Husqvarna 450 Rancher

mrcaptainbob · April 22, 2019, 10:11:28 PM

Neighbor's Husqvarna 450 Rancher Refuses to start again. Changed out the year old fuel to no avail. What's strange is that even putting fuel directly into carb, it does nothing. Checked for spark...there is none. Neighbor took it to local fix-it shop and the guy started it right up! Neighbor stopped by to demonstrate and it did work! Huh? So, a few days go by and today we could NOT get it to work! Again I find no spark. I'm leaning toward a poor coil. Do all the 450 series have the same coil? 450E and 450 Rancher? Also, what is the proper air gap?
Thanks for any help....
Bob.

sawguy21 · April 22, 2019, 10:33:23 PM

Did you check for spark with the switch disconnected? It may be intermittent. Coil gap is .010" give or take, a business card works here.

bigtrees · April 22, 2019, 10:58:23 PM

Quote from: mrcaptainbob on April 22, 2019, 10:11:28 PM
Neighbor's Husqvarna 450 Rancher Refuses to start again. Changed out the year old fuel to no avail. What's strange is that even putting fuel directly into carb, it does nothing. Checked for spark...there is none. Neighbor took it to local fix-it shop and the guy started it right up! Neighbor stopped by to demonstrate and it did work! Huh? So, a few days go by and today we could NOT get it to work! Again I find no spark. I'm leaning toward a poor coil. Do all the 450 series have the same coil? 450E and 450 Rancher? Also, what is the proper air gap?
Thanks for any help....
Bob.

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, I assume you are following the two stroke starting procedure?

1) Set brake
2) Pump primer bulb 10 times
3) Push in the decompression button
4) Set the choke to full choke
5) Pull the starter cord up to 5 times. Engine will briefly start and then quit
6) Set the choke to normal
7) Pull the start cord again. Should start right up.
I have the Husky 455 Rancher. It's nearly a decade old but starts right up every time.

Air Lad · April 23, 2019, 05:50:18 AM

Intermittent electrical problem by the sounds
Try unplugging cable from coil to ground to eliminate switch and cable issue
Do this with spark plug removed and pull motor over with plug plugged in and touching engine head
Any spark ?

Old Greenhorn · April 23, 2019, 06:26:33 AM

Before you dive deeper, start with a new plug and make sure you put in a resistor plug. Cheap test and good maintenance anyway.

motzingg · April 23, 2019, 11:05:14 AM

I'd check the kill switch mechanism first, some of them are pretty chincy. The one on my Jonesreds 2150/Husky350 was jacked up when i got it, the little contact clip had wiggled loose from the plastic housing and it wouldn't shut off.

mrcaptainbob · April 23, 2019, 01:57:39 PM

It's number 5 where things go south, Bigtrees. We did that check, AirLad and there was no spark. It was a couple weeks ago he had issues with it and I did a check with a spark tester and had zero results. I suspected then that it may be either a contact issue or bad coil. Suggested neighbor take it to a pro rather than me throwing parts on it. But when he came back with the 'surprise' was kinda, well, surprising. And he did start it up .. a few times! .. right in front of me!! And now it's acting up again. Maybe it knows to start only when there's no work involved, but I'm kind of leaning more to what Sawguy21 and Mottzingg are suggesting. I'll remove the kill wire from the coil first and verify. Thanks for your help and your suggestions.
Bob.

Old Greenhorn · April 23, 2019, 02:28:58 PM

I am having a hard time understanding why you wouldn't just put a new plug in it? Really cheap fix, if that's it and these plugs fail in all sorts of ways. I have seen this so many times in several variations that it is always my first 'go-to' test. Yes, the kill switch is easy to look at and check out, but I will be interested to see how this turns out.
I am lazy, so I always do the easiest stuff first and you have already had the plug out twice now, stick a different one in that works next time you check for spark.
Good Luck.

Jim_Rogers · April 23, 2019, 02:55:18 PM

What plug to you recommend for this saw?
I have a rancher and I may need a new plug as well.

Jim Rogers

Old Greenhorn · April 23, 2019, 03:21:24 PM

These are all pretty similar Jim, Husky recommends either NGK BPMR7A or Champion RCJ7Y. The main thing is to make sure whatever you get, it's a resistor plug. I have seen some weird intermittent failures from heat related issues (won't restart when hot) or open circuits that come and go in the plug. There are also the fouling issues, but I don't see them too much in 2 cycle, at least not mine. I always keep a new spare in my kit and if it gets funky, change that first and check the air filter for breathing issues.

mrcaptainbob · April 23, 2019, 09:44:15 PM

I removed the ground wire from the coil today. It started right up!! WOWSERS! Checked the mechanism for any possible groundings in all positions but could not see anything obvious. put the ohm meter on the wire and moved it all around to see if that caused any issues. Nope. Leaving the ohm meter in place I moved the on/off/choke through it's positions several times. The only time the meter jumped was when the on/off/choke was moved to off. reassembled it all and, well, I guess I fixed it! We'll see. Today was only to see if it ran (no work involved...). Tomorrow will be the day I return the saw to it's owner and well dice some standing cord wood. Since this involves the apparent dreaded 'W' word, I expect it to not work (uh..er... operate...).

mrcaptainbob · April 25, 2019, 10:28:26 PM

May have figured this out. Upon arrival I started his saw right up. We were both impressed and happy. So on we go to put it to work. It wood not start!!! Pulled the plug and it was soggy wet. Hmmm. Let it air dry in the breeze and sun. after an hour or so we put the plug back in. I cautioned the owner to not choke it, not to use the primer bulb. Just the comp release. ZOOM! It started right up! So, I'm suspecting flooding. Must be an easy thing to happen for this saw. Wait a day after using and the primer bulb, choke thing may be necessary. But if it's been used in the last few hours....leave that stuff alone. Tomorrow, Friday, will be another test day for it, but I suspect all will be fine.

mrcaptainbob · April 26, 2019, 09:56:41 PM

It went well. Do all saws have idiosynchrasies unique to brand or model or individual unit?

Old Greenhorn · April 27, 2019, 06:56:46 AM

I have a 450 (not a rancher). 1st start of the day is choked and 6 hits on the primer bulb, two pulls and it pops. shut off the choke, 1 pull and it starts. After that I never choke it the rest of the day unless it's cold and has sat for a few hours. Some times I will need to give it one or two hits of the primer after it has sat. But that's it. I have never managed to flood this thing.