FINALLY got my 346xp running right!

[barbender]

 I have a husky 346XP I bought new about 4 years ago because they were supposed to be the cat's meow for a high power/light weight saw. Well mine has always been a dog, I STRONGLY suspected an air leak because it would not respond to screw settings etc. Brought to dealer, he said he couldn't test for that. So, I keep running it. Then it blew up :( Husky covered it under warranty. Told the dealer AGAIN, "I think this thing is sucking air, it's just going to blow up again." He says" Sometimes just taking them apart and putting them back together fixes that." Reaffirming my suspicion that this guy has no idea what he is doing. Finally, I took the saw apart myself, and found the carb boot/cylinder connection is very loose.  It is clamped on with a crappy little plastic clip, not nearly tight enough.  So I go to a different husky dealer, ask them what I can do to seal this thing up. This mechanic tells me " Oh yeah, there's an updated part for those saws. We've had a lot of those blow uo because of that"  : So, I get the updated part, which is a METAL clamp and new housing- $3.91. Put it on, and now my saw runs right. Yeehaw! So, if anyone has one of those size saws, 345, 346XP, 350, 353 I would check and see if they have the metal clip or the plastic one. What a pain in the butt this has been. :

[SawTroll]

There was a service bulletin on this issue a few years ago - your dealer should have known.........

It was the same thing with the 357xp/359.

[jokers]

I had one of those clips apparently unlatch on a 357. Luckily the saw was stopped before any damage was done. I`ve also heard of others. I think they can be OK as long as the operator is cognizant of this potential to unlatch and periodically checks it`s security.

Glad to hear that your 346 is running well barbender. The 346 is one of my favorite saws.

[barbender]

  I kind of thought that this was something the dealer should have known about, plus the fact I was practically begging him to find the air leak.  Oh well, I won't buy from that dealer anymore. Looking forward to finally enjoying this saw!!

[Cut4fun]

Service Bulletin for 357XP, 359, 353, 346XP
This service bulletin is not new. I thought that there might be some out there who were not aware of it so here it is. If your saw has a black plastic clamp around the intake right next to the cylinder it is applicable to it. If the clamp is of steel construction then you should be ok.

B0600023
SERVICE

*537 43 88-01*
*compl 537 25 13-02
English 1 (1)

SB, 357 XP, 359, 353, 346 XP,
Partition wall and clamp for intake system,
2006-03

The existing intake system on 357XP, 359,353 and 346XP currently consists of an integrated plastic clamp in the partition wall. As the clamp is made of plastic, there is a risk of deformation. This results in impaired clamping force against the cylinder, which in turn can result in leakage in the intake system. To prevent this from occurring, we have now introduced a metal clamp and a new partition wall.

The new partition wall is made up of polyamide with 30 % fibre glass.
The new clamp is a hardened steel clamp. The new material and the design of the clamp reduce the risk of deformation and the subsequent risk of leakage.

Full replaceability prevails.
Introduced from serial number:
357XP 061100201
359 061100001
353 061100001
346XP 061100001

New part no. Description Excl. part. no. Remark
537 25 13-02 Partition wall, intake, complete New spare part
537 43 88-01 Clamp, intake New spare part

Spare part, partition wall, part number 537 25 13-01, has been discontinued and is replaced by part number 537 25 13-02.

[SawTroll]

Thanks Cut - that is the one I was referring to - just couldn't find it.....

[John Mc]

Service Bulletin for 357XP, 359, 353, 346XP
This service bulletin is not new. I thought that there might be some out there who were not aware of it so here it is. If your saw has a black plastic clamp around the intake right next to the cylinder it is applicable to it. If the clamp is of steel construction then you should be ok.

Hmmm... I own a Jonsered 2152, which is the "sister" chainsaw to the Husqvarna 353. Do you know if there is a similar service bulletin out for the similar Jonsered saws. I'm assuming they use a lot of the same parts.

John Mc

[barbender]

Cut4Fun- Do you know when that service bulletin came out?

[SawTroll]

Service Bulletin for 357XP, 359, 353, 346XP
This service bulletin is not new. I thought that there might be some out there who were not aware of it so here it is. If your saw has a black plastic clamp around the intake right next to the cylinder it is applicable to it. If the clamp is of steel construction then you should be ok.

Hmmm... I own a Jonsered 2152, which is the "sister" chainsaw to the Husqvarna 353. Do you know if there is a similar service bulletin out for the similar Jonsered saws. I'm assuming they use a lot of the same parts.

John Mc

Yes, there is.

Btw, my 353 has the old design, and no problems so far.

[John Mc]

Service Bulletin for 357XP, 359, 353, 346XP
This service bulletin is not new. I thought that there might be some out there who were not aware of it so here it is. If your saw has a black plastic clamp around the intake right next to the cylinder it is applicable to it. If the clamp is of steel construction then you should be ok.

Hmmm... I own a Jonsered 2152, which is the "sister" chainsaw to the Husqvarna 353. Do you know if there is a similar service bulletin out for the similar Jonsered saws. I'm assuming they use a lot of the same parts.

John Mc

Yes, there is.

Btw, my 353 has the old design, and no problems so far.

I finally got around to checking. Is the clamp you are talking about close to the cylinder base, tucked up under the cooling fins on the rear of the cylinder? If so, then I believe I've got the old style black plastic clamp. This saw has gotten quite hot at times. It's doing better, now that I've replaced the muffler with a non-catalytic version. If I have a problem, what kind of symptoms would I be seeing? I'm assuming I'd be running lean, but I haven't noticed any problems. It does tend to stall out at idle when it's been used for a while (especially when I tip the saw up or down). I've been thinking this is just a low speed mixture adjustment I need to tweak a bit. Is it possible this is a symptom of the bad clamp instead?

John Mc