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Service & Maintenance Question

    Steve Sirota
    My 2003 Poulan Pro 260 18" 42cc won't idle. It will...escalated
    Service & Maintenance Question posted January 8, 2012 by Steve Sirota, last edited February 10, 2012 
    8683 Views, 4 Comments
    Question:
    My 2003 Poulan Pro 260 18" 42cc won't idle. It will run wide open but when I let go of the throttle it shuts down. Need to use the chock lever to get it running. I recently replaced the spark plug, cleaned the air filter, tried 2 different cans of gas thinking it was a fuel issue. The fuel lines look good as does the priming bulb. It was running fine for a while that morning, then started acting up. Not sure what to do, any recomendations would be appreciate. Thanks
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    Answer

     

    • Greg P.

       Hi Steve,

      Thanks for contacting Husqvarna to post your questions

      It sounds like it could be a simple carburetor adjustment, another thing you can do is to drain the fuel and replace the fuel with a Pre-mixed fuel call Tru-Fuel. Lowe's carries this fuel in a 40:1 mix rate. This fuel has no ethanol (usually ethanol is the problem) and is 92 octane. Run a tank of this fuel through the saw and see if the fuel system clears out. Make sure the replacement spark plug is a direct replacement. The wrong plug can also cause the unit to run rough. If not, it could be that the you may want to have your local dealer check the unit.

      Thanks again for your question.

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    • eddie hall

      +1 on Tru-Fuel. I resurrected a 25+ year old Poulan model 2000 this week and it fired right up on the 40:1 stuff.
      I run the 50:1 in my Stihl MS290 doing hiking trail maint. in a state park. There's nothing so frustrating as hiking 5 miles with a heavy saw and have hard starting issues. NEVER a problem with the Tru-Fuel.

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    • robert smith

      hello steve, allow me to introduce my-self.  I am Robert, I repair/re-build saws professionally. fuel is not your problem.  using any ethanol blended fuel is a very bad idea because the fuel lines will eventually disintegrate and small chunks of the line will get into the carburetor. but at this point, fuel is not your problem.

      occasionally a set spring on the idle adjuster is sent out that can't prevent the idle jet from re-adjusting it-self during the vibrations at WOT.  re-adjust the idle set on that carburetor so that the clutch drum/sprocket/chain begin to rotate with brake off.  then back off fractionally until the chain stops. the saw should idle at this point without any help.  if this turns out to be a red herring, and the saw dies after releasing the throttle while on its way back to idle, then it is the low speed jet that is out of its proper position.

      take my advice, and simply tune the jets until you hear the optimum performance from that saw.  you will know.  there are factory limiter caps on the jets so you will not do anything harmful to the saw. you can only rotate + - 1/2 turn. 

       

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    • Olivia Fair

      I'm looking at buying my first gas chainsaw. I'm interested in a forestry career and i think its time to learn how to properly run and maintenance one. i have about 3-5 years experience running my dads husky and jonsreds saws. but any way recently i saw a poulan pro 20inch for 179$ which i thought was cheap. a buddy of mine has the 18 inch poulan pro and loves it, he says he's had it for 3 years and it runs like a champ.I looked this http://jonsguide.org/best-chainsaws-review/ and also think about Poulan.

      so does anyone own a 16-20 inch poulan, and do you think its a good starter saw? I've got a 2 acre stand to thin out and i don't want to do it by hand saw, thats for sure! thank you for any info regarding theses saws or any other saw recommendations.

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