395xp Issues

[SpaceBus]

Yesterday my 395xp just quit on me while milling logs. EDIT: I've only milled a few hundred board feet and felled two trees with the 395 before putting it on the mill. I bought it specifically for the Logosol. Everything was fine and then it started to "choke" like I was feeding it too fast, so I backed off and tried again. The saw would rev up a bit and then cut out, like hitting a soft rev limiter in a car. Even with the throttle wide open and no load it would rev a bit and die. The saw would restart and idle just fine, for a few minutes. Now when I try to start the saw it might get one combustion, enough to pop the decomp valve, and then it just stops. First thing I checked was to pull the muffler and peek at the piston and cylinder, which look perfect. Seems like it is getting fuel just fine and my gut is saying it is bad spark. The plug wire is worn just before the plug boot with silver wire exposed. Looks like a mouse took a bite, but I think it's from vibration. Also when I pulled the plug wire off the plug the spring was left behind, which I'm sure doesn't help my case. I did manage to get a video of the sputtering/choking under throttle before it stopped idling at all. When you google "395xp ignition issue" there are many results, which is pushing me in the direction of bad coil.

I have ordered a new aftermarket coil (local dealer wants $95 and don't have any in stock), spark plug, and fuel filters. Unfortunately they won't be here till next week... I'm thinking if none of the parts I've bought can bring it back to life then the saw will end up with a professional.

 

[cuinrearview]

I would try just a new wire first, and if that doesn't do it spring for the OEM coil. Don't waste your time with aftermarket crap for a nice saw like that that's making you some nice lumber.

 

[SpaceBus]

I would try just a new wire first, and if that doesn't do it spring for the OEM coil. Don't waste your time with aftermarket crap for a nice saw like that that's making you some nice lumber.

The wire is a part of the coil, it does not come off. If the aftermarket coil works I'll get an OEM for back up, I just don't want to wait weeks for it. As it stands I'm about to put my ripping bar and chains on my 460 and try it on the Logosol. At 1/3 the power of the 395 I'm sure it will be slow, but I need the lumber now.

 

[cuinrearview]

Does yours look like this? It looks like the wire comes off of this OEM one...

https://www.hlsproparts.com/product...48HBUAUcMe9yDGTpqfkih1ZxMuvieUIhoCQGgQAvD_BwE

 

[Moparmyway]

The wire is a part of the coil, it does not come off.

Are you sure about that ?
Did you try to unscrew it ?

 

[SpaceBus]

Indeed, it appears to come off, even has a little boot. The boot will slip off, but the wire goes inside of the coil. The boot is just to keep the coil clean I imagine.

 

[cuinrearview]

A dealer should have replacement wire in bulk or sized to fit. Just screw the new wire in and hook the spring through on the other end. If you had exposed wire near anything metal it was most likely just grounding out.

 

[SpaceBus]

A dealer should have replacement wire in bulk or sized to fit. Just screw the new wire in and hook the spring through on the other end. If you had exposed wire near anything metal it was most likely just grounding out.

Yeah, my local dealer is horrible and does not have any ignition components for the 395 in stock. In fact the 395 I bought was their last one and had been sitting on the shelf never fired for years. I got a healthy discount on the saw which came with a 28" B&C. Yesterday when I called the dealer asking about the coil the guy didn't even care if I bought anything or not. You can't pay people to care, and nobody cares at my local dealer. When I bought the saw, and my tractor, from this dealer the staff was much better. There was a total turnover last summer and now it's a nightmare to deal with them. The aftermarket coil I ordered on Amazon will be here within the week and it comes with a new plug wire. If the new coil and plug wire fix the saw I'll order some nice OEM parts.

 

[cuinrearview]

Yeah, my local dealer is horrible and does not have any ignition components for the 395 in stock. In fact the 395 I bought was their last one and had been sitting on the shelf never fired for years. I got a healthy discount on the saw which came with a 28" B&C. Yesterday when I called the dealer asking about the coil the guy didn't even care if I bought anything or not. You can't pay people to care, and nobody cares at my local dealer. When I bought the saw, and my tractor, from this dealer the staff was much better. There was a total turnover last summer and now it's a nightmare to deal with them. The aftermarket coil I ordered on Amazon will be here within the week and it comes with a new plug wire. If the new coil and plug wire fix the saw I'll order some nice OEM parts.

Coil wire is not model specific, it's just wire. Should be a local shop near you that has some. It could even be a Stihl shop. You seem to be ready to get back to the woods. You could be back up and running today!

 

[qurotro]

Did you notice any arcing when it runs funny?

 

[Stump Shot]

Yeah, my local dealer is horrible and does not have any ignition components for the 395 in stock. In fact the 395 I bought was their last one and had been sitting on the shelf never fired for years. I got a healthy discount on the saw which came with a 28" B&C. Yesterday when I called the dealer asking about the coil the guy didn't even care if I bought anything or not. You can't pay people to care, and nobody cares at my local dealer. When I bought the saw, and my tractor, from this dealer the staff was much better. There was a total turnover last summer and now it's a nightmare to deal with them. The aftermarket coil I ordered on Amazon will be here within the week and it comes with a new plug wire. If the new coil and plug wire fix the saw I'll order some nice OEM parts.

I can't recommend the use of an AM coil for milling as your timing may change. If the inner wire is not broken, remove the wire from the coil and slip a heat shrink over it and shrink on, or electrical tape if that's all you have. This will give you a temporary test wire to see if the saw will run or not. Then go get yourself some new wire and repair it properly. If you want you can put a small piece of heat shrink on the new one to help with future abrasion in the appropriate place.

 

[srcarr52]

Don't waste your time with an AM coil for the 394/5. Every single one I've used has had 10-15deg late timing compared to an OEM SEM unit and starts to loose sparks around 10-11k. It will run but have much less power.

Don't worry too much about the mouse bite section of the wire, it's only plastic around that section so there is nothing to short to.

 

[SpaceBus]

I get that the AM coil is probably trash (This is it for those who are curious), I'm just not wanting to gamble on $90 when the $25 part will at least tell me if the original coil is dead or not. If the original coil is dead, then I'll bite the bullet on an OEM. Good to know the plug wire comes out, I was frustrated and not trying to make anything worse yesterday. My gut says the plug is getting a bit of spark, but not strong enough to run. I'll tinker with the 395 a bit more once I get the rest of the logs I have now milled up.

My 460 works on the mill, just half speed, but better than nothing, so I'm still sawing. I happened to have a spare 24" bar from a used 346 I picked up (not a good story on that saw) and I accidentally ordered a pair of 0.050" gauge narrow kerf ripping chains so it was easy enough to swap them onto my 460. Admittedly it wasn't a very fast cutting saw before going from 20" to 24" chain, but it works well enough. Honestly it's going better than milling with the 395, but that's because I ruined the bar. I'll have to take some pics but I really put a hurting on that bar before I figured out what I was doing. It's "pinched" about where the bar entered the end grain of the log from trying to muscle the saw through the logs inappropriately. The 460 bar does not have this issue, but the brand new chains leave a poor finish on the board, not that it's an issue since I'm building a chicken coop out of them. I'll touch up the chain I've got on now and flip the bar after lunch. Some off the boards had so much tension they jumped off the cant once I got to the last few inches. I'm not much of a photographer, but I"ll try and remember my camera next time.

 

[SpaceBus]

Someone also recommended I check the tank vent. How do I do that?

 

[Spladle160]

You could try to run it a bit with the fuel cap loose enough to vent to be sure it's not building pressure or vacuum or just inspect the vent. You may just need to clean and or rebuild the carb.

 

[SpaceBus]

I should have said this in the first post and I will edit to add this, but I've only milled a few hundred board feet and felled two trees with the 395 before putting it on the mill. I bought it specifically for the Logosol.

I'm hoping this will mean the carb ins't fouled up, but it very well could be.

 

[cus_deluxe]

The wire is a part of the coil, it does not come off. If the aftermarket coil works I'll get an OEM for back up, I just don't want to wait weeks for it. As it stands I'm about to put my ripping bar and chains on my 460 and try it on the Logosol. At 1/3 the power of the 395 I'm sure it will be slow, but I need the lumber now.

the wire comes off. you have a $1000+ saw and you wont put an oem coil on it, but want it to do extremely hard work for you? i dont quite get it honestly.

 

[SpaceBus]

the wire comes off. you have a $1000+ saw and you wont put an oem coil on it, but want it to do extremely hard work for you? i dont quite get it honestly.

Read the other posts, I'm not trying to use the aftermarket coil for work, but to trouble shoot. If the AM coil gets the saw running, then I'll get the OEM coil. If there is no change then I have a spare wire. I ordered the AM coil before starting the thread and my local dealer doesn't have any OEM coils anyway. Try not to make assumptions. I've hardly worked the saw and I've only run it enough to break it in. All of the logs I've milled to date are under 16" diameter with only a few being over 10" diameter.

 

[cus_deluxe]

Seems like it is getting fuel just fine and my gut is saying it is bad spark. The plug wire is worn just before the plug boot with silver wire exposed. Looks like a mouse took a bite, but I think it's from vibration. Also when I pulled the plug wire off the plug the spring was left behind, which I'm sure doesn't help my case.

i feel like youre staring the problem in the face and dont recognize it. ive got a good used coil wire with no exposed wire ill send ya on my dime. they come off real easy, and would be a great step in trouble shooting.

 

[SpaceBus]

i feel like youre staring the problem in the face and dont recognize it. ive got a good used coil wire with no exposed wire ill send ya on my dime. they come off real easy, and would be a great step in trouble shooting.

Do you just twist the wire to get it out of the coil? I gently pulled with needle nose pliers and got nothing. I had to use the pliers to break the rubber boot loose from the plug to start. Same with the coil. Like an old rubber hose stuck to a radiator. I think this saw sat for several years before I bought it. I'll have to look for a build date when I go back out. I'll also try wrapping the plug wire in tape just to see.

Can one get enough speed off the pull cord to get a good spark? I've considered pulling the plug and checking. Wouldn't be the first time I've gotten spark but no ignition, last time was a car though.