Craftsman Chainsaw ?

[reddog]

I inherited a Craftsman chainsaw today, and it need a little carb work or adjustments.

It starts on full choke, and runs intermittently on about 3/4 choke, and doesnt run at all with no choke.

Is this a simple carb adjustment,(and which screw) or does it need some Sea Foam, or a complete carb cleaning?

Thanks,

R

[Tator2k]

They have two throttle set screws you can adjust. My little 16" craftsman was doing the same thing a few years ago.

[Steve Foss]

Hey reddog:

Not sure how experienced you are with chainsaws, or 2-stroke motors in general. Newby? Experienced? If the stuff I type here seems too basic for your experience level, sorry 'bout that.

Maybe it's a carb mix screw problem, but that's not where you want to start on a saw that's new to you.

If it was sitting for even a few months with regular unleaded gas/oil mix in it, that begins to break down after about a month and could be gumming up a carb jet or if it's ethanol could have degraded the plastic fuel lines to the point where small pieces of plastic material get suspended in the gas and also plug jets and such. If it's been running non-Oxy premium (only grade of gas I run in my small motors), you're in better shape if it's been sitting, but it's still important to drain out the current gas/oil mix if it's been sitting any length of time and start over. Given that we don't really have much info on the condition of the saw, old gas could be your whole problem, and running some fresh gas/oil mix through it could clear that up.

Wouldn't hurt to pull the cover and air filter and visually check the carb. If it looks gunky, shoot some carb cleaner on and through it. Don't know how dirty it is. If there's any sawdust/chips around the carb area, make sure that's brushed off.

Pull the spark plug to make sure it's not gummed. If it's gummy or has a lot of carbon buildup, at least wire brush it clean, but replacement would be better.

Anyway, try those things first.

It also could easily be a fuel mix problem, so if those first steps don't fix the problem let's assume for the moment it is. I don't know which model you have, but a lot of saws have three adjustment screws. Low, high, and idle (LA). Could be any or all three of these have been messed up.

On my Stihls, most of them tell you right on the cover next to the adjustment screws how far to turn out the screws to make the saw run well. If it's not on the saw, it'll be in the operator's manual. These are just starting points, however, and the saw can be adjusted from there (either with a tach or by ear) so it's running as well as it can.

For example, on one of my saws it says to turn the L and H screws out one full turn, after first turning them in all the way to seat them. You seat them by turning clockwise, then back them out counterclockwise one full turn. Don't seat them too hard or you can strip them out. It's easy to tell with a gentle hand when they are done turning.

So check for your basic L and H adjustments and make those happen. You can ignore the LA (if you have one) for now. You don't care yet whether it will idle properly, just that it'll run with no choke.

Hope that's a help for starters.

[reddog]

Thanks everyone.

Ill give you a little more background.

I did dump the old gas out, and put in new mix.

After trying unsuccessfully for a long time to make it fire, I decided to take a look at the plug/spark.

The plug wire was not attached to the spark plug, when I investigated.

Now, Im thinking its probably flooded, but I put the plug wire on and it still wouldnt fire.

Then I took the plug out, and inspected. It looked good (dry) and had lots of spark when I pulled it over.

I tried again, and nothing, so I took the cover off of the carb. Perfectly clean. I poured a little gas down the carb, and it fired right away, but wouldnt stay running.

Its a 358 355060 and I did not get the manual with it.

[Steve Foss]

Given that it won't fire unless you put gas through the carb yourself, you either have a fuel line problem or something plugged in the carb. Fuel line could be a plugged/cracked/bad pickup line in the fuel tank itself or the line from the tank to the carb. Carb could be a plugged jet or a couple other things. Don't know if that model has in impulse line, but it could be a bad impulse line, too.

Lots of possibilities. If you feel handy, start with the fuel lines and make sure fuel is moving through. I'd pull off the line at the carb and see if fuel is moving freely through it. If it's been sitting a long time, those plastic lines can go to heck. Even though the line may not leak, if there's a small crack in it, air is introduced and you lose fuel flow to the carb. If the line is not delivering gas to the carb, you should check to make sure it's attached to the pickup line in the gas tank and, if so, that the pickup line hasn't been jostled or kinked or bent in such a way that it's not sitting down in the fuel. Best bet is to replace the fuel line anyway, for piece of mind. When they degrade, as mentioned previously, small bits of plastic slough off and can plug carb jets.

Give that a try if you want.

If it's not the fuel line system, you're looking at a carb problem, and at that point it'll involve removing it, getting it completely cleaned and putting in a carb kit.

[reddog]

I handed it off to a friend of mine who is much more versed in small engines than I.

Thanks, everyone.

[Steve Foss]

Reddog, let us know how it turns out, OK?

[reddog]

will do.

[McGurk]

I had borrowed my FIL's Stihl a couple of years ago that was in desperate need of some TLC. It started and ran poorly and also required the choke. I dumped the gas, switched to an Amsoil Sabre Pro synthetic mix at 80-1, and got it running and starting much, much better just by doing that. I also pulled the chain and bar and cleaned out a lot of gunk from the bar w/ a light metal brush and some WD40. The chain also got a good cleaning.

Anyways, I was using it for a couple of hours and needed to put some more gas in. It had been both starting and running like a dream up to me shutting it off to refill it. After the top-off, it would not start at all no matter what I did, and I tried everything. I was at the point of actually throwing it across the garage, and decided to give it one more once-over. The fuel line had worked loose from the carb and it simply wasn't getting fuel. After telling my Dad about my FILs saw and my issues, he said he has had the same thing happen on a couple of his saws, too.

So check the entire fuel delivery system from tank cap to carb before tearing into a carb. Also, running too rich can actually plug up your exhaust and render it unable to start/run, so don't always go by the "more oil is better" train of thought.