372 clone, no spark, any ideas.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I reset the coil gap to .012 (OEM saw) and It has a good spark but still not a pop out of it. Even tried a shot of either, no joy. Messed with the carb settings also. I just don't get it.

[DHansen]

Back to basics.  The OEM saw ran well before you removed the coil?  When that coil was moved to the clone saw you had spark from that coil on the clone saw?  That determined your need to buy a coil for the cloned saw?  You put the original coil back onto the OEM saw and now that saw will not start.  You at one point said no spark but now have spark.  What did you do to get spark back on the OEM saw?   You have tried a dry spark plug?  Making sure you don't have a flooded-out OEM saw?

[Old Greenhorn]

Back to basics.  The OEM saw ran well before you removed the coil?  When that coil was moved to the clone saw you had spark from that coil on the clone saw?  That determined your need to buy a coil for the cloned saw?  You put the original coil back onto the OEM saw and now that saw will not start.  You at one point said no spark but now have spark.  What did you do to get spark back on the OEM saw?  You have tried a dry spark plug?  Making sure you don't have a flooded-out OEM saw?

Yes, you followed that all correctly, which is amazing.  Answers in order:
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes and I don't recall how I got back to spark but I will say that all the gap adjustments seemed to vary the spark quality. .012 seems to be about the best. I have 3 different spark plugs I try on each iteration test cycle just to be sure and all give a spark outside the cylinder. One of those is a brand new NSK to Husky Spec. (I forget the number.) Since I rotate plugs and they sit on the bench a lot, I consider they are pretty much dry. 
 My thought at this point is I am not getting spark under compression or I have a carb issue, perhaps too much fuel? Further details I didn't mention before: I have tried starting it with the decomp open and closed, no difference. I have also tried starting it with the choke open for several pulls to clear it, then try the choke again. No difference.
 I am running out of shoulder muscles. For the time being I am giving in on the clone and focusing on the OEM project saw. If /when I get the clone running and tested, I will just say "that's nice" and hang it back up for now. But the OEM has some work to get done as soon as it's ready.

[old2stroke]

If you have a seriously flooded saw, you have to remove the plug, turn the saw upside down with the plug hole at the bottom and pull the engine over (ignition off, choke off) until it stops spraying fuel out of the plug hole.
One of the failure modes of electronic coils is they stop producing a spark voltage at low rpm.  Every coil has a minimum rpm that must be achieved before it will produce a spark and as components degrade, this minimum rpm can go up and the engine has to be turned over faster to get a spark.  Often, when testing for spark with the plug out, you are able to pull the engine over much faster than you can with the plug in and working against compression, so when testing by holding the plug against the cylinder, use a plug with a LARGE gap (0.2" at least) and try to pull the engine over at the same speed you would when trying to start with the plug in.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I am gaining on it. I actually had it running for a little bit, but the carb settings are way off now. I pulled the carb and under the plate where the impulse line goes it was full of gas. I don't think that's quite right, so I cleaned it all out, also blew out the cylinder and reset the two adjustment screws in the middle. After a few pulls it fired off a little.
Took it outside with a screwdriver and was pulling and trying and tweaking adjustments to try to keep it running. Pull, start, fiddle a bit and it stalls, tweak the screw a bit and try again. Did this several times as I was observing the results. I was doing it often enough that I just kept the screwdriver in my right hand to make it easier. Well with the screwdriver in the right hand and the left hand on the saw handle, I dragged the tip of the screw driver right across my left hand with considerable force as I pulled the starter cord. In the Fire Service we called this 'NTS' i.e. Not thinking Syndrome.


I tried to keep going for a bit, but the bleeding wouldn't stop. So I had to go clean up. Besides, my shoulder needs a break for a bit.

At any rate, I am gaining on it. It's running very rough, but it's running,....sort of.

[Hilltop366]

If you have a seriously flooded saw, you have to remove the plug, turn the saw upside down with the plug hole at the bottom and pull the engine over (ignition off, choke off) until it stops spraying fuel out of the plug hole.

I have never tried the saw upside down I'll have to keep that in mind if  the need ever arises.

For badly flooded or to eliminate from the possibilities that it is flooded  I will remove plug and hold throttle wide open with no choke and pull over, I have also used a bit of compressed air in the plug hole while turning it over, I hold the air blower back a bit as to not introduce lots of pressure.

For a little bit flooded usually I just pull over with the throttle wide open no choke (plug in) and most will start.

For priming I was taught to only use mixed gas as straight gas or starting fluid provides no lubricant to a 2 stroke and on a 4 stroke can wash the oil off the cylinder and and reduce compression making it hard to start

[Old Greenhorn]

I went back out after my last post and gave it another try but I can't get it to fire again. I pulled the carb apart and cleaned some more, but I got a call for emergency roadside assistance from a jammed up friend, so I had to drop everything. Tomorrow is another day. I am pretty sure it's the carb and my poor settings from here on out with the OEM project saw.

[old2stroke]

There SHOULD be fuel under the impulse cover plate.  That's the fuel pump and the big circular part of the diaphragm is the part that is operated by the impulse to do the pumping.
When you get the carb sorted out, a good starting point is to set the H screw 1 turn out from seated position, the L screw 11/2 turns out and screw the throttle stop screw (idle speed) in a couple of turns so that the engine will run fast at idle and give you a chance to so some adjusting without it always stalling.  When you get it running, adjust the speed down until the chain is just moving, then start turning the L screw in and out (slowly) until you find the adjustment that gives the fastest idle speed, called "lean best idle". Adjust the speed screw again so that the chain is just moving again and then back the L screw out until the chain just stops and that should make the idle fuel rich enough so that the engine won't bog when you pull the trigger.
Setting the H screw is another story

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, that would be my starting point....if I could do that. but this carb has limiters that only give 5/8 of a turn adjustment total on each screw. I really have no idea where I am with that. I like your description of the process though, that is helpful and makes perfect sense.

[thecfarm]

I keep checking this thread in hopes to read, it's running!!!!

[Old Greenhorn]

Me too, Ray,. Me too.

[doc henderson]

the worst is to fix something but not know what you really did.  or an intermittent problem.

[Old Greenhorn]

That was always the issue with the clone saw that started this. Mostly it was kill switches that worked, then shorted, then didn't work at all. But the last time it failed and I gave up, it was, apparently, the coil. I have put that aside for now, thinking I may be headed in the right direction and working on the OEM project saw until it's running. My limiting factor is how many times I can pull that cord before my shoulder gives out. Hopefully I am done hurting myself, I might run out of fingers soon.

[old2stroke]

Yeah, that would be my starting point....if I could do that. but this carb has limiters that only give 5/8 of a turn adjustment total on each screw. I really have no idea where I am with that. I like your description of the process though, that is helpful and makes perfect sense.

You have to remove the limiters

[Old Greenhorn]

Actually, it turns out you don't. On this carb, there is an outer limiter ring and I figured out I can press that down with a small pick and turn the screw as much as I want. So I did that 'reset' as suggested, but again ran out of shoulders. For some reason I think it flooded, but pulling with open choke eventually got me a few pops, but no start.
 This is gonna take some time.

[Old Greenhorn]

OK, here's an update that does not include blood or bad news.  I now have the OEM saw running and even cutting. I did some test cuts with it and that new Square ground chain and it runs and cuts like a [sexually assaulted primate]. At this point though I can't trust my ears and it sounds like it's running away a little. I don't see my carb adjustments making any difference. So rather than mess with it until I blow it up, I am going to seek professional help. It's running, so I set it aside for now. But I am happy with that chain, I could even plunge cut with it, which surprised me thinking skip tooth might be a little rough for that, especially with the long bar.

 Back to the clone saw and my original problem. I put the (2nd) new A/M coil in it, reset the gap to .012 (.3mm) and still have no spark. I tried several plugs including a new NGK with no change. For the moment I am bagging it because I can't think of anything else to try. I have other stuff I have to get done.

[Spike60]

Ether, uh? Carb spray if you must, but ether is a bit much.

Too many doctors kill the patient. Hard to even know which patient is on the bench the way we are  going back and forth between the 2 saws in question. Honestly I was loosing track of are we talking the clone or the XT? At least we differentiate between the one that runs and the one that doesn't now. 

There is a special splined adjustment tool for those XT carbs. Lotta places sell them; doesn't have to come from Husky. Tuning by ear is a bit tricky with speed limited coils. You don't hear it changing while you are leaning it out. You keep turning until you hear bang. 

[thecfarm]

I think he has the husky running.  

[Old Greenhorn]

Yes, Ray is correct. The OEM Husky Project Saw is now running (unless it changed it's mind). I am leaving it as is for now until it gets tuned properly.

The clown is still dead.

I pretty much never use ether in a 2 stroke, but I admit, in a moment of frustrated weakness over the weekend I did try it. Fortunately, it do not work at all before I regained my senses. I think the saw was flooded at that point anyway.

If you guys trying to read along and keep score are confused, think how I feel trying to keep track and remember what I am doing.
By the end of the day tomorrow I may have some different news, but I have other obligations that will take up my morning, so no shop time. maybe that's a good thing?

[Old Greenhorn]

OK, lets put this one to bed. I went up to Spike's this afternoon and we puzzled it al out.
 Frist, the 372 project saw (OEM) which do not start this thread but certainly added to the confusion and entertainment value. That saw is running and tuned and very happy now. It turned out to be a carb issue wherein it was flooding to an excessive amount. We drained LOT of gas out of that cylinder! We swapped it out for another carb and it started just fine. A little tuning and it is all set, runs netter than great. Also turns out that what my ear thought was over revving was actually about 1500 rom too low from the spec'ed top end. All good on that score.
 Then we looked at the clown saw/ No joy with the Am coil I had in it. Bob checked my work and found nothing to laugh about. We put an old OEM coil in it and Bob said he saw a spark, I did not. We put it together and tried it (Bob's confidence was MUCH higher than mine). BINGO, it started!. we messed with it some more and it started every time. Did the tuning routine and a small test cut, runs great. There remains an issue with the chain running with the saw at idle. This has been an issue since the day I first started that saw so I will save that for another day, probably a clutch issue. That's and even I can figure that out. But both saws now start, run, and cut great. I don't think the whole thing took 45 minutes.
 I arrived at Bob's with 2 dead saws and a 12 pack. I left with 2 running saws plus another project saw. (There wasn't much left of the 12 ack either.) But it was the nicest afternoon I have had in a  very long time. We sat and talked quite a bit under a shade tree about everything from corporations to local hockey players. 
What a great day!

[Spike60]

Yup. It was a fun afternoon and all saws had a happy ending. Clone coil we used was from an old 371. Time it found a new home. Did not bother experimenting with the AM coil. This has been going on long enough; just wanted to get to the finish line. Finished the saws, but not the 12 pack. (3 left).

Great day too bad a few more of you couldn't join us. 

[DHansen]

Nice job guys.

[thecfarm]

I would of enjoyed the company.

[trimguy]

Well good, now your going to need another hook
 😂😂😂

[Old Greenhorn]

Another hook???