Husqvarna 440 x-torq

[STERLING351]

so i bought a Husqvarna 440 on sale and thought it was a good buy. The first couple times i used it were for some small jobs like trimming a few low branches on trees. I would trim everything and then move the limbs once i was done cutting. Well these last 2 days ive been clearing some fence line and cutting several 4-8in oak trees and the cainsaw is great tons of power doesnt bog down. The problem is when i turn it off for about 5-10minutes i cannot get it to restart no matter what i do. It will fire and cycle the engine for a second and then die as if it isnt getting fuel, but if i let it sit for about 40 minutes and follow the full cold start procedure it will fire up first pull. Does anyone have a fix for this?

 

[John_Mc]

One possible cause could be vapor lock: when you are using the saw hard, it heats up. As long as the fuel is flowing in the fuel line, this is not a problem. When you shut down, the heat soaks the fuel in the fuel line and vaporizes it, making it hard to start. Some saws are more prone to this than others. I don't know if the 440 is or not.

There are a couple of things you can try.

• Make sure the cooling fins on your cylinder and flywheel are clean. You'll have to remove some covers to get to these areas.
• Before shutting down your saw, try doing some lighter cutting and/or let your saw idle for a minute or two to let it cool down a bit while the fuel is still flowing.
• Possibly look into doing a muffler mod. Opening up the muffler exit hole a bit can often help a saw run cooler (some mufflers are "congested" internally as well and can benefit by being opened up a bit inside). A visit to the Chainsaw Repair Forum can provide a lot of information if you want to try this yourself.

NOTE: there are other things besides vapor lock which can cause this same problem. I mention the above just as one possibility.

 

[s219]

Some newer Husky saws have an oddball warm start procedure that is not intuitive. It was causing a lot of people problems until they realized they were doing it wrong.

Cold start for my Husky 562XP:

1) pull red switch out and up (choke start position)
2) pull starter cord until engine kicks
3) push red switch down (fast start)
4) pull starter cord until engine starts
5) blip throttle when warm to drop to idle

For warm start:

1) pull red switch out and up (choke start position)
2) immediately push red switch down (fast start)
3) pull starter cord until engine starts
4) blip throttle to drop to idle

If you are used to other chains saws, you probably skip steps 1 and 2 for a warm start (and then step 4 isn't needed either) or there is a obvious warm start position on the main control switch/lever. But it is needed on my 562XP and some other modern Husky saws. It's called out in the owner's manual, but if you're like me and you have used saws forever, you probably skipped that part since you know how to start a saw. This caused grief for a lot of people. Every other saw I own, to warm start it you just flip the ignition on and sometimes move a lever to warm start, and then pull the starter cord. Husky kind of hid the warm start and you get it by pushing the switch down to the "off" position after first being in the choke position.

 

[s219]

Actually, one of my Echo saws is similar, in that you pull out the choke lever and then push it back in to get to warm start. But that saw has a separate ignition on/off switch. Husky now has the ignition always on, and you kill the saw by pressing the spring loaded switch all the way down to ground out. In between that is the run position, or warm start if you had previously cycled the switch up into choke. I think they are doing too much with the switch and it has some hidden positions that only occur when things are done in a certain order.

 

[STERLING351]

Yeah i was thinking vapor lock at first but i assumed it would vapor lock while running. I will give that warm start procedure a try, really strange to me. In the past i have used Stihl and Echo and never had problems with warm starts, only cold starts with those.

 

[John_Mc]

Vapor lock rarely happens when running. If you are constantly drawing fresh fuel into the line, it's not likely to vaporize. It's when you stop drawing in fresh fuel that it sits and bakes in the line.

 

[4570Man]

Some newer Husky saws have an oddball warm start procedure that is not intuitive. It was causing a lot of people problems until they realized they were doing it wrong.

Cold start for my Husky 562XP:

1) pull red switch out and up (choke start position)
2) pull starter cord until engine kicks
3) push red switch down (fast start)
4) pull starter cord until engine starts
5) blip throttle when warm to drop to idle

For warm start:

1) pull red switch out and up (choke start position)
2) immediately push red switch down (fast start)
3) pull starter cord until engine starts
4) blip throttle to drop to idle

If you are used to other chains saws, you probably skip steps 1 and 2 for a warm start (and then step 4 isn't needed either) or there is a obvious warm start position on the main control switch/lever. But it is needed on my 562XP and some other modern Husky saws. It's called out in the owner's manual, but if you're like me and you have used saws forever, you probably skipped that part since you know how to start a saw. This caused grief for a lot of people. Every other saw I own, to warm start it you just flip the ignition on and sometimes move a lever to warm start, and then pull the starter cord. Husky kind of hid the warm start and you get it by pushing the switch down to the "off" position after first being in the choke position.

My 372XP has a run/stop slide switch and my older Husqvarna has a red pull tab for the switch. Both saws have independently operated chokes. Neither saw has a primer bulb. I’ve always started cold with the choke on and with the choke off when hot. I’ve never had any trouble with that method. They don’t start as easy as some of my other 2 strokes though. Come to think of it I’ve never used a fast starting when cold chainsaw. Most of my other 2 stroke equipment will start and die on the first pull and start and keep running on the second.

 

[gsganzer]

My 550 XP has the warm and cold start procedure displayed on the saw with little pictograms. You have to follow it exactly.

 

[STERLING351]

Ok guys new problem, my recoil started sprocket had one of the teeth break. Im looking for a replacement pulley but cant find one for the 440 x-torq but can find it for the 440E. Does anyone know if they are the same part? I would rather buy several of the pulleys fors $3ea vs a new $20 housing since i bet this will be a reoccurring problem.