poulan chainsaw issue

[oldlawnguy]

Dunno you'd be surprised how little (parts not labor) is required to get a discarded piece of equipment running again. Based on what you have described, (assuming good compression) I'd still give it a go. I've found Poulan easy to work on and the older ones are repairable. If the primer bulb was cracked, the fuel lines are prob not in good shape either. Ask him how it ran just fine before he replaced bulb and if so why replace the bulb. Local gas station out my way states it nicely with some humor with this picture.

 

[ILENGINE]

Remember when the poulan policy for warranty was "We don't pay technicians to exchange products, We don't care what it cost just fix it." So you would do a $178 warranty claim on a $149 saw and would get paid. Then a few years back oulan changed the policy to require pre-authorization for anything over 50% of replacement cost, but didn't tell the dealers. You got notified when you put in a claim just like normal and then received a check for $0.00 with a note to contact tech services. Then they would inform you of the new policy and then release the funds for the unpaid claim and you would receive the real payment check.

 

[Gord Baker]

my neighbor brought me a poulan chainsaw to try and get running. it is model p4018wt and he said it ran until he put in a new primer bulb. well i clamped it in the vice and pushed the primer and i can see it put gas in the bottom part of the carb. but it will not start. so tell me i tried pulling the handle on the safety back to the holding handle as when i used to mess with them that had to be back and if your hand slipped off the grab handle and hit that it braked the chain. it has spark i put starting fluid in the spark plug hole and in both parts of the carb and i put the filter back on and spraed that just in case.
i did the same with gas and it will not start. it has compression. so before i start taking it apart i figure i will give yo guys her a shout and see if i'm doing it all wrong. i tried another spark plug. and the samething. i gapped the original plug all the way from .015 up to .050 and stil the same. plus i put one of those spark testers and i can see spark. but i still may be missing something. i did not use a lawn mower plug but a car plug as that was all i had. but for all my small engine work they always did the job for testing. tomorrow i will take my snowblower plug and try that for testing. but in the meantime maybe some can lend some troubleshooting ideas. i can see the primer doing something and it seems squirting gas and starting fluid inthe carb and plug should have given me some signs of starting.

thanks for any ideas. bp

Make sure Switch is ON if it has one. You should be able to see gas moving in the lines when you push the primer.
If it does not start on Ether, then it is an electrical problem

 

[corvairbob]

thanks i took it back and he jsut tossed it out. he got it free at a yard sale and did ot want to put any money into it. thanks all for the great help.

 

[VRR.DYNDNS>BIZ]

ok i will double check. it did run before he changed out the primer bulb so maybe he got them installed wrong. however it does have good compression, or at least from my past experiences with chain saws. i did put in a known good plug and still will not rum.

another thing that i do not understand is i put starter fluid and even a squirt of gas and nothing. now i have worked on enough small engines and cars to know that a squirt of gas will cause at least a sputter. but i just may be that the small chainsaws do not like it. but snow blower 2 cycle engines don't seem to mind a squirt of gas to get past the choke or even starting fluid.

but tomorrow i will check the items you talk about here to make sure they are installed correctly. now this carb is way different than i have seen before having 2 bores. one that is connected to the trigger for speed is on the top and looks to go directly into he side of the engine, the other is connected to the choke and when i prime it i do see gas squirting into that bore behind the choke butterfly.

thanks for the pointers so far when i get back to it tomorrow i will let you all know what i find then. thanks bp.

A bad cylinder or stuck rings or scored piston will show high compression on a brisk pull. Pull the cord slowly. If little resistance is felt, compression is inadequate, leaking by on a slow pull telling the story and no transfer fuel from the crankcase and run proper. If a cap full of gas in the cylinder will not fire on a brisk pull with spark, you have problems!!!!!