Husqvarna 181/281/288 Repair Thread.

[justoldsaws]

Some of you may have seen pics of my 281xp from the other 288 thread.
Got this given to me as a locked up dirty old thing missing a few parts, nothing broken just needed lots of attention.
Piston was just seized from years of storage without a plug.
Cleaned up nice, really loved working on this saw.

 

[justoldsaws]

It was at this point I realised this saw had lots of life left to give.
Took a few doses of CRC and mix into the cylinder to get it free.

 

[justoldsaws]

Cleaned up piston, ready for new Cabers, flushed crankcase out 3 or 4 times with mix.
Didn't replace bearing or seals as prev owner said it was retired due to low compression.

 

[justoldsaws]

Now for outside tidy up, scrubbing and wiping plastics
Scrubbed muffler and resprayed.

 

[justoldsaws]

After carb clean, wiring fix for the coil and a few new parts it's all finished.
On its first run I had to adjust the carb and had issues with the Chinese chain adjuster, which I'm replacing with genuine husqvarna.
Runs strong, a very impressive saw.

 

[forestfarmer]

Does anyone know if a av mount can be repaired with jb or similar and retapped looks like it has expanded from being loose? Thank you kindly.

 

[smokey7]

I would imagine you could. I would likely go for a full threaded insert glued in with epoxy like 5200 if in plastic or jb weld if in aluminum or mag. 5200 is stupid strong stuff.

 

[forestfarmer]

5200? Like a metal type epoxy?

 

[smokey7]

Im not sure but us jet ski guys use it everywhere. Put it this way i can take a insert set in 5200 that holds the jet pump in the hull and the hull will rip out around the 5200 and not break the bond. Very strong stuff.

 

[00wyk]

It was at this point I realised this saw had lots of life left to give.
Took a few doses of CRC and mix into the cylinder to get it free.View attachment 148033 View attachment 148034 View attachment 148035 View attachment 148036 View attachment 148037

The top of that piston also suggests the throttle lever isn't opening fully. Have ya checked the engagement?

 

[00wyk]

Just lost spark on my 288. Which wire coming out of the switch is the ignition kill? The right side right? It happened while it was idling, too. I walked away from it I was just too pissed.
The good news is it ran rather well while it worked with the new top end on it. Much easier to start. But certainly not 'easy'.

Almost forgot to add - one of the reasons I was frustrated so much I walked away is when I was drilling out the cover for the decomp, the bit got half way through the cover, and then the cover cracked, the bit slipped, and it is an ugly mess. I am so pissed. Next time I am gonna put a piece of wood behind it that fits better to drill in to I guess. Just, fuggin hell, had it all together and runing so well and this *s-word happenz.

 

[Master Bud II]

I don't even own a 288, but HOORAY 288!

That powdercoat came out awesome!

And I can't help but notice how the 2xx saws seem to have alot less parts in general than 3xx saws. Nice simple designs.

And after reading this and the 272 thread you made me realize something and I feel like and idiot... I never knew you could grease the clutch bearings that way! LOL! I've always removed the clutch and applied a small amount of grease to the bearing. I've had a dozen crankshafts out, and even more clutches removed and it never dawned on me as to what the holes in the clutch bearing surface of the crankshaft were for! Learn something every day

I only learned about it since joining OPE !!!

 

[dustinwilt68]

I believe the 2 series are the most dependable series of saws ever built.

 

[longleaf]

I bought a 288 at a yard sale a few months ago that looked nice. It ran the guy said it was recently “rebuilt” so I gave 250 for it thought I got a deal. It didn’t feel that strong to me after running it so I pulled the muffler. The piston was scored I thought no big deal I don’t have much in it just clean up the jug and put a piston in it. Their rebuild was putting a new ring in it. The cylinder didn’t clean up like I hoped. After the transfer was removed I can still feel some grooves in the plating.

 

[longleaf]

Looks like they used some coarse sandpaper to try to remove transfer then gave up. This is about as good as it would clean up. Is this cylinder trash? I really hate to have 400 in the thing if I have to buy an oem top end. What would y’all do?

 

[Stump Shot]

View attachment 170320 View attachment 170321
Looks like they used some coarse sandpaper to try to remove transfer then gave up. This is about as good as it would clean up. Is this cylinder trash? I really hate to have 400 in the thing if I have to buy an oem top end. What would y’all do?

Hard for me to tell from pic but, if scored into the plating I would junk it, if just transfer on the plating, finish cleaning it up.

 

[longleaf]

Hard for me to tell from pic but, if scored into the plating I would junk it, if just transfer on the plating, finish cleaning it up.

I believe the transfer in the pic is in the grooves. How do you tell if you go to far?

 

[dustinwilt68]

I bought a 288 at a yard sale a few months ago that looked nice. It ran the guy said it was recently “rebuilt” so I gave 250 for it thought I got a deal. It didn’t feel that strong to me after running it so I pulled the muffler. The piston was scored I thought no big deal I don’t have much in it just clean up the jug and put a piston in it. Their rebuild was putting a new ring in it. The cylinder didn’t clean up like I hoped. After the transfer was removed I can still feel some grooves in the plating.

I would do new seals at least and probably Adda new OEM P&C

 

[longleaf]

I would do new seals at least and probably Adda new OEM P&C

I don’t guess you have a clean cylinder in the old parts pile do you? Btw that 394 tank I got from you worked out great.

 

[p61 western]

View attachment 170320 View attachment 170321
Looks like they used some coarse sandpaper to try to remove transfer then gave up. This is about as good as it would clean up. Is this cylinder trash? I really hate to have 400 in the thing if I have to buy an oem top end. What would y’all do?

Even if you end up having $400 into it will be worth it imo.