346XP OE 45 CC developed hard starting problem

[RocketRoss57]

They are both so close the average person would not know any difference.

Is all the difference in .7mm?

 

[malk315]

Thanks guys for all of the responses. I've a whole slew of things to check now and will hopefully spend some time on it this weekend.
No worries on thread derail. I like all of the chat about 346's They are great saws for their size. Little beasts.

 

[huskihl]

Is all the difference in .7mm?

OE is 42mm bore, orange clutch cover
NE is 44.3mm bore, gray clutch cover, and has a primer bulb

 

[RocketRoss57]

OE is 42mm bore, orange clutch cover
NE is 44.3mm bore, gray clutch cover, and has a primer bulb

Gotcha. I just saw 45mm and 44.3mm kits when I looked and thought they were the OEM sizes. That's where I came up with the .7mm.

 

[RI Chevy]

I never knew the differences between OE and NE either. Thanks for the education.

 

[Cut4fun]

OE top and NE bottom. Like the plastics etc on the OE saws better.

 

[RI Chevy]

So the OE allows for just the air filter cover to come off, versus the NE where the whole top cover comes off?

 

[Cut4fun]

So the OE allows for just the air filter cover to come off, versus the NE where the whole top cover comes off?

Back right top OE. Your are looking at a 262 I sold.

 

[RI Chevy]

Ahhhh. OK

 

[malk315]

Hey everyone -- just to follow up on this.
This past weekend I tore the saw down since the piston looked a bit scored after removing muffler. Not bad -- very little transfer, but it's clear it got a bit hot.
The choke lever was either already popped off or popped off during disassembly -- that may have been the root cause of difficulty starting, but I don't think so -- I should have checked the throat before tearing in, no big deal.

Muffler was dented and really beat -- I broke off one bolt during removal.
Then broke off an easy-out in the bolt which drilled nicely for me, but even heating cylinder after easy out setup, nope.

The carb was out on the limiter and I'm thinking that along with muffler a bit restrictive and this saw taking a beating last couple jobs it was a bit much for it.
I was going to cleanup cylinder and just change the piston but the bolt is in there.

So I got 50 CC top end -- it already had metal intake clamp and wasn't acting like air leak -- held tune fine once running, could run pig rich or dialed in once I trimmed pesky limiter to get about 1/16th to 1/8th more out on the H.

I have a new carb on hand too, and getting a new muffler.

I'm going to put it back together and will probably go w/o gasket and open the muffler up so she runs cool.
I have new line and filter for the tank. Impulse is on the boot -- and I got a new boot just in case.

Bottom end seems fine -- inside crankcase looks perfect, bearings tight, seals are likely fine so I'm going to go with it.
The 50 cc w/ muffler mod will be a nice upgrade. Our other 346 is exactly this and that saw is a blast to run. If this one comes out anything close to the other I'll be psyched.

When I get pictures of cylinder and piston off my phone I'll post 'em here.

 

[malk315]

Hey everyone -- just to follow up on this.
This past weekend I tore the saw down since the piston looked a bit scored after removing muffler. Not bad -- very little transfer, but it's clear it got a bit hot.
The choke lever was either already popped off or popped off during disassembly -- that may have been the root cause of difficulty starting, but I don't think so -- I should have checked the throat before tearing in, no big deal.

Muffler was dented and really beat -- I broke off one bolt during removal.
Then broke off an easy-out in the bolt which drilled nicely for me, but even heating cylinder after easy out setup, nope.

The carb was out on the limiter and I'm thinking that along with muffler a bit restrictive and this saw taking a beating last couple jobs it was a bit much for it.
I was going to cleanup cylinder and just change the piston but the bolt is in there.

So I got 50 CC top end -- it already had metal intake clamp and wasn't acting like air leak -- held tune fine once running, could run pig rich or dialed in once I trimmed pesky limiter to get about 1/16th to 1/8th more out on the H.

I have a new carb on hand too, and getting a new muffler.

I'm going to put it back together and will probably go w/o gasket and open the muffler up so she runs cool.
I have new line and filter for the tank. Impulse is on the boot -- and I got a new boot just in case.

Bottom end seems fine -- inside crankcase looks perfect, bearings tight, seals are likely fine so I'm going to go with it.
The 50 cc w/ muffler mod will be a nice upgrade. Our other 346 is exactly this and that saw is a blast to run. If this one comes out anything close to the other I'll be psyched.

When I get pictures of cylinder and piston off my phone I'll post 'em here.

She got a little hot, ring was fine, still had compression, ran w/ pretty decent power too. Cylinder would clean up I think and a meteor piston would be cool but that dang muffler bolt. I'll see if we can get it out at the shop at work and then I have a spare cylinder for both saws. Or I'll sell the cylinder cheap to one of you guys to play with!

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[RI Chevy]

Good Eric.
So you went from a 346OE to a 346 NE?

 

[malk315]

Good Eric.
So you went from a 346OE to a 346 NE?

Yes sir. It's a nice upgrade on there and OEM piston and cylinder kits are a plenty and cheap now too.


Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[RI Chevy]

Cool! A little upgrade. [emoji106]

 

[malk315]

Yes sir. It's a nice upgrade on there and OEM piston and cylinder kits are a plenty and cheap now too.


Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

I would advise trimming limiters off carb so these can be fed properly! Easy process with a utility knife. My 350 needed a smidge and so did this saw. All same intake tract. This one has metal intake clamp already so its a matter of assembling and giving it a shot. Pretty easy to work on... No worse than the 51 I did the rebuild last year.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[Jchin]

Hi Eric, I am glad you got a chance to work on your 346. These are great little saws. Hope to see you at Dan's CT GTG.

Jack

 

[malk315]

Hi Eric, I am glad you got a chance to work on your 346. These are great little saws. Hope to see you at Dan's CT GTG.

Jack

I saw your post on the CT GTG thread -- looking forward to meeting you as are many of the guys.

I'll try and bring our pair of 346's for fun. I gotta get my 262 taken care of too. Finicky HDA-87 on that thing I'm pretty sure is the cuprit acting up. I have a genuine walbro kit for it and need to sit down and play with that some weekend or weeknight if not too busy!

I've now got 2 bone stock 372 X-torq saws I'm sure @huskyboy will want to run and we'll do some comparing etc.
And we'll bring the brothers 385's both saws done by Mike Lee. Will introduce 'em to some of those big logs.

Heck I'll bring my our little MS200T so the guys can see how that came out -- new carb thanks to definitive dave, new mounts, muffler mod, metor + OEM jug and that thing impresses me. Saw is from Lonewolf the MS200T hoarder and it is a favorite on the bucket truck.

See ya!

 

[malk315]

Did the rebuild of this saw tonight. New OEM 50 CC piston / cylinder, new fuel line, new fuel filter, new intake boot / clamp, new carb (zama knockoff recommended in this thread), New impulse line, New muffler.

Here are some progress pics I took. No base gasket to get compression increase.
Hope shes does well for while now.

The new carb has the extra inlet for primer bulb, but this saw has no primer bulb. I'm assuming I can just plug that inlet? Suggestions how? For testing I plan to put some extra clear fuel line that came w/ the carb (for the bulb that came w/ carb) and pinch the line off with hemostats. If I can just plug it, I'll need a way to do that permanently.

 

[malk315]

 

[malk315]