RIP, ported 372XP... what to do?

woodrat · October 07, 2023, 11:30:20 AM

I bought this saw on ebay in about 2004, brand new and ported. It was a sawmill support saw for years when I was still doing a lot of that, and did a lot of ripping and big bucking.

Then it got parked in the shop for a few years when I wasn't really doing much work with wood, and then this past winter when I got way into selling firewood, I pulled it out, cleaned it up, replaced rotten fuel lines, and learned to tune it and since then have done about 50 cords of mostly fir with it.

Couple of days ago, it started to feel a little "off", and then a minute later, it just quit suddenly. Won't start again and definitely doesn't have the kind of compression that it did. Thankfully I had the old 272XP with me so I was able to keep working, anyway.

Looking down the spark plug hole with a flashlight, I can see a little bit of light scoring on the exhaust side, doesn't look THAT bad, but the lack of compression tells the tale. I'll probably pull it apart today.

I guess 20 years and tons of use on a ported saw isn't too bad. So, now what?

I don't really want to drop a grand or more on a new saw, so I'll fix this one and maybe see if I can find a used spare, too. I had looked briefly into getting a 572 before this one quit, but then got hammered with an $1800 repair bill on the beater truck that might now be worth $1500... lol... So, a little tight for big spending projects like brand new saws.

I don't know how to port it myself, so I'll be putting "normal" parts back on it.

Is the 52mm piston and cylinder option going to add anything to the power of this saw, or should I just go with the 50mm? base gasket delete? Any other tips or tricks? Is this a saw that I should proactively replace bearings and/or seals on while I'm doing the rest of it?

barbender · October 07, 2023, 02:06:37 PM

I'd pull the cylinder off and see how bad the damage was before I got thinking about all the what ifs...you might be able to just clean up the cylinder and replace the piston and rings. It sounds like it might've been running lean, figure out what was causing that or you'll get to do it all over again.

woodrat · October 07, 2023, 03:37:07 PM

When I first bought it after I broke it in a little bit I had a saw shop adjust the carburetor and then used it for years like that. When I watched some videos last year and learned how to adjust the carburetor myself, I realized that it had been running too lean already, so that may have contributed.

I'm going to pull the top end off today and see what's up in there.

woodrat · October 07, 2023, 06:49:59 PM

OK, I think I see why it wouldn't start again... lol

I couldn't even get the piston out of the cylinder until I drove the wrist pin out and then got it on the bench and was able to rotate the piston a bit and slowly work it out of there.

Looks like some pieces broke off somewhere and then flew all over the place for a while. Almost all the damage on the intake side. But never any issues with the air filter or boot.

woodrat · October 07, 2023, 06:59:54 PM

I don't know much about porting other than the videos I've watched on youTube from Tinman and Iron Horse, but all of this work looks a little rough to me. But, whoever did it, did it back in 2004, before all that content was on the internet, so... lol

It sure ran strong for a long time.

There's all kinds of crud all over the inside of the crankcase, too, plus maybe some damage to the crankcase from a piece of something dragged along by the crankshaft?

I don't know how much connecting rod movement is tolerable, but there seems like a lot to me.

Either way, this thing clearly needs to be taken all the way apart now.

thecfarm · October 07, 2023, 08:51:16 PM

20 years on a saw is good in my eyes. I can't seem to get one past the 10 year part.
Then I have an echo trimmer that is just about 40 years old. If I could find a carburetor for it, it would run again. And I used that poor thing a lot when I was claiming back the pastures here and my mile of stone walls. Very common for me to run 4-5 tanks of fuel through it in one day.

LeeB · October 07, 2023, 09:22:05 PM

Go to the Huskey website and look up the ipl for the 372 XP. You can get an assembled short block for way less than buying the parts separately. I never knew there was such a thing until my brush cutter froze up recently. Also check eBay. I saw a short block for the 372 for about $100. Free shipping.

LeeB · October 08, 2023, 12:31:48 AM

Ok, I checked husqvarna's site and didn't see that they listed a short block but Idid find one on ebay. It appears to be aftermarket with no branding expressed.

woodrat · October 08, 2023, 01:10:01 AM

Quote from: LeeB on October 08, 2023, 12:31:48 AM
Ok, I checked husqvarna's site and didn't see that they listed a short block but Idid find one on ebay. It appears to be aftermarket with no branding expressed.

Maybe one of those Chyneez Holtzforma ones...

I've decided to go find another used one like this one, pre-Xtorq, so I can keep working and put the 272 back on "reserve saw" status, and then putter around fixing this one up again this winter when it's raining for weeks at a time... lol

So, interested in hearing any ideas about what a good build would be.

I'm running mostly a 28" bar on it, or sometimes a 24". Cutting lots of doug fir from 6" up to 30" or so. And then a little bit of falling here and there, too, on large spruce around here mostly.

Old Greenhorn · October 08, 2023, 06:52:27 AM

Is THIS the short block you are speaking of? Says OEM at $218.35 but it doesn't give the specs or ring size.

LeeB · October 08, 2023, 07:31:36 AM

No. The one I saw was the jug and crank case all assembled.

Old Greenhorn · October 08, 2023, 07:44:22 AM

Well I couldn't find that either. Depending on pricing, the short block might be the way to go given the age and usage, but taking the time to just get the parts and do it over the winter would also work. Those saws are worth fixing. I always have my eyes open for one that is dead, but when I find them people expect crazy money for a seized up saw. I won't pay $350 for a dead locked saw. Best of luck with yours and I hope you get another 20years out of it.

LeeB · October 08, 2023, 01:17:04 PM

If i knew how to do a hyperlink like you did I would post the link. The link is way to long to copy and paste and thereby causing problems with this thread screen space.

woodrat · October 08, 2023, 03:16:29 PM

Quote from: LeeB on October 08, 2023, 01:17:04 PM
If i knew how to do a hyperlink like you did I would post the link. The link is way to long to copy and paste and thereby causing problems with this thread screen space.

Highlight the word you want to become a hyper link, and then use this to insert the link.

LeeB · October 09, 2023, 12:45:55 PM

Short block

LeeB · October 09, 2023, 12:47:23 PM

The hyperlink feature is good to know. It keeps from pasting a long URL that messes up the page width.

doc henderson · October 09, 2023, 01:47:22 PM

I learned something today!

logging of old

Al_Smith · October 09, 2023, 10:47:59 PM

It swallowed something ,perhaps a piece of bearing ? Look at the transfer and the roundish mark and the piston .Something that was rather large and hard . as a rock . It's jambed the rings which is why it lost compression .

barbender · October 10, 2023, 12:44:57 AM

Sure looks like it, doesn't it Al?

Woodrat, take a look at the spark plug and see if the electrode is still there. I had one fall off one time, mine sat on top of the piston and battered the heck out of it and the head. The saw didn't turn off when it happened because it didn't kill the spark plug. I hit the kill switch as fast as I could but in 3 seconds it was toast.

I also had a wrist pin bearing come apart on a Jonsered 2165 (same chassis as your 372) and it had similar marks in the cylinder.

woodrat · October 10, 2023, 10:54:39 AM

yes, something came loose and rattled around in there. And it was jammed up so hard that the piston was stuck in the cylinder. There looks like a chip missing out of the piston skirt and a dent in it, plus damage elsewhere. I can't see where there are any bearing pieces missing, but I haven't taken the lower end apart yet.

I'll take a look at the plug again, I took it out when I was trying to see if it had any compression left, but I don't remember looking at the plug closely.

woodrat · October 10, 2023, 10:56:11 AM

Quote from: LeeB on October 09, 2023, 12:45:55 PM
Short block

Interesting. That's gotta be pure Chyneesium at that price, I would think.

Al_Smith · October 10, 2023, 01:10:10 PM

I've seen something that looked like this damage on a Dolmar,high hours .What had happened was a small piece of the main bearing had broken loose and got blown up through the transfer where the top of the piston got it on the up stroke .It wasn't mine but I saved it with parts from a Makita and even after ten years it's still running good .Part orange and part blue saw now .I don't remember weather if it was a used cylinder or after market but the piston was Meteor with Caber rings using Stihl circlips .
Now the 372 .Do a complete tear down and see what you have and go from there .If you look around you might have $3-400 in it but it won't that insane price of $1200 .If not put the parts in a box because sooner or later the parts like magic will just show up .

woodrat · October 10, 2023, 09:19:07 PM

Quote from: Al_Smith on October 10, 2023, 01:10:10 PM
I've seen something that looked like this damage on a Dolmar,high hours .What had happened was a small piece of the main bearing had broken loose and got blown up through the transfer where the top of the piston got it on the up stroke .

OK, went out with a flashlight and looked down in there and that is exactly what happened here, too. Starter side main bearing is missing one of the balls ... I think I know where it is now, though... lol

It doesn't look like it tore up the case from what I can see, other than a bit of a mark on the bottom of the crankcase that was showing in one of those pics. And the crank has a groove in one of the counter weights, too. But the big end of the rod seems way too loose on the crank, so that's gonna need replaced anyway.

For now I am tuning up my 272XP again and gave it the 372's bar and fresh chain, and I ordered the last couple of minor parts to put my 61 back in service as a spare, so that should buy me some time to hunt for parts for the 372.

I've found a few 372s for sale on FB, etc, but no one is answering messages, of course. And they're mostly pretty expensive, even the used ones.

Al_Smith · October 11, 2023, 10:45:32 AM

Just to clarify things I'm not genius on anything nor am I a factory trained mechanic .My observations are just the fact I've worked on many chainsaws that had the life wrung out if them in hard service to tree companies .Some can be saved and some aren't worth taking the effort .
I know of no other group collectively any harder on equipment than tree services.I have seen casual firewood cutters that for some reason have the opinion that less,oil ratio speaking is more .After enough run time those saws will fail too .Meanwhile I have some that are 50 years old and still run as good as the day they left the factory they were made in .

barbender · October 11, 2023, 02:40:28 PM

What oil ratio do you think is correct, Al?😁

chet · October 11, 2023, 03:12:33 PM

Sure,,,,, poke da bear :D :

doc henderson · October 11, 2023, 03:39:08 PM

:

Al_Smith · October 12, 2023, 06:02:42 AM

Quote from: barbender on October 11, 2023, 02:40:28 PM
What oil ratio do you think is correct, Al?😁

Depends on who's saw it is :D

thecfarm · October 12, 2023, 06:15:05 AM

Don't forget what kind of oil to use!!! ;D ;D

Al_Smith · October 12, 2023, 10:52:34 AM

SAE 90 wt at 16 to 1 .Lube the saw and fog for mosquitoes at the same time .Then again there might be some merit to 50 to 1 mixed with av gas and tuned in to rev like a model airplane engine .Sell more of those $1200 saws that way . ;D

DHansen · October 12, 2023, 02:10:40 PM

Thanks for that advise, I have a lot of used 90 weight to get rid of anyway.

Al_Smith · October 12, 2023, 07:09:05 PM

I didn't actually use 90WT for mix oil . However I had an old Cletrac HG crawler that came over on the Mayflower that used thermal siphon cooling .Always ran hot ,smoked like it was burning soft coal .So I filled it up with gear lube which it just took longer to smoke .I had to find a set of piston rings for that old Hercules flat head engine .That cured it .I spent more time working on that worn out antique than I did using it .