61 husky

[ely]

i have my big saw, a 61 husky, don't laugh. i am not sure what year model it is but i got it used in about 93 or so. its been a very good saw to me but now it will not fire. my dad says it was running fine then when he went back to start it up again it never fired. he thinks it is the ingnition that has gone bad. i will chec it out this eve. to make sure it does not have fire to the plug but other than that i will be lost. is there anything that you saw gurus can tell me that will be of help, beside the obvious," take it to a professional" :D

[TexasTimbers]

Dunno if you ever saw Slingblade or not but make sure you check what Carl would have checked first.  A customer had brought in a mower and Carls boss told him to look at it while he and the customer chatted a few minutes. Directly Carl delivered his verdit "Ain't got no gas in it." :D

I am sure you have that covered it was just an excuse to tell the story. ;)

[Corley5]

Billy Bob Thornton is a master

[ely]

yes and he was married to a hottie with big lips too, all very interesting :D but my saw still won't run. i looked at the gas tank very first thing, but i did not investigate further though. i will tonite. i will give report of what i found in the morning thanks.

[ely]

ok gents i have once again returned to the issue at hand. my saw guy told me that he took the muffler off and looked at the cylinder and it is scored to bad to put any money into.
he did not even check if the saw was getting fire or not, said i was looking at 200 bucks for the new jug and probably 100 for an igniton depending on if it was in fact bad.
if i can i will check this saw out myself further but i was wanting you guys opinions on it. good or bad, heck yall can even make a few jokes if you want.

[WDH]

My husky 61 will crank and run fine until you either cut it off or run out of fuel.  Then, it will not start, no matter what.  It has to cool down for a couple of hours, then it will fire again.

I took it to the repair shop.  They called me the next morning and said the saw was ready.  I picked it up and they charged me $25.  They said that they replaced the plug and it fired right up.  The next time I used it, it fired up and ran fine until I shut it off.  Then, it would not start no matter what after it got hot.  Just like before. 

Does that sound like the electronic ignition crapping out when the saw gets hot?  What is the best way to test to see if the electronic ignition is the problem? 

What else would you check?

[Kevin]

When it won't start check for spark at the plug.

[WDH]

Kevin,

What is the best way to check for spark at the plug.  I have no devices to do so.  Is there a simple test?

[pineywoods]

Kevin,

What is the best way to check for spark at the plug.  I have no devices to do so.  Is there a simple test?

remove plug. hold wire lead. pull rope ;D

[Cut4fun]

Not trying to answer for Kevin or the Ole method of setting plug on cylinder to see spark.

I bought a $5 tester that attaches to plug with it in the saw and  to coil wire, it has a little light bulb that lights up when you pull the saw over and you can see the spark or not.

[Kevin]

$5 tester that attaches to plug

I agree, that's what I use but holding it steady against the metal cylinder head should tell you too.

[WDH]

remove plug. hold wire lead. pull rope ;D

Pineywoods, I won't forget this .

[sawmilllawyer]

Done what Pinewoods said before, just don't pull the rope real fast like. You will feel it right away even with a slow it just won't jolt you as much.

[isawlogs]

If the saw is in good condition other then the jug and ignition .... I would put both in without blinking an eye .  ;)  Those saws where good saws and for three hundred ya cant get better . Should not take more then an hour or so to put it all together . So maybe another 50$ for labour .
 
Danny .. pack that saw up and send it my way , ya wont need be threatening it nomore . Your blood presure will be for the more better .  ;D
Can ya have someone right close with a pikchure taker when you check the ignition following Pinewoods direction  ;D :D

[Rocky_J]

Too bad, sounds like your old man put straight gas in it. Or at the very least his mix gas was not good mix. That piston scoring happens due to one cause and one cause only- lack of lubrication. As much as your dad may wish to argue the point, he burned up your saw.

I hate lending out my saws, and won't do it except for a select few people. If you're going to lend a saw to someone who does not run two cycle equipment for a living, then do yourself a favor and provide them with the mix gas to go with the saw. Otherwise you may end up with "It was running fine and then just quit! I don't know why!"
:'(

[WDH]

Can ya have someone right close with a pikchure taker when you check the ignition following Pinewoods direction  ;D :D

OK.  Looks like I need to invest either in a spark plug tester or a camera.  I think that I will choose the spark plug tester; it is cheaper and easier on the constitution ;D.

[ely]

rocky, my dad didn't burn the saw up. he was using then it would not restart for him, or me when i came home. and you did have me wondering so i went and checked just now and it still had the mix gas in it. nasty for sure but it was there.

fresh gas now and still no start, i checked and it has no spark. i will go out and try to track down the electric jigger that makes that spark.

i understand from maybe not much of a reiliable source that there are 2 electrical jiggers on this model, could you provide more info to this subject. thanks  signed not a two cycle mechanic.

[Rocky_J]

ok gents i have once again returned to the issue at hand. my saw guy told me that he took the muffler off and looked at the cylinder and it is scored to bad to put any money into.
he did not even check if the saw was getting fire or not, said i was looking at 200 bucks for the new jug and probably 100 for an igniton depending on if it was in fact bad.
...

A bad electrical 'jigger' won't score the piston. Lack of lubrication will score the piston. The saw was burned up due to improper fuel. This is an absolute, not up for argument as your mechanic confirmed it. Sorry.  :-\

[isawlogs]

 Hey !!!!   The piston is not at issue here .. he is wanting to check the electronic ignition. The saw should have spark .. bad piston scored jug wont make a non spark ... saw wont run real good with the bad piston and scored jug .. but this he already knows ...
And for the record , it is not only bad lub thats scores blocks ....  wear ands tear will do it also . A saw can only run for so many hours before it dies . It is more seen in saws that get seldom used as these saws dry up from time used and sitting there . it has nothing to do with the mix of oil .
You will need take the starter off to get to the electronic ignition . Onced you have checked your ignition ... I would also check the rings on the saw .....
   

[Kevin]

There's one electronic ignition coil on the 61.
The air gap at the flywheel is .012".

[ely]

thanks for the info guys, like i say i am no mechanic by trade but i did stay at a holiday inn last night.

wasn't gonna say anything but here lately i have had a rash of so called mechanics in my neck of the woods give out all sorts of not so good info on two stroke engines.
my boat quit me awhile back and was getting no fire at all this i knew. i took it in and the mechanic calls me and says" this motor is shot" i say huh it was running just fine, it just would not fire. he proceeds to tell me that he has not messed with the firing yet he just did a compression check and deemed it worthless. 5 cyl @ 90 and 1 @85. i told him that was just normal wear fix the firing. he got mad, but he fixed it , sort of. he has the timing jacked up now but it is running ok again.

i talked to some other mechanics and they said they had seen those engines run fine all the way down to 55pounds of compression.

so next this yahoo that has had my saw for a year tells me the same thing. i know this aint the reason the saw will not run, as it was running fine when we shut it off. if it had locked up or something i would tend to believe it. i know the saw is old and used but i know its not locked up either nor do i suspect a broken ring. i will investigate the coil and see what i come up with.

at the very least i will have a bunch of good parts for one of you lucky 61 owners on the FF.

[ely]

ok new ? what is that other electrical jigger on the front of the saw that has two wires going to the coil. one of the wires is broke off and the rest of it is bad shape.

[Kevin]

Is it the on/off switch?

[ely]

no,  :D its the one on the front of the saw, under the same starter cover as the one that fires the plug.  the wires run from the front down under the flywheel in a groove back to the coil where the plug wire takes off from.
and i just came from my chainsaw store and the lady said they are no longer available.

would anyone on here happen to have one or know where a fella could get the part.

[ely]

i believe the part is an ignition module, and i don't seem to find one yet. after messing around some more with the saw i think i will actually get a tester and see for sure what the compression is, number wise and that will tell me if i should fix it or scrap it.

thanks again for all the help and ideas.

[Kevin]

That sounds like the Ignition coil.
The other unit is the ignition module.

[isawlogs]

   Can you not splice the wire ??? 

[ely]

marcel i have thought a/b tryin that. i will have to remove a little of the phenolic resin from the module as the wire broke off flush where it comes out of it.
i should probably use the dremel tool on it.