutinized the shafts yet...appreciate the tip!

[Deleted]

I wouldn’t know how to begin checking them for wear other than looking at them

[sweepleader]

If it is a problem, I have heard of guys fixing old car carbs with worn shafts by "gluing" them in with epoxy. Putting some kind of mold release on the shaft so the glue only sticks to the carb. The shaft needs to be turned so the butterfly is closed to center the shaft in the hole before the glue sets. It is not a super long lasting repair, but for a collector saw, it would still run correctly for a pretty long time. Some old cars that ran on dirt roads all the time would suck a lot of grit in through the shaft clearance and the wear could get pretty bad. Also have heard of guys using .22 hulls for bushings.

[Deleted]

May 26, 2018 20:37:38 GMT -5 onlyhomelites said:

May 26, 2018 20:33:00 GMT -5 jselden78 said:

I know this is a long shot and I know far less but if that saw was used heavy like my old C-72 was there could be some wear in the linkages and shafts in that carb. I think everyone here is familiar with the troubles I had with the tillotson carb on the C-72. All I know is a little hit and then flood was all I could get. After sending it out it cranked on the second pull. They said the throttle shaft had too much wear allowing too much air to enter around it. Now if that makes sense or not I do not know that’s just what they said and I took it and ran cause I have no idea. It worked when they were done. They also changed all the prints and stuff on the low and hi needles. P.S. I’m already in the beers I don’t know how people look at what I’ve seen the past few weeks and don’t get into beer or something

That does make sense; this carb appears pretty tight but clearly I'll be going through it again. I haven't scrutinized the shafts yet...appreciate the tip!

My Kohler carbs will do the same thing on a worn throttle shaft, sometimes they try to pop off or will pop of, but as soon as enough air gets passed the throttle shaft it dies.

Carburetor- A-57806 (HL-119A) service replacement

for original (discontinued) carburetors;

refer to Carburetor Sheet #23589, use

#57920 Repair Kit, #57919 gasket set.

Shaft and Lever Set is #A-58562 (HL-150A) discontinued; use

#57920 Repair Kit, #57919 gasket set,

#A-57429 (HL-62AX) discontinued, includes

#A-57012 carburetor and #56630 spring

(extra); use #56649 repair kit, #57919

gasket set. #A-56308 (HL-62A) discontinued;

use #56649 Repair Kit, #77342 gasket

set.

[tjthechainsawmech]

Oh boy do I have some ideas. lol Hey if you haven't figured it out by this coming weekend you should bring it to the gtg. Maybe a couple of us can figure it out.

Trying pinching off the fuel line, screwing the needle jets in all the way, and raw gas starting it. If you take a small cap full of mixed fuel and dump it down the carb throat it should fire(HOLD AT FULL THROTTLE!) and run for a few seconds and then die. If it does that then you know the ignition is fine. If it does fire....let the fuel line open again and turn the mixture screws out half a turn each...then do the cap full of fuel again and try to fire it. See if it will run off the carb at that point without loading up.

You did mention back firing....points set right? I've heard that flywheels can be damaged and that can mess with timing.

For what it's worth I had an xl-925 come in the shop for a tune up....throttle shafts would wobble back and forth every time you hit the trigger....saw ran like a champ. But a loose throttle shaft won't help anything, but "Shouldn't" prevent it from starting and at least running....least in my experience. Not trying to step on anyone's toes by any means.

[Deleted]

Great advice TJ, I have steel toe boots and my feelings are never hurt by good and honest advice

[onlyhomelites]

FINALLY!!!! SHE RUNS!!!!

I'm a bit of a jackass here I'm afraid. This saw has been floating around the garage half assembled for months now because I failed to notice a spark issue. I started messing with this again tonight and I couldn't get it to pop even on a prime. So I looked at the sickly yellow spark and hit myself in the forehead. I proceeded to tear it down for the 85th time and this time I removed the points and burnished the contacts nicely. Whaddya know, now it runs! Still needs a tune, but I'll wait until daytime to avoid a neighborhood lynching where I'm the honored guest!

[rowdy235]

Glad to hear, I know how it feels when you've checked everything and then the problem was right in front of you the whole time

[jerseyhighlander]

Well lets see... Busy busy summer, a couple young kids, work, a side business, running a forum for a bunch of clowns with a weird hobby AND, an operation... Can't imagine how you missed that Leon. 

Of course I must have missed this back in May. I would've told ya it was the points....

[onlyhomelites]

With compliments like that... Plus I'm only admin of this forum cuz I'm just as nutty as the rest of ya'll!

I'm just super excited to have it running finally. It will be the "Restoration in Progress" saw for the 2019 business calendar. As soon as the fire restrictions lift a bit more around here, I"ll take it up in the woods and try out that new 1/2" chain. It's nothing special, just chipper but I'm guessing with the short bar it will be unstoppable.

[undee70ss]

Sept 24, 2018 22:29:49 GMT -5 onlyhomelites said:

FINALLY!!!! SHE RUNS!!!!

I proceeded to tear it down for the 85th time and this time I removed the points and burnished the contacts nicely. Whaddya know, now it runs!  

I have been fooled by good looking points also. Anymore I check them with a OHM meter anytime I work on them. New points only have a ohm or so. 

[tjthechainsawmech]

Hey I remember when you Picked that up haha Nice to hear it run.....just needs a 42" roller nose now.