McCulloch 380 (magnesium) oiler issues

[Mark71gtx]

I am working on my old 380. I just rebuilt the carb and went to check the oiler. It would not pump. I drained the oil and put some nice gas in there. It still would not pump. Now the plunger I stuck. How far do I have to tear the saw down to fix it? There is very little info on this saw on the internet that I have found. Please excuse the filth. It is as I received it. It will be cleaned up as soon as I get it running and oiling.

 

[Al Smith]

If it's like most of them the pump plunger is in the oil tank housing .You have to remove the tank.normally it's just a bad o-ring .

 

[Mark71gtx]

Unfortunately, upon further investigation, I believe I have to split the saw in half to get to it. Oh well...

 

[awol]

No, you don't have to remove the complete tank, just the front cover. It has an automatic oil pump in the fuel tank, accessible by removing the front cover. It is operated by pressure pulses from the crankcase.

 

[Mark71gtx]

Does this relic have an automatic oiler? I am trying to fix the manual oiler.

 

[awol]

If it is a 380, than yes it has an automic oiler. The check valves for the manual oiler, and oil passages are accessible through the oiler base. Rinse out the passages with carb cleaner, free up the plunger from the front, and both oilers will likely work again.

 

[Mark71gtx]

It is definitely a 380. I assumed it only had the thumb oiler. Auto is great news!

 

[heimannm]

I believe there was a 380 without the automatic oil pump and the 380A with the auto oiler.

Looking through the IPL's for the 380A, Super 250, 450, and 550 it looks like there were two different style auto oilers in the front tank saws. The Super 250 and the 550 have what looks like the auto oiler pump that is mounted externally on the 740/790/795/797 and SP105/125 inside the fuel tank. The auto oiler in the 380A and 450 appears to be built right in to the fuel tank.

Mark

 

[Mark71gtx]

Thanks Mark. How can I tell if I have a 380 or a 380A? My manual oiler is currently stuck. I am assuming I have to split the saw to get to it to repair it. Can I pull just the fuel tank cover off, or do I need to split it at the crank?

 

[Mark71gtx]

Here you can see the rod where it pushes the piston. This is why I think I need to split it at the crank. If I can just pull off the fuel tank, that would be great... I am getting ready to attempt to pull the rod out and spray some seafoam deep creep in there while praying for it to fix itself...

 

[Mark71gtx]

Success! The deep creep worked. It took about 30 minutes or so, but it is freed up and now it actually works as well!

 

[heimannm]

For saws of that vintage, the model number is normally stamped on the bottom of the crankcase.

For example, 1-40



With some of the later saws you needed to know the block number, for example this is a
550


Later ones would have a model number tag either inside the air box, or sometimes attached to top of the oil tank.



Mark

 

[Mark71gtx]

Mine says 380 underneath. It also says 440 just above it, but it has a line through it. I don't know if they shared a housing, or if it was a mis-stamp. I assume if it was a 380A, it would have the A stamped behind it, correct?

 

[Al Smith]

If you look closely at that pic of the greasey saw you can see what appears to be the pump plunger rod .If it's like all the other reed valve saws with internal auto oilers in the oil tank that work off of impulse that's where the manual pump plunger is .Now I can't say for certain because number one l've never seen a model 380 so I obviously never worked on one .

Now I've got pictures on the other computer showing the pump on a 650 gear drive which most likely is exactly the same .The saw is old,you have 40-50 years of crud accumulated on an aluminum pump plunger inside an aluminum case .It just needs a little douce and an o-ring to be good for another 40 years .Some might not agree but McCulloch made the most trouble free oiling system of them all even back then but everything needs a refresh now and again .

 

[Mark71gtx]

Manual oiler is now working thanks to a clean up and some seafoam deep creep. Here is a pic if the underside of the saw with the numbers.

 

[Mark71gtx]

Been cleaning up the 380 tonight. I painted the top cover as it had no paint at all on it. I think it is looking pretty good. The upper back handle has some of the lower handle stuck in it. I will drill it out later and put the one from a donor 250 on it soon. Then I will put the bar on it and how it cuts!

 

[heimannm]

There were a lot of models that were the same displacement, particularly in the 80 and 87cc range. The blocks were the same so they just crossed out which ever one it was not.

You will sometimes find one with both numbers and nothing crossed out but it's pretty easy to tell a 650 (gear drive) from a 300 (direct drive) for example.

In the case of 300 vs 440, the 300 was a front tank saw and the 440 a top tank saw. The 440 and 640 were unique as they had the "non Super" style block and flywheel housing but a top mounted fuel tank but the RH starter. the 1-60 were similar but had the odd squared off top tanks and normally had the RH start but there was a LH start conversion. Belgian had some photos of his on AS at one time.

440


640




1-60 Series



Mark

 

[Mark71gtx]

Does the stamp in the circle mean anything? It looks like an inverted V, or is it supposed to be an A?

 

[heimannm]

I have seen that spot used to indicate the block has been bored oversize, I'm not sure if that is an A or not.

On some of the older (44 Series) they marked them 44, S44, and S44A.





Mark

 

[Mark71gtx]

OK. I saw one you posted and it had a G on it. I assumed it was indicating that it was a geardrive saw.