Husky 359

[stumpy]

I have a 359 with a 20" bar. It's about 2 years old and it quit running. Took it to a repair shop and they said it had a scored cylinder. I always ran 40-1 using Husky oil. Any comments on this? Seen it before? where to get parts? Thoughts on weather Husqvarna will help out?

[barbender]

2 years- I can't remember if the husky consumer warranty was one or two years.  I have a 346xp I melted down and they did cover that, but I did document I had the saw in before because it was running lean. They rebuilt it, but it still runs lean >:(. I think I might send mine to one of the fellows that mods saws and have them go through it, I think they have a lot better idea what they are doing than the average hardware store mechanic. Plus I could pick up some power 8). Good luck with your saw, don't let em push you around if its still under warranty, let them know  there will be know more orange saws or business with them if they don't make right on this.

[Sprucegum]

I had a thread quite a while back about my Husky 359 with a fried piston and scored cylinder.

Turns out the cylinder was not scored even though it looked pretty bad to me. The pistons are made of aluminum and melt when overheated. With luck, and careful use of an acid cleaner, the cylinder can be cleaned and then you just need a new piston.

Sorry I can't tell you more about the acid job, I think it was muriatic acid. It was done for me by a friend then I took the saw to a dealer who put it back together with a new piston for about $200

[dozerdan]

stumpy
I have a ported cylinder and piston for your 359. It only had a few tanks of fuel ran through the saw until they ran over the saw with a pick up.

barbender
If your 346 is still running lean, please stop using it before you melt another piston. Cut the stop off of the high speed adjusting screw and tell me if you can get the saw running rich enough. Does it have the good walbro carb or does it have the newer zama.

Later
Dan

[stumpy]

Dozerdan, I sent you a PM.

[Hotsaw]

Stumpy,
If the motor doesn't work out with dozer PM me I also have a good one I would let go cheap

[Bill]

FWIW - maybe we have seen it before -

I seem to remember a thread about this just little while back. I think there was talk that either ethanol in winterized regular gas or a dry gas product ( with ethanol/alcohol ? ) was suspect for "scored" cylinders.

Maybe others memory is better and they'll recall  .  .  .

Good Luck

[barbender]

Dozerdan, sorry I missed your reply here, I just made one on the walkerized thread about my saw.  I'm not sure what carb it is, but I think I saw a "Made in China" on it. I can adjust the high speed on it to make it "burble" or "four stroke" so I think that is rich enough, and the low speed  can be richened up enough to make it die or bog off of idle, it seems to be the midrange where the problem is. It's got me pullin my hair out. I'm not new to saws, I've had a 266 husky, 2165 Jred, and 2171 jred that all run good and I have always been able to tune those without a problem. I'll look at my saw today and see what carb it has on it.

[Pullinchips]

Husky has a two year comsumer warrenty.  I remember because i debated over a 359 a little over a year ago.  Settled on a ms 390 and stil only has a 1 year consumer warrenty which is up.

-nate

[sawguy21]

You didn't buy the Stihl mix oil to get the two year warranty? ;D

[Pullinchips]

What :-\

[barbender]

Dozerdan-  I looked at my 346 and all I can see without disassembling it is a "China" stamped on the top of the carb. So I"m guessing it's the cheapo carb.

[Bill]

FWIW -

I learned this one the hard way. 

Noticed a bit of water in my mix and added isopropanol dry gas as it was winter and was worried about icing up.  Less than the next tank full later,  my previously sweet running Stihl 028 super had a scored piston and peeled chrome bore. 2 strokes do not like dry gas/alcohol

With a new cyl/piston assy the same saw is still going stong after wearing out many chains , and a few bars using the same mix (minus the dry gas).

Good Luck -

[SawTroll]

Dozerdan-  I looked at my 346 and all I can see without disassembling it is a "China" stamped on the top of the carb. So I"m guessing it's the cheapo carb.

According to the IPLs, the Zama replaced the Walbro in 2003.
They are essensially the same construction, aren't they?

The only difference I have heard of is that the venturi in the Walbros are in /64s of an inch, and that they are rounded up to the closest millimeter on the Zamas.......
....should give the Zamas an edge, at least in some cases.

Is this true? ???

[dozerdan]

Hi
If your carb has the word China on it, it is made by Zama. The first Zamas that appeared in this country had some very poor machine work. The newer ones are top notch and they seem to work well. Almost all of the new Dolmars saws come with a Zama.
I have seen a few of the Zama carbs on the 346 that had the jets partially plugged. They use some type of sealer on a few internal welch plugs. I have seen this sealer come off of the plugs and find its way into the jets.
Take the carb apart, clean it good and try it again.
I had two of the Zama carbs on the 346s that I never could  make them run correctly. I found an internal crack in both of them.
Performance wise the Walbro will work a little better then the Zama.
If you have a ported 346 you can use the Walbo carb from a 357 or 359, they are a direct bolt on and they have a larger bore. I have used them on the stock 346s but the larger carb dumps in more fuel and it can create a problem when idling. You can make it idle fine but they seem to be really sensitive to outside temp change and you have to adjust the carb accordingly.
Later
Dan

[barbender]

Thanks for the info Dozerdan- I'll pull that carb apart and take a look at it.  BTW- that 346 has been running really good lately, I was using it to fell and limb some aspen and it ran A-1.  Maybe it finally sucked something through the jets?