Hi Folks. I’m usually pretty bad with following up on forum stuff, but I promised to follow up on my 555 issues. Well, I have the saw back and I used it for a day….ran a few tanks of gas through it and it runs great. It’s as predictable (almost) as the 346. When I say predictable, I’m referring to cold, warm, and hot starting. Also, when I run it dry out of gas it now doesn’t just stop with no warning….it will actually stutter a bit and then shutdown. Before all the ‘fixes’ it would just stop abruptly when it was out of gas. Not that this is a big deal, but it was noticeable difference.
My initial issue with the saw was performing a warm start. Even when following the directions for a warm start…..”place choke on, immediately turn choke off (which is ¼ throttle), pull to start saw”……it was brutal. Cold starting was generally fine (not 100%), but generally fine (choke, pull once or 2x till it burps, place choke off ( ¼ throttle), pull to start. So you can imagine when you shut the saw down for a bit and try to start it……and forget it, no chance of starting and maybe that’s the only saw you have in the middle of the woods. For a Husqvarna semi-pro saw….that’s unacceptable. I’ll stop there. Here’s what happened at the shop: hooked it up to the Autotune computer and it didn’t show any major issues, but the dealer did find out there was a fair number of recalls related to the coil / carb / ignition module. He ordered the parts and Husqvarna didn’t ship the entire kit…so that was a delay. Ultimately, it all came in and the saw was put back together. Here’s a list of my new parts on the saw (carburetor, screw, fuel hose, module, 2 harnesses, wiring assy). All under warranty, but on a saw that’s not 2yrs old! Notes from dealer: Replaced carb with EL47 style and updated ignition module per Husqvarna Bulletin B1200075. Replaced harnesses, replaced fuel pick up hose per Bulletin B1200066. Reprogrammed saw….I’m pretty sure this is done under load for 5-8min. If anybody wants the actual PNs, I have those as well.
Happy with how it runs now…..it’s a strong saw for sure, very noticeable against any 50cc saw. Let’s just say the whole experience has made me look at Stihl. We’ll give it a year and see how it runs before I can say I love the saw, but in the end……if you’re stranded on a desert island (and had to pick a chainsaw to be stranded with)……pick a 346!
My initial issue with the saw was performing a warm start. Even when following the directions for a warm start…..”place choke on, immediately turn choke off (which is ¼ throttle), pull to start saw”……it was brutal. Cold starting was generally fine (not 100%), but generally fine (choke, pull once or 2x till it burps, place choke off ( ¼ throttle), pull to start. So you can imagine when you shut the saw down for a bit and try to start it……and forget it, no chance of starting and maybe that’s the only saw you have in the middle of the woods. For a Husqvarna semi-pro saw….that’s unacceptable. I’ll stop there. Here’s what happened at the shop: hooked it up to the Autotune computer and it didn’t show any major issues, but the dealer did find out there was a fair number of recalls related to the coil / carb / ignition module. He ordered the parts and Husqvarna didn’t ship the entire kit…so that was a delay. Ultimately, it all came in and the saw was put back together. Here’s a list of my new parts on the saw (carburetor, screw, fuel hose, module, 2 harnesses, wiring assy). All under warranty, but on a saw that’s not 2yrs old! Notes from dealer: Replaced carb with EL47 style and updated ignition module per Husqvarna Bulletin B1200075. Replaced harnesses, replaced fuel pick up hose per Bulletin B1200066. Reprogrammed saw….I’m pretty sure this is done under load for 5-8min. If anybody wants the actual PNs, I have those as well.
Happy with how it runs now…..it’s a strong saw for sure, very noticeable against any 50cc saw. Let’s just say the whole experience has made me look at Stihl. We’ll give it a year and see how it runs before I can say I love the saw, but in the end……if you’re stranded on a desert island (and had to pick a chainsaw to be stranded with)……pick a 346!
