Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Chainsaw will not run after it gets hot - help!

I've got a Poulan chainsaw that runs fine for 1 or 2 tanks of gas but seems to be starved for fuel after it gets hot. After filling it with fuel it will fire sporadically but will not run. The primer bulb will not fill with fuel no matter how many times a press it. The next day when the saw is cold the primer bulb will fill with fuel and the saw will start easily.

I know, I know....buy a Stihl.

Can any body help me get the Poulan running so I can put off buying the Stihl a little longer?

Thanks in advance!

Fuel filter and air filter. Cheep fixes.

I had something similar with a Craftsman, which should be nearly identical. I've replaced the bulb and all hoses and the gas cap. It still does the same thing.
I use my dads Stihl...

your mix might be to lean. Some of those saws just shut off before they overheat.

I would look for an upgrade. Lowes or Home Depot sells decent chainsaws cheap.

Sincerely,
Thomas

You just keep poulan on it, and poulan on it, and poulan on it.......
(that's what the repair shop guy said about my dad's Poulan 30 years ago.... )

And yes, try a new fuel filter, or carb kit, or replace the fule line.

What year and model?


Casey

Vapor lock on a lot of these models, both Poulan and Sears. Small McCullouchs were famous for it too. The fuel tank is placed too close to the cylinder, the chainsaw gets hot with use, boiling the fuel into a vapor. Next time, take the fuel cap off and see if the gas is bubbling like boiling water. I had a Sears (Poulan) that worked just fine if used cold, or cooled down between uses. About as useful as tits on a boar; I gave it to the guy down the road.
Stihl's, Echos, Huskys, Jansered, don't have this problem. Better design, better saw. You get what you pay for.

Clean it
Make sure all sawdust is away from:
Fuel lines, carb, gas cap.
Sounds like a vapor lock issue

Make sure your fuel is spotless clean
as is your filter
Is your cap vented?
I've had small engines with plugged vents
and they will drive one nutz

Make sure you use Stabil
gas now adays sux and turns to varnish very quickly.

Or hire a Mexican to cut it for you ! LOL

Or try this.

a few minutes of that and I wouldn't need fire wood.
The cardiac ICU is kept at just the temperature,and has pretty nurses!

I was cheating with that picture. The wood was cot with a chain saw and about 2/3 of that 4 1/2 chord stack was split with a hydraulic splitter. I did a bunch by hand but less than a chord. It is good exercise but a guy in his 60's need to work a lot slowed than he did in his 20's. In my 20's I could split by hand all day.

Thanks for all the replies! It is actually a Sears Craftsman (made by Poulan). The saw is about 10 years old. I've cleaned the air filter recently and replaced the vented fuel cap earlier this fall. The vapor lock diagnoses makes sense to me. I'm going to clean the saw real good and see if I can get it running cooler.

Sometimes they get hotter than normal because they are not getting enough oil.

When time comes to buy a new one look here. Best Saws Made Today.

I also have heard good things about those Dolmars. A good site to go to know more than you need to about anything chainsaw is here: http://www.arboristsite.com/ . (They are like the 24hourcampfire of Chainsaws. )

Probably not your issue, but I had a lawnmower that when it was hot the coil would quit sending a spark. Have you pulled the plug when it won't run to see if you've got spark? (I guess you did say it fired sporadically when hot)

Vapor lock is what it sounds like to me too, and it may be running a little on the lean side to get it that warm in the first place. Never had that problem with my Stihl or Husqy, but did with an older Canadian 270.

This was what I was thinking too.

I thought about you yesterday when we were down at Joplin. We were heading home and some dude had "Liberal" on his vehicle-the town not the mental deficiency. I thought, "I wonder how 'ol Cheesey is gettin' along. Then my mind wandered back to usual thoughts of needin' to yell at one or both of my kids or dodgin' deers or some such.

This sound counter-intuitive but try choking it.

I bought a new Husky last year after running Stihls for years. Had the same problem. Service guy told me to choke it. That solved the problem.

Let me know if that works.

If you have to choke an engine after it is warmed up and during regular use, you have a problem with your fuel mixture settings. The choke is for starting only. After it is started, it should run smoothly without the fuel being adjusted externally.

I agree. The only thing that might have happened if the saw ran completely out of gas before it was refueled, it may need a little choking to get the fuel up to the carb, but after that, it should choke itself to death.