Husky 545 Rebuild (First Post) - long winded.. sorry

[Dirtmagnet]

Hello everyone! I have been a firewood cutter for 20+ years and a chainsaw "enthusiast" for roughly 4 years. Before I get to my questions about the 545, I thought I would provide a very brief background of myself. My father heats his home using an outdoor wood burner and uses roughly 8-10+ chords per year depending on the weather. He lives on a nice chunk of property with primarily hardwoods (White and Red Oak along with soft Maple, Pine and a small amount of Poplar). My father is getting up there in years, so I have done most of the cutting for him although he also really enjoys woodcutting to this day.
My history: I have rebuilt an 026, 024 Super, Husky 359, turned a Husky 261 into a 262xp and JUST started playing with porting using a Husky 350. I am by NO MEANS a pro at this stuff yet, but have been mechanical all my life. I really enjoy it.
I have been lurking on various saw forums for years, but never signed up. I considered becoming a member of Another Site but I am not interested in the childishness of that particular site. This site, on the other hand, seems to be very informative AND friendly with tons of goofing around that I very much enjoy. So, I say thank you to everyone on this site for their information and willingness to share!
On to the saw: I purchased our first autotune saw (2012 545) on eBay after running a friends. I thought it would be the perfect saw for my dad considering it is extremely smooth, light and tunes itself for the weather. When I got the saw, it ran ok and had good compression, but I pulled the muffler anyway to check the piston. There was minor "scuffing" on the intake and exhaust side, which was not ideal, but the major issue was that the ring was stuck. Bummer. I decided it was a good idea to at least pull the cylinder and take a peak. Luckily the cylinder is in good shape with no gouging and I was able to unstick the ring by carefully working it and sparily using degreaser. It appears that the saw was running really heavy oil mix. The internals were extremely oily and i think this caused the ring stick. Also, the carbon deposits on the top of the piston almost wiped off by hand.
So: I will clean up the piston and check the ring gap in the cylinder when everything is cleaned up, but my questions are:
1. If I rebuild the carb with a new carb kit, how do I reset the Autotune system?
2. Is there anything I should be aware of with these autotune saws in terms of failures to look for or difference operation compared to a "carb" saw?
3. With the base gasket removed, I should get right at .020" squish. Is there any clearance issues with this saw that I should be aware of if I drop the cylinder 0.020"?

Thanks and sorry for the stupid long post..

 

[Onan18]

You want to check very carefully, I believe on that series saw if you delete the base gasket it will be less than 20 thousandths. Also, I believe that the cylinder bore will bottom out in the case without a gasket and can result in the base cracking.

 

[Dirtmagnet]

ahh... thank you! I will keep an eye on that!

 

[Stackowood]

The 545 is a great saw. I assume you are putting a new ring in it as long as it's apart?

There isn't any reset that I know of for the AT carb, just plug it back in and it should be fine.

Not a good idea to leave out the base gasket in my opinion, but there is a whole other thread on that! Good luck with the saw.

 

[Stackowood]

And welcome to the forum, you picked the right place.

 

[Dirtmagnet]

The 545 is a great saw. I assume you are putting a new ring in it as long as it's apart?

There isn't any reset that I know of for the AT carb, just plug it back in and it should be fine.

Not a good idea to leave out the base gasket in my opinion, but there is a whole other thread on that! Good luck with the saw.

Thank you and yes, I have a new ring on its way. Hopefully AT will adjust itself quickly.. the AutoTune saws are new to me. I'm used to turning screws

 

[CoreyB]

3-5 long cuts should get the AT up to speed. I also think there is a crank case vent that is an update. can cause possible lean seize .
I look forward to your build and welcome .
FYI the 545 balances real nice with the new 16" oregon speedcut bar.

 

[bryanr2]

Welcome to OPE

 

[Stackowood]

Has anyone out there done a bolt-on swap with the 550xp p/c on a 545 case? The IPLs seem to tell me that all the intake parts are the same.

 

[Dirtmagnet]

Thanks everyone!

3-5 long cuts should get the AT up to speed. I also think there is a crank case vent that is an update. can cause possible lean seize .
I look forward to your build and welcome .
FYI the 545 balances real nice with the new 16" oregon speedcut bar.

Thanks Corey! That is great info. I will look into that today. Unfortunately, I just ordered my parts last night. I will see if I can add the updated case vent (I assume its #9 in this IPL?)

 

[Tor R]

Welcome to OPE!! You got to the right forum, lots of awesome people here.

545/550, the first I would get done is vacuum/preasure test.
AT is a wonderful system, but it also camuflate airleak.
I dont know about this crank vent, Im currious to know where that one is, Ive not seen a vent on my 545/550's.

 

[Dirtmagnet]

Sorry guys, I didn't realize my picture didn't load. Let's see if this works. #9 in the photo.

 

[Landmark]

You want to check very carefully, I believe on that series saw if you delete the base gasket it will be less than 20 thousandths. Also, I believe that the cylinder bore will bottom out in the case without a gasket and can result in the base cracking.

Great info here.

 

[USMC615]

Welcome aboard to OPE @Dirtmagnet !!

 

[Mastermind]

Check the transfer cover seals while it is apart. Joe @Onan18 is right, you can't just leave out the base gasket on that saw. So, when you reinstall it, degrease everything and use a thin coat of motoseal.

The AT system will be fine.....just run the crap out of it.

Welcome to ope forum.

Edit...if it had an air leak then the system will need to be reset. If it runs like crap when you get it back together let me know.

 

[Dirtmagnet]

Welcome aboard to OPE @Dirtmagnet !!

Thank you!

Check the transfer cover seals while it is apart. Joe @Onan18 is right, you can't just leave out the base gasket on that saw. So, when you reinstall it, degrease everything and use a thin coat of motoseal.

The AT system will be fine.....just run the crap out of it.

Welcome to ope forum.

Edit...if it had an air leak then the system will need to be reset. If it runs like crap when you get it back together let me know.

Thank you Mastermind. I did pull the transfer covers just to see if they were leaking. It appears that neither of them was (thankfully). I will finish cleaning them and seal them with a bit of 3 bond.

 

[Tor R]

Sorry guys, I didn't realize my picture didn't load. Let's see if this works. #9 in the photo.

View attachment 49258

View attachment 49258

if I understamd it correct, part 8&9 is the oil vent, far as I know it has nothing to do with air leak.

I cant stress it enough doing preasure/vacuum test on those 5xx serie saws.
I picked up one uggly 550 year 2012 yesterday, it had no scoring, for fun I did one preasure test and it failed big time, PTO seal&bearing, huge airleak.
If this had been a classic saw it would been toasted, AT adjust for airleak inside a certain level, marvelous technology, never the less, they cant run for ever with a massive airleak.

 

[Dirtmagnet]

if I understamd it correct, part 8&9 is the oil vent, far as I know it has nothing to do with air leak.

I cant stress it enough doing preasure/vacuum test on those 5xx serie saws.
I picked up one uggly 550 year 2012 yesterday, it had no scoring, for fun I did one preasure test and it failed big time, PTO seal&bearing, huge airleak.
If this had been a classic saw it would been toasted, AT adjust for airleak inside a certain level, marvelous technology, never the less, they cant run for ever with a massive airleak.

Thanks Tor! I'm surprised that the saw would even run with a huge air leak. I will do a vacuum/pressure test when it's back together. Hhhmmm, you have me wondering if that would explain why the internals were so oily and the carbon came off the top of the piston so easily. Maybe their was a huge air leak and the Autotune was just pouring fuel in?

 

[Mastermind]

After awhile of running with an air leak they go into a mode I call "GFY, I'm not running like this any longer". lol

 

[Dirtmagnet]

After awhile of running with an air leak they go into a mode I call "GFY, I'm not running like this any longer". lol