secondjohn

Old thread, but I was reading this last night, and was concerned about this dichotomy between weekly service and dealer visits.  I just put back together my 288 XP Lite, and can say this for this model.  That hole in the center of the crankshaft was plugged on mine, with an oil/sawdust paste.  I flossed it (toothpick) and then looked for and saw a hole coming out the side of the crank about mid-needle bearing.  The icing on the cake was blowing in the hole at the end and getting air out the side.  Ta-da.  That is ON THIS MODEL a viable lubrication point, as long as the sawdust paste isn't bad for the needle bearing.  But it beats removing the clutch.  And, lots of people don't worry about lubing that bearing anyway.  If you think about it, it's like the pilot bearing in the center of the flywheel on a manual car.  It's only engaging when you're in gear with the clutch in.  In these saws, it's only engaged when the saw is idling and the chain isn't turning.  So it sees very little action :(.   So somewhere between once a week and 20 years is the range I've been reading.  But the hole seems to be designed for lube.