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Husqvarna 562XP - A Tale of Woe

HumBurner

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The only time I’ve had the hot start issue was on 85-90 degree days with a bone stock saw. After the usual modifications it’s not been a problem.
The 2014 I owned had hot start issues, but I ran it mostly in the summers. The 2017 model never did, except for when the fuel line was going.
 

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I've heard of the hot start issue, but never saw or could replicate.


What is it and what's it related to?

What's the solution?

What's the cause?
On a hot summer day the gas percolates out of the carburetor (ie vapor lock) on a 5 series the solution is to pump the "prime" button to bring cool fuel into the carburetor from the tank and return it back to the tank, choking may be necessary as well as NOT using the decompression valve. It's not just the 5 series either, I've reports of all different kinds and brands including Stihl this happening to. The 5's were just more prone than others. Some just bring extra saws and switch them out to let one cool while they heat up another, some are able to get them going again, while the rest go wee-wee-wee all the way home.
 

Duke Thieroff

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I've never actually seen it in practice, just hear guys talk about it ...

But we see a lot of things that are more operational errors and less engineering failures.
 

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I don t use primer bulb on 5 series , cold or hot. Cold choke, warm high idle if don t start with no choke.
I let every saw to idle for 20-30 sec before turning off.
 

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I've never actually seen it in practice, just hear guys talk about it ...

But we see a lot of things that are more operational errors and less engineering failures.
My 550 did it to me one 90F day. It does make for a good excuse to cut in more comfortable climes.
As far as saw abuse goes that is what circles this right back around to major engine and bearing failures.
 

Duke Thieroff

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My 550 did it to me one 90F day. It does make for a good excuse to cut in more comfortable climes.
As far as saw abuse goes that is what circles this right back around to major engine and bearing failures.
There's some engineering and QC problems with the 562s that they've kind of addressed.

They may be the most elegant saw in the market.


It's like a BMW or Audi...

When it works, it WORKS. When it doesn't, it'll cost ya.
 

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There's some engineering and QC problems with the 562s that they've kind of addressed.

They may be the most elegant saw in the market.


It's like a BMW or Audi...

When it works, it WORKS. When it doesn't, it'll cost ya.
As the pea rolls around in my head, I seem to recall when it first came out Husqvarna was kinda bragging how it was the first totally computer engineered saw they built, purposely to be as light compact, svelt in the hands and yet be a totally high performance and efficient running machine. Which is where I believe the Ying/Yang of it stemmed from.
When the wave returned to Sweden of buggered saws, they quit bragging and went back to work on it and have been ever since. The Mark II's from what I see inside and all around are the result of those efforts.
 

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I stepped away from this thread and feel I should post an update.

In post #74 I stated that I got the saw running. I carefully used it to cut some rounds then checked the numbers at the shop. No change. I ran a couple tanks of gas and no problems. I'm calling this one fixed.

I was up at the shop again rummaging around the trash pile and look what followed me home. 2020 S/N with a scored piston like the saw that started this thread. This one has 14 hours on it and 100 starts.

I'm travelling until the end of June so I'll get to this one when I'm back home and through the honeydo list. First order of business is a vac/compression check followed by splitting the cases to inspect the bearings.

Resized_20240526_152756_1716764753583.jpeg

I'm getting into porting and this may be a good candidate for a woods port job.
 

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What do you run?
Husqvarna XP or Kawasaki K-Tech, but I'd recommend almost anything over Ultra.
Seen too many saws piston and cylinders with carbon scoring running Stihl Ultra.
Some say it's the mix that matters, I say if it's not worth the risk at any ratio.
I'm about to start to put a new bottom end and piston in a MS 362 that seized the big end of the connecting rod onto the crankshaft after the carbon chipped away at the piston crown and ring lands. It's a premature death and totally unnecessary. This is just the latest example of many.
 

davidwyby

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Bob, a fella used to be here went crazy testing oils to leaner and leaner to destruction a while back. As I recall, AMSOIL is the best, wal mart syn is pretty good. Stihl was among if not the worst.

BTW, GTG this weekend in Placerville
 

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It's only an issue to people who think it is, the others are blissfully unaware.
Yep this is true, i have used another's autotune saw that just wasn't running smooth, he thought it was. Later when i bought my 592 i put ten tanks through it then headed south into the higher elevation snowy mountains, thats when i noticed my saw not running well, though another fella there seemed to think that it was running excellent, thats the time i questioned the autotune system myself on basically what does it really do? As you say its not a problem fixer but it does make a good saw run smoother when its given the opportunity to alter to the conditions. Would i but a carby saw over autotune? No… because i have near twenty now!🤣 & the autotunes run damn fine for me along with the 592 being the easiest saw i own to start, from multiple top handles through to an 895 geardrive. Moral of story imo is Tune it no matter what it is, feed it well, look after it, learn how to sharpen a chain on site & it will perform at its best. If ya aint enjoying a saw change it🤣👍
 

Skiptooth Fred

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The only real issue with AT, is that it becomes a distraction. A saw arrives scored/wiped. Had it been a non-AT saw, proper diagnostics as to why it failed would likely have been employed. But we got all hung up on auto-tune and those silly print outs and forgot we were fixing a chainsaw. Basic troubleshooting never really took place, the saw was rebuilt, and no doubt failed due the original fault not being found. Simple things like water in the fuel get overlooked because of the suspicion that AT is the likely cause of any problem. AT should be looked at LAST, not first.

There was a bearing pocket alignment issue on some of the early 372XT's, but that is the only example I'm aware of.

I was lucky enough to be "connected", and had the advantage of being able to talk to product specialists in Sweden on a lot of stuff. They did extensive testing that showed plastic cages lasted longer, over a wider temperature range than steel cages. These choices are made at the engineering level, not the bean counter level. There's a lot of "I'm smarter than those guys" chatter on the internet. Walt loves to debate the plastic vs steel cage thing. For hours.

Staying up to date on service bulletins is important. And it's nothing new. You'd all be quite entertained reading service bulletins going back into the 2xx series saws and finding the good ole days were not as perfect as we like to remember. There is a ton of information to be accessed, vs the inclination to play Sherlock Holmes that many suffer from. There times when you're experiencing the mystery before the solution has been found, and that can be frustrating.

Many bearing issues have historically been supplier related. About a year ago, the 550m2 bearing supplier was changed from SKF to HQW for improved durability. The seals involved do not interchange between the 2, just as an example of the need to stay on top of things. Similarly, the incorrectly fitted seals on some bearings was a supplier issue, that was able to be corrected by same. Any change is accompanied by the relevant serial number range. Such info is listed on both the service bulletis and IPL updates. If you don't know when changes took place, you can't even order the right parts.

I understand most dealers don't deep dive into this info. Particularly where saws are sold in compact tractor and motorsports shops. The result is that many of you guys know far more about saws than those dealers do. But be careful drawing conclusions from small and inadequate sample size. I saw a LOT of saws pass over my bench over the years. Thousands. A failure is always more newsworthy than a saw that has no issues. So, when something is amiss, how much of a problem do I see? Even within an identified serial number range, all saws will not experience the potential problem. The concern that every saw is going to blow up is unfounded.

Worst thing for the PTO bearing is a too tight chain. Some customers were notorious for this, and would destroy the bottom end of any saw. Other customers never had problems. Some take care of their tools, some don't.

How's that for a rant, Randy? That'll teach ya to tag me in a post. 😀
Exactly… If a new tyre fails is that the fault of the vehicle manufacturer???😉
 

Bob95065

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Hard to believe this conversation dissolved into an oil thread. On the other hand not really that hard to believe I guess...

I split the cases on the second saw (latest victim) last weekend. This saw is above the 20202400001 cutoff so it has the same bearing on both sides of the crankshaft. The bulletin that @Spike60 attached in Post #78 was very helpful.

Make sure they are on the aware of this service bulletin when selecting your parts. This bearing change was accompanied by a crankcase change and they do not interchange. As you can see, this was a change in the original 562. Has nothing to do with Mark 1 or Mark 2.View attachment 413355

The bulletin does make it clear that the bearings and cases are not interchangeable. I took a look at the IPL to see what part numbers were different. That proved to be frustrating.

diagram.jpg

The diagram does not give a part number for the crankshaft itself, only the complete assembly. The parts list show the bearings and S/N cutoff:

parts list.jpg
The crankcase diagram is the same, only an assembly, no piece part P/Ns:

crank.jpg
I wanted to see the differences between the two S/N cutoffs and without the parts in hand I guess I won't have the opportunity. I don't want to know bad enough to tear down my low number saw. Why do I want to know? I'm curious I guess. Curiosity killed the cat, but I don't like cats much anyway. I was interested in seeing what was different in the flywheel case half and crankshaft. If anyone has examples of both and is willing to post pictures I would like to see the differences.

I'll rebuild this saw with new bearings and cut up some firewood to verify it's running correctly before passing it along to a coworker that just bought a house in the mountains and is looking for a firewood saw. I'm going to hang on to the low number saw because I'm not comfortable passing a saw on that has a bearing problem that caused a redesign.
 

Bob95065

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I also found the IPL update for the H555 model that lists many of the same parts as the 562XP. It is attached to this message. I'll put screenshots below.

1.jpg

2.jpg

3.jpg

4.jpg
 

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