$10 chainsaw
 

Bought a little Poulin XXV deluxe at a garage sale today, been looking for a light duty chainsaw. Hardly looks used but definitely sitting around for a while.

He says it runs, just a hard start - pulls over nicely really. Couldn't start it on site, out of gas. I imagine I should pull the carb and give it a soaking, change the plug etc.

What should I soak the carb in?

Run some sea foam through it :).

My lawn mower wouldn't start this spring. Always has, but not this time. Put it away properly winterized too.

Drained the tank and put a bit of sea foam in, second pull and away it went!
Filled the tank with fuel and a bit of sea foam and it's running great. A bit of white smoke for a little while, but that's what sea foam does.

I do the same thing with my chain saw if it's been sitting for awhile. Always works :)

I would do as stated above. You will spend more on cleaner than you did the saw, so I would give Seafoam a shot first.

Wow!!!!
 

I didn't know that Seafoam was anything other than an excellent WD-40 alternative.
Really great tip here guys! Thanks

It's probably due for a diaphragm change inside the carb. It acts as a fuel pump. They harden with time.

I wouldn't do any of the above until it's needed.

Drain old gas/oil.
Mix up some premium fuel/oil.
Refill.
Go through the starting steps.

If this fails, check for sparky.
If that's good, give it a shot of ether.

If this all fails to bring it to life, then invest the time to take it apart for a cleaning.
It will fire..
Good :)

You should probably steer clear of the advice to use ether in a gas engine.

If you can pour a dribble of fuel mixture into the carb venturi and get it to fire, then it is likely a fuel issue. The Walbro and Tillotson carbs are similar and in that they both use diaphragm pumps. They are cheap and easy to replace and should be done on any old 2-stroke engine to keep it running well.
Let us know what you find.

Explain.
Please.

Seriously, mix your gas and oil and try and start the thing before screwing around.

Guess I should try some fuel and pull it over first. Have some 50:1 for the auger in the basement, that should do for a test. I'll post back, not sure if i'll get it done tonite, up to my arse making breads and treats for tomorrow.

I new a guy that had one of those chain saws,did not know he had to mix oil.
Ran a few minutes ,then stopped. Was very easy to pull over after that.
He gave it to me and I took it apart and found the rings seized tight to the piston.
I but it back together and placed it on my garabge can and it was gone the next day. Could it be the same one !

I recently acquired one of these saws. It also sat for a long time and gave me a lot of trouble trying to make it run. Would start up for a bit but then stall and never start again. Eventually i noticed oil and fuel leaking out the bottom of the saw. This was after replacing all the fuel lines. Ive decided that the main motor gasket is toast. Showed itself once things warmed up a bit. You're welcome to have this one for parts. Im in south Edmonton.

Using starting fluid (ether) on an engine is risky because ether detonates rather than explodes. A detonation is like a steel hammer hitting the piston wheras an explosion (gasoline) is a progressive burning resulting in a PUSH against the piston. Ether is VERY dry and washes any lubricant off instantly, another reason not to use it.

Detonation (from Latin detonare, meaning "to expend thunder") is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it.

Good way to bend the piston connecting rod.

In a reciprocating piston engine, the connecting rod or conrod connects the piston to the crank or crankshaft. Together with the crank, they form a simple mechanism that converts reciprocating motion into rotating motion.

I would buy a half dozen start cords and some ear protection.

YMMV but the Poulins I've seen encourage expanding one's vocabulary of cuss word. The ear protection is for those who may be offended by your outbursts.

The handful of start cords is self explanatory.

Good luck with your saw. fill it up dd some sea foam and try to start it.

Pull the choke and try to start it until it coughs. close the choke and pull the cord till it starts.:)

Fill it with fresh fuel, pull the spark plug connect the sparkplug wire, give a couple pulls, if you see spark pour a little fuel into the cylinder, replace sparkplug and try to start. Should fire. If it only runs until the fuel in the cylinder burns up you may have carb problems. I wouldn't mess with the carb until you try this a couple times without success.

Ether washes the oil off the cylinder walls.. and ether dose not fire like gas it detonate and when it dose it can hit the piston so hard that it bends the rod. If the engine needs ether to start there is a problem so why not fix it right.

Mack

Doc. It was $10 for a reason. Take the mix gas, pour it over the body in a safe location and set it on fire. It'll burn longer than it'll ever run for you. Poulin = Pullin'.

save urself a whole bunch of aggravation and throw the thing into ur neighbours yard (or over a cliff). I've had several poulans and have since vowed to never let one of them on to my property again...........they are vial, hateful engines and never want to run right from one use to another.

I'm looking for a project, too much cast iron lately... It tried to start a couple of times, it has compression but there's a small leak in the bar oil. I'll let it sit for a couple of days and change the plug.

Interesting info..

Red all that pull cord could serve another purpose as well.

Poulans are r made for heavy work.
Light load stuff is their limit.

Use that 50:1 you have in the basement SD.
You will get a quick idea and yes a little fuel with the plug pulled would be my first choice.

Seafoam does wonders sometimes. I have an old Skilsaw chainsaw that my father-in-law gave me. It's over 30 years old and he said it sat for 15 years without running. Still had gas in it. I used the Seafoam cleaner/lube spray. kept spraying it into the carb and starting it. After soaking for about 10 mins it would start on the Seafoam alone because it wasn't sucking up gas from the tank. Did that about 10 times and now it's my backup chainsaw lol.

Another vote for seafoam. Fixed a few old engines that would not start. Recently, neighbore's lawnmower died. He bought a new one. I asked if I could take it and give it a try and if it was crap, I would take it to the recycle. $ 10.00 later, new plug, seafoam and change the oil. The thing started easier than the new one he bought. Started so easy that a 6 year or 90 year old could start it. I sold it for $80.00. Recently dug out a old grass trimmer at the cottage. Hasn't been run for 15 years or so. New plug, seafoam, fuel line and it runs like new. Cost me $ 15.00 for this fix as it had a special gas line/filter arrangement.
Seafoam does wonders !

Thats funny.

There's a reason, Princess Auto sells truck loads of reconditioned ones. :lol:


Grizz

Th old poulans were pretty decent saws and the XXV was a good top-handle. Also check the fuel pickup line inside the tank. It should have a weighted filter on it.

I believe Poulan start life as Pioneer. My buddy has a Pioneer that is older than half the folks on this board. Still works when he needs it.

The Poulans are really a good choice for the 'redneck olympics' chain saw toss.:)

I will make you a deal

Bring it to me. If I can't get it to run within 30 min at full RPM for 30 seconds I will buy it for twice what you paid for it

I have one and when it started to run bad then quit I took the carb off and opened it up and the diaphragm which is the fuel pump was ruptured. Bought a kit for it and away it went. runs like a top now. Make sure you have spark first.:thinking-006:

It should be clarified that the Seafoam being referred to is SF13 which is a fuel additive. Seafoam does also make a penetrant - that's not what you want to put in your tank.