husq 55 rancher start problem

[jniolon]

Good Morning

I've got a Husqvarna 55 rancher chainsaw... few years old but seldom used. Need to remove some trees so I pulled it out to get ready... here's my problem

when I pull the starter rope it will only pull out about 6" and I get serious resistance.

Chain brake is off
choke is set to on
chain moves when pulled manually.. ?????

so I remove the spark plug and try it again... rope pulls just fine and I can see piston moving up and down the cylinder... ????

so I'm thinking maybe got a valve stuck and compression is holding the saw... this saw has no compression release

I'm stumped any suggestions ?? Right now it's sitting on the bench with the piston at TDC and full of penetrating oil.. thinking maybe something might free up...
hoping I don't have to tear this thing down..

help ??

thanks

john

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Stuck valve?? What valve is in your 55 to be stuck??

I've never seen a 55 with any valve in it that could get stuck.

SR

 

[Egon]

Is it turning over easily with the plug out? If so dump the fuel and pull it a few times to get the cylinder cleaned out and then try to start it.

 

[CobyRupert]

If it moves fine with plug out, that would lead one to believe there's an air flow restriction.

Muffler clogged?

 

[murphy1244]

I just had that happened to me and I found I flooded it. left it set for 5 hours and fired right up.

 

[oldnslo]

My rancher 55 does the same thing & I have never found the cause. A few pulls and it fires up and runs fine. I have never seen the plug being wet nor noticed any gas mist pulsing out when I removed the plug either.

Is this model supposed to have an automatic compression release?

 

[dfkrug]

Is this model supposed to have an automatic compression release?

No compression release on these 80s Huskies. These are some of my favorite saws, and the
original Rancher 50/55 is very durable and popular. I just sold a Rancher 50 that I
completely rebuilt and currently have great running '83 Husky 2100, and '86 Husky 266.
No CR on either.

What can cause the OP's problem is the starter mech. If the pulley and rope are not
properly winding up to the outer circumference, then the torque required to pull gets
really high. This is exacerbated by a bunch of gas in the cyl, increasing the compression.

I just had this problem with a NEW starter. The maker used the wrong rope in this case.

 

[Oldpath05]

Stuck valve?? What valve is in your 55 to be stuck??

I've never seen a 55 with any valve in it that could get stuck.

SR

It's the diesel/gas combo model, the inner and out valves are sticking on the injector pump. The best thing to do with that saw is take it to a Husqvarna saw shop.
My xp550 is almost 3 years old now and floods real easy when hang it vertical for a week with a full tank, grab it on the weekend, choke it, and if I crank it twice without firing, gas is running out the exhaust, take plug out, dry it off, speak in tongues put back in, half dozen cranks it's going. Auto Tune, not very auto to me.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

It's the diesel/gas combo model, the inner and out valves are sticking on the injector pump. The best thing to do with that saw is take it to a Husqvarna saw shop.
My xp550 is almost 3 years old now and floods real easy when hang it vertical for a week with a full tank, grab it on the weekend, choke it, and if I crank it twice without firing, gas is running out the exhaust, take plug out, dry it off, speak in tongues put back in, half dozen cranks it's going. Auto Tune, not very auto to me.

aaaaaw, it's the injection pump, I should have known that!!

As for your 550, there's been a ton of them sold, and there IS only an odd one here and there, that needs to be checked out...

IF, mine was acting up, it would get fixed, there's NO reason to live with that problem with any saw and in the past, I've have had saws do what your saw is doing, get it fixed....

SR

 

[arrow]

Take off the muffler. Any piston scoring will be easily seen. (while it's apart, clean up the spark screen inside the muffler. Be sure to give muffler bolts a good shot of nut release formula such as lLiquid Wrench or PB Blaster as they are prone to break) If it looks good, spray in some WD-40 and see if it frees up. These saws had very high compression for their size. With no compression release, they were always a bit hard to start. The other weak link to these saws are their crank bearings. If they are worn, this could also give you what you are experiencing..