Husqvarna 576XP Busted Piston

[beenydu]

Good morning all and thank you for allowing my account to this forum! I have read numerous posts and am amazed at the amount of knowledge here!

I was working with my dad and brother yesterday beginning to cut wood (red oak) for the winter. I checked over the saw as normal, topped off fuel and oil tanks (non-ethanol 93 octane 50:1 mix), pulled about 5 times and the saw locked up hard.

After removing the recoil cover, I realized quickly that the saw was locked up. We removed the cylinder and found the thrust size of the cylinder scored and the piston skirt busted (found all 3 pieces).

I purchased the saw used on ebay a couple years ago and have used it lightly since then (general homeowner use for seasonal firewood). The saw has run decent while I have owned it and has gracefully cut anything I asked it to. I would like to repair it correctly as I plan to keep this saw for years to come. Does anyone have any feedback on the best parts to repair this with? I also plan to perform a vacuum test (not sure how to setup the blockoff plates yet) to be sure I don't have any issues there.

Again, thank you all for your help with this. I really appreciate it and my family appreciates you helping us stay warm this winter!

 

[CR888]

If you want to keep the saw for years of service to come buy an OEM piston/cylinder kit from a Husky dealer here. There kits are cheap compares to other brands so don't skimp, build with quality & use OEM.

 

[beenydu]

Thank you CR888, I agree with using quality parts. I was curious if there were any aftermarket parts that were higher quality or if the best was OEM replacements?

 

[cus_deluxe]

oem for sure. as said, husky has drastically cut their top end kit prices the last couple years. some of the “high quality” aftermarket kits can actually cost more. should be able to get a complete top end for $150 or so

 

[beenydu]

Excellent! Thank you all, I appreciate it! OEM it is!

While we are on the subject of the rebuild, are there any thoughts or opinions out there on idea of base gasket delete for the 576XP? My only thought of this was just the slight bump in compression for bottom end torque.

 

[beaglebriar]

Since the cylinder is scored you need to figure out why it happened and what caused it. If it's a high hour saw it should be completely rebuilt. Broken skirts are usually caused from thinning of the piston and piston slap, which points to high hours.

 

[jakethesnake]

Add a little more oil to the mix you are running 40:1 would be way better. I use 32:1. If the piston did slap the roof there’s a chance you need a new crank

 

[mbrick]

Best price I've found for the OEM piston and cylinder when I ordered one was Amazon believe it or not. 575257406 for $149.85.

Actually it's only $142 now, what a deal. Ugh the auto formatting is messing up my link. Ok here is a link.

Any pics of the carnage you can share?