Got my "big Husky" running again

[Renze]

Last spring i had my "big Husky" 455 at the dealer, as it wouldnt idle when hot and only start hot with a knee on the body, one hand on the pullcord and one hand on the throttle. Cutting big oaks into log length slabs was exhausting, pullstarting it every time you put it on the ground a second to roll a log.

Dealer said: Its the foot gasket, a known issue with the 455. Repair takes 6 hours x 75 euro = writeoff. Do you fancy a 550XP for 950 Euro ?

Well i am unemployed, and cant work on an office seat before my ass heals, so i have plenty of time, give me the 13 Euro worth of gaskets.

Because it has been pushing 2 stroke fuel through the foot gasket, it was all grease with fine sawdust inside the body. Cleaning that with a can of brake cleaner and an air compressor i blew gunk in the carburettor. Cleaning the carburettor i blew a seal and it leaked all its gas in a week. Meanwhile i had work again, and because of a brain injury 3 years ago, no time/energy

Now in the holiday i took my time to fix stuff. I got a Chinese 7 ton log splitter fixed and sold, i got a free weed eater that i had laying around for 7 years, fixed, and i put new carb gaskets in the Husky.

I could barely pull the rope so i took the muffler off: No score marks on it, but when i pulled the rope to move the piston, the chain ate my shirt.

Turned out i didnt have the oil pumpdrive engaged in its lock, so it pushed against the clutch bowl.

Now it starts and idles fine, so tomorrow i can help my dad cut up a big oak... He called if i could come with "the big saw" because his Stihl MS180 takes so long... Well i had to get it working first

 

[Renze]

Arrrh i went to the chainsaw shop, Takman, in Ommen. They are dealer of both Stihl and Husky, and if either brand complains, they threaten to drop the brand. So neither brand wants to loose their business. Short said, they are experts.

Went there, had them adjust the carburettor untill it pulled good, when i asked what i had to pay, he said here, take the backdoor, dont bother for 5 minutes.

I went home and couldnt start it

So i ordered a new carburettor and it ran fine.

So, yes, the expertise diagnostics at Takman is worth every penny, even if their hourly wage is so steep to make any failure an economical writeoff...

 

[Renze]

Update: It started acting up randomly despite blowing 100 euro on a new carburettor.. Then i got a job again, my health declined (turned out my issues werent caused by my head injury 3 years ago, but i had a chronic sinus inflammation) so i could pick my 445 instead.

So, now i have time to tinker with the darn 455 again: took it all apart to check for cracks and air leaks. Found nothing, put it back together, saw ran fine

Sawed for 15 minutes, it lost power, wouldnt idle, and backfired. Bought another one from Marketplace for parts because i already spent 100 bucks for a carburettor to no avail, so i bought a running saw that got crushed under a tree, handlebar, chain break and spanner cover broken, so i could swap the coil for 100 bucks, the same price as a single coil... And maybe get that one running by buying one with a seized piston so i can make two out of three...

Meanwhile i offered it as a trade in for a 550. The guy said: The flywheel key sometimes shears, causing random running errors because the ignition timing becomes random.

I am now waiting on snail mail to deliver that wrecked Husky to swap the flywheel: The key is cast into the aluminium and a new flywheel costs 200 bucks !

Meanwhile i scrounge around Marketplace in search of another seized up 455 for the handlebar, chain cover and chain break, parts that cost new, more than the saw is worth used, so i can make two good ones out of three bad ones.

They say chainsaws are like women: If you cant figure out what their problem is, you buy them flowers because its an inexpensive way to rule out a lot of things, before youre going to spend money on the problem. Only with chainsaws you start with fuel lines and filters before spending money...

I had spark, i had fuel... just not at the right moment..

And it just aggrevates the h3ll out of me when i cant get a saw with a pristine unscratched piston to run: Was it in lesser condition i wouldnt have bothered...

 

[Snobdds]

The saw can be fixed, I hope your health gets better.

 

[Renze]

The saw can be fixed, I hope your health gets better.

Yes. I ran into a wall of unwillingness in regular hospital, went to the throat nose and ear specialist twice in six months, saw two dfferent specialists. The last one said straight to my face that my symptoms were caused by my head injury, and he could only refer me to a social worker. At that time my brain wasnt fast yet, so after 3 or 4 seconds of processing, i said "Its LITERALLY in my head, not figuratively !?!" He shrugged it off. Went to an osteopath who felt my face and said "your jaw muscles are like steel wires, close along the hearing nerve. I can imagine your ears ring.." He poked them with a needle to release, it helped a lot but it came back after months. I told him i think we're treating symptoms, not causes, and that i wanted to see a real chinese doctor. He acknowledged that most Western acupuncturists were physiotherapists that took 3 years of additional education on the basic tricks, but that the members of the Chinese acupuncturists guild, are educated 8 years in a Chinese hospital


Anyways, i told the lady my issues: My ears clog up so fast that i have to muck them out every other day, my ears are always popping, i always have "something" on the back of my throat that i cant grunt away, and from my nose comes either straight water dripping off, or its so stiff that you can roll balls from it. And i cant sleep without a soda glass of booze, i have to knock myself out to catch a few hours and the cramp in the side of my face comes back every few months. Ive read, its the area of the 2nd branch of the facial nerve, which branches out in the back of your eyesocket, close to the hypothalamus that regulates sleep, so i think a nerve is agitated, so i think im at the right place here.

While i was talking she observed me from head to toe, like a veterinarian, like "the incredible dr.Pol" from TV
My posture, my eyes, colour of my lips. Can i see your tongue? Can i feel your cheeks ?
And how are your intestines ? "Well i'm on probiotics for months, to prevent a runaway.."

Hmm she said, i'll tell you: If your intestines cant catch and excrete the waste, it bulks up in your sinuses in very tough mucus. Thats causing your tinnitus and your sleeplesness.

After 3 weeks of acupuncture, chinese herbs, and a diet without dairy, sugar, tropical fruits, anything that promotes mucus formation, and tea instead of coffee to not strain the liver unnecesary, i felt: This is going right !
In two months i improved more than the two years before that.

My employer also gave me sh't that was counterproductive in my recovery, but to explain that, i have to dig into Dutch health and safety laws, i'll spare you that.. Anyways, despite my condition, i had also a battle with the hospital who didnt take me seriously, and a director who wanted to get rid of me, but keep me available for knowledge transfer as long as he had to legally pay me, instead of helping me find a new job through a specialised, mandatory job coach. I ended up finding my own reintegtation job, and my employer didnt complain when i had them pay 6 months whilst i worked elsewhere, far longer than the 3 to 6 weeks probation, because they knew they screwed up their legal obligation to help me reintegrate in the workforce and if i made fuss about it, they would face huge fines...


Its really saddening when you look back, that when youre at your lowest, doctors you expect to cure you, shrug their shoulders, and a boss youve developed their entire product line for in 7 years, just wants to exploit the situation for his own benefit and then dump you as soon as hes legally allowed... I managed, but how many people less verbally capable, or with a more docile character, would get taken advantage of and crushed under such circumstances...

Karma: This director was fired by the shareholder family a month after he got me out, due to mismanagement, and unfortunately the company went bankrupt 6 months later.

Before the bankruptcy I did get my severance pay, plus 470 hours overtime, which amounted to 10 grand after taxes...

 

[xyz123]

Dont need a key to put on flywheel. Clean up the mess when it sheared.

Just line up using marker on crank and fly. Make sure both sides clean and dry. Thats all that is needed, then tighten good like normal.

I ran 3120's without their installed key and those saws still out there today.