Chainsaw troubleshooting

[ChrisS]

I figure a few guys on here who know their way around saws way better than I do and could maybe help out with a fix. My mom's neighbor passed away a few years ago and his wife is getting ready to sell the house now. My mom and her husband have been helping clean out the garages and barns. They found an older Homelite 360 that was still in the box, looks brand new, and asked me if I wanted it. Turns out it is 1990 that was never even fueled. Anyway, they put some fuel mix and bar oil in it, but couldn't get it started. A few other guys who were there tried as well and no go.

It pulls fine, but I was wondering if there could be anything that would have gone south while sitting for 30 years?

 

[5MilesBack]

Spark plug maybe? And some saws are real finicky with the choke.

 

[huntsman22]

carb diaphram dried out, or fuel pick up most likely

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Yep...carb diaphram and/or pick up is dried out/rotted. I would also check all the fuel lines...I have had several carbs plugged up by mud dobbers...seems like every year one nests in my tiller carb, probably should put air filter back on it...lol

 

[MallardSX2]

First thing.....

Check for Spark.

Then report back.

 

[wildcat33]

Basically everything goes bad after sitting for 30 years.

edit: Mallards advice is correct first step.

 

[Titan]

At that age, you need to replace all rubber lines. I'm sure you can find a carb rebuild kit, but I have found that small engine carbs are sometimes cheaper and easier to just pick up a new one on ebay and swap it out.

 

[ChrisS]

I opened it up and checked all the soft bits that were accessible to me. Everything seems to be in good shape. I put it together except for the air filter and cover and it fired up on the first pull. Then I found out that these things are collectors items and can be sold for enough to buy two brand new saws.

So, it's going to be drained and sent off to Ebay.

 

[Titan]

Nice!

If you do decide to keep - those rubber lines will be fine for a little bit, then they will swell up internally, especially if you use fuel with ethanol in it.

 

[swampthing]

If it has spark pour some mix right into the spark plug hole. It should fire right up and then die. Try this a few times. It most likely does need a carb kit as said.

 

[Wellsdw]

I work a hardware store part time and We have a shop guy in the back (He’s in his 80s and bat shit crazy) that works on small engine stuff. He told me once that the origin of most four letter words came from
Home lite chainsaw purchases.

I’ve been messing with a top handle homelite I got out of
The trash for a few months at the store when I’m bored and can’t get consistent running from it. Let us know what works