Husqvarna and Echo beware!

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b33p3r

Feeling the Heat
Jan 29, 2008
286
NE Pa
Moral of the story...had a Husqvarna 435 which I bought from lowes. After 1 year to the day the piston/cylinder burned up rendering it useless. The burn up was diagnosed and pointed out to me by a friend who was in the small engine repair business for many years. No he wasn't a certified husqvarna dealer. He told me I that saw wasn't built for the amount of cutting I do. But I did talk to my local Husqvarna dealer and he informed me that I didn't mix the oil/gas correctly and that's why the saw burned up. The dealer never even saw the saw but he had the answer. I have always measured gas and oil to the ounce so I was a bit turned off by the dealers comment. I didn;t buy the saw from him so I didn't expect much. Not how it should be but that's the way it goes around here with customer service.
On a recommendation from my Small engine expert I bought an echo CS-550P from the same local dealer. (I'm trying to support the local businesses). After approx. 6 hours run time, the saw won't idle. Stalls out and has a hard time getting up to speed on WOT. Bring it back to the dealer and after 10 days now they still don't have a clue. I will be pulling the saw out of there come Tuesday(next day off from work).
Moral of the story is: I have another echo dealer (20 miles away) that will do what it takes to get my saw in working order(thanks to my friend who was in the business).
Unfortunately I have a husqvarna saw that I paid good money for and will have to pay to get it working again even though it had a 2 year warranty because a shoddy dealer blew me off. Same dealer that can't get my echo saw working right. Husqvarna and echo should be careful who they qualify as a dealer.
I won't mention the dealer name but if you are travelling on Rt.348 in Mt. Cobb and see a tractor dealer ....keep going. You may also want to do your homework on Husqvarna/Echo dealers before buying from them.
 
What a shame. Hope it works out for you. Maybe there's a good Stihl dealer closer to home? Might be time to trade in both saws.
 
That is sad to hear. Without analysis on your Mix gas, he cant conclude that your mix was off? I would be ticked off about that too... The Echo should just need a tune. Something that a good qualified tech could do in very short order.

The dealer I purchase from is the only dealer that will do warranty work (same with my pellet stoves) and they are also Top rated dealers in my area. Both have trained and certified techs and always have to latest in equipment.

I hope you get it all figured out. A warranty is something that should be stood behind. As long as the warranty work falls under warranty rules, it should be fixed without question.

(There was a member who smoked his new 562XP. The auto-tune ran lean and smoked the ring. It took a bit, but he got a new saw. A good dealer should fight for you!) The squeaky wheel gets the grease....
 
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Toss the Husky back in Lowe's lap. They sold it to you. With a warranty. Their problem. I have two of that saw's predecessors, the 142 that I run the crap out of with no problems. I figured they would blow up in a few months. Still getting it done five years later.

But I run 32:1 in everything and always will.
 
We have a local Stihl dealer that has many complaints, so it's not just Husky and Echo. I got my Echo from a local Mom and Pop dealer (really) who have a reputation for great service.
 
Don't get me wrong, I think Husky and echo are both good companies. I just think they need to be pickier about who qualifies as a dealer for their product.
 
The dealer did tune my echo prior to handing it to me. He also informed me I may have to have it tuned again after it breaks in. That's why I brought it back when it wouldn't idle after 6 hours run time. Figured a quick tuning and I'b be back in action
 
There are good and bad dealers for just about every product out there . . . and while one person may have a great experience with Dealer A, another person may come in and have a horror story to tell. That said . . . while the tech may be able to suggest a possible reason for the break down over the phone, I would think they would at least ask some basic questions first (i.e. ask about the gas/oil mix) and take some time to actually inspect the saw before they render a final opinion . . . in other words my own dealer has given me some ideas of what might be an issue with a saw, but until I bring it in they don't pronounce their final diagnosis.
 
To the OP . Did you ever have to "tune " the carbs on either of thes saw yourself ? Or was it just gas them up ,and let it rip ?
To me a smoked p&c is a sign of lack of oil , lean run ,bad fuel and mix . JMHO .
 
Bummer about the saw. I do think Husky gets a bad rap because places like Lowes sell saws with no dealer/warranty support. The local Stihl place around here will test the saws before selling them to make sure the carbs aren't running lean and then have you bring the saw back in a few weeks for a final adjustment. I have heard that quite a few of the Husky's coming from Lowes run a little lean and really need richened up right off the bat.
 
It was mentioned above, but I'd be inclined to agree that many new makers are shipping saws too lean for hard work. danged EPA has everybody clinching their butts and tossing reason to the wind. I think that most manufacturers assume the experienced saw users will pop out their screwdriver and richer it up a tad and that less experienced saw users won't use their saw enough to notice the quicker wear.

I could be wrong, but it sure seems to be a theme.
 
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Danno77 said:
It was mentioned above, but I'd be inclined to agree that many new makers are shipping saws too lean for hard work. danged EPA has everybody clinching their butts and tossing reason to the wind. I think that most manufacturers assume the experienced saw users will pop out their screwdriver and richer it up a tad and that less experienced saw users won't use their saw enough to notice the quicker wear.

I could be wrong, but it sure seems to be a theme.
Click to expand...

I agree. I had a hard starting cheapo poulan weed eater that didn't stay running. It would have been real easy to say it was junk. I richened the carb and it has run flawlessly for the past 3 years. I have even tried to kill it by keeping the same untreated ethanol fuel in it for up to 8 months without use.
 
BrotherBart said:
Toss the Husky back in Lowe's lap. They sold it to you. With a warranty. Their problem. I have two of that saw's predecessors, the 142 that I run the crap out of with no problems. I figured they would blow up in a few months. Still getting it done five years later.

But I run 32:1 in everything and always will.
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Ever have any problems doing that, like fouled plugs? I kinda like to put a little extra in, too, but 32 is a long way from 50.
 
Sprinter said:
Ever have any problems doing that, like fouled plugs? I kinda like to put a little extra in, too, but 32 is a long way from 50.
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Factory plugs still in all of my saws. Including the 1991 Poulan/Partner. Along with Walmart 2-stroke oil. Folks just gotta do what feels right for them.
 
I run 93 octane and 40:1 in my saws. I have also richened them up just a tad.......
 
certified106 said:
I run 93 octane and 40:1 in my saws. I have also richened them up just a tad.......
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Well, if you guys are getting away with that much oil and not fouling things up, I guess it's okay to rich it up a little.

I'm going to run this by my dealer, but if it's true that manufacturers like Stihl and Husq (I've had both) intentionally ship 2-strokes too lean to meet epa standards, how would I know if it could benefit from a little richer mixture?
 
Sprinter said:
Well, if you guys are getting away with that much oil and not fouling things up, I guess it's okay to rich it up a little.

I'm going to run this by my dealer, but if it's true that manufacturers like Stihl and Husq (I've had both) intentionally ship 2-strokes too lean to meet epa standards, how would I know if it could benefit from a little richer mixture?
Click to expand...

Gonna need to learn how to tune your saw. It's not hard, youtube is your friend. They have adjustment screws making it very easy. Tune your saw per the instructions and if it works better than you benefit and if no change is made then you don't benefit. No damage in either case.

My current 2009 model motorcycle came very lean and I had to immediately tune the pilot circuit. This involved removing a pressed in plug and for access to the screws.
 
b33p3r, out of curiousity, what oil were you running?

For the amount of fuel I go through a year, I buy the small bottles of husqvarna oil that gets added to 1 gallon of gas. It contains stabilizer already. In an average year I'll use about 5-6 bottles.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_220373-572-2.6 OIL MIX_0__?productId=1166629 looks like lowes wants 2.98 a bottle for it! Ouch. Unless the price has significantly gone up in the last year, I paid 1.75 a bottle when I bought 6 at a time from my local dealer last fall.

I've had no mix related issues and the 5 guys I cut regularly with haven't had any either and they use the same husky oil.

It may cost a bit more but so far so good, so I stick with it. This saw is 6 years old and running the original plug. Weedwacker (a stihl) is 16 years old and still on the original plug, still starts second pull.

pen
 
Mix to the ratio dictated by the oil, not by what's labeled on the equipment. That's what I've always been told, anyway. If using Echo 50:1 oil, mix it 50:1. Someone more eductated on this subject than any of us already figured out what works, no need to second guess them. JMHO / YMMV.
 
Joful said:
Mix to the ratio dictated by the oil, not by what's labeled on the equipment. That's what I've always been told, anyway. If using Echo 50:1 oil, mix it 50:1. Someone more eductated on this subject than any of us already figured out what works, no need to second guess them. JMHO / YMMV.
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I think you have that backwards. If you buy oil in a small quantity and it says 50:1 on the container, they simply measured out the right amount of oil for X amount of gas to save you the time from measuring the oil out yourself.

Charts like this exist for a reason on the back of large bottles of 2 stroke oil.

gasoline-oil-ratio.jpg


pen
 
LoL, glad to hear I'm not the only one, BB. It helps keep the Mosquitos away...

Seriously, though, I've been using 40:1 recently and have had to retune all of my saws to run on that. The 170 doesn't like it, so I have to use 50:1 in it. Well, at least before my dad broke the danged choke lever and now I don't run it at all (where did I put that JB Weld, anyway?)
 
Funny thing is I've never run a mix richer than 50:1. I'm currently running a mix that if you do the math, is 80:1. Been doing that for almost two years now and waiting for something to happen. Then I can join the more oil is better crowd. Gotta say I'm likin' the hell out of no smoke and crisp throttle response, stuff is currently $1.45 a package (to mix 1 gal) retail.. My 4-Mix engines are loving the stuff too since they are notoriously picky about extra oil/carbon.
 
Nope, pen... I meant it as I typed it. Having some older equipment that requires 40:1 and even 32:1, in addition to some modern 50:1 equipment, I asked more than one saw shop what I should do. Mix to 32:1 for all, split the difference at 40:1, or keep multiple different gas cans? The answer was the same from every shop I asked: buy the 50:1 pre-measured bottles, and just mix 50:1 for all equipment. The oil is formulated to work that way.

I also buy oil in larger jugs, but it's always a name brand oil like Echo 50:1, so I just mix 2.6 oz./gal.

I guess I can't be sure this is right, but it seems to be a consensus among the equipment dealers I have asked. I suspect they know more about it than I do.
 
Joful said:
Nope, pen... I meant it as I typed it. Having some older equipment that requires 40:1 and even 32:1, in addition to some modern 50:1 equipment, I asked more than one saw shop what I should do. Mix to 32:1 for all, split the difference at 40:1, or keep multiple different gas cans? The answer was the same from every shop I asked: buy the 50:1 pre-measured bottles, and just mix 50:1 for all equipment. The oil is formulated to work that way.

I also buy oil in larger jugs, but it's always a name brand oil like Echo 50:1, so I just mix 2.6 oz./gal.

I guess I can't be sure this is right, but it seems to be a consensus among the equipment dealers I have asked. I suspect they know more about it than I do.
Click to expand...

This would seem to imply that the oil is what determines the needed ratio. For example, your echo 50:1 oil should be mixed 50:1 to be used in all 2 stroke equipment. If you had bought amsoil 100:1 two stroke oil then you could mix it to 100:1 for all two stroke equipment. I understand your theory and have even heard it used before.

I'm not willing to risk my machine with this theory. The machine wants 50:1 ratio of oil to gas. The machine doesn't specify what brand. I don't believe that there is anything special about one brand of two stroke oil vs. another that would make it lube twice as well. Also, the producers of the two stroke oil don't have anything to lose if your mix ratio damages the engine but the machine manufacturer could face warranty claims.

For the record I mix one ratio for all engines even though the machines ask for 40:1 and 50:1. I choose the 40:1. My synthetic oil comes with graduations on the dispensing system that correspond with the chart that Pen posted.
 
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