385XP Oiler settings

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Who owns, or has run a Husqvarna 385/390XP?
I have a question regarding the oiler settings.
Is fully seated "0" and each 1/4 turn out gives one more flow advancement, once fully around the clock anti clockwise- does it return to "0" or "1" or whatever the lowest setting is and then you start again, or once all the way out, turning anti clockwise stays at the fully open position?

Reason for asking is, my recently new to me 2186 is pretty stingy in the oil delivery department- I have not pulled the oiler or researched anything to find any answers, just thought I would bang it up here and start a conversation.

 

[Nutball]

I had a 2188 (390xp) It had a 3 position output adjuster with a stop at both extremes. All the way in was good for limbing, middle I used for the 20" bar, all the way out did ok for a 32".

I modified it so that all the way in was good enough for a 20", middle for 32" about 1:1 gas/oil, and high did 2 tanks oil to 1 tank gas for a 42" bar. I'd make about 5 cuts in a 40" log on high, then top off the oil.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

I had a 2188 (390xp) It had a 3 position output adjuster with a stop at both extremes. All the way in was good for limbing, middle I used for the 20" bar, all the way out did ok for a 32".

I modified it so that all the way in was good enough for a 20", middle for 32" about 1:1 gas/oil, and high did 2 tanks oil to 1 tank gas for a 42" bar. I'd make about 5 cuts in a 40" log on high, then top off the oil.

Sounds like I might be pulling the oil pump some time soon then. I have it set to "max" and getting through two tanks of hard working with the 26"bar easy to one tank of thin oil.
Would have liked to have found a 2188, but they are not too common here- 390's are dime a dozen- but they are Orange!

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Had a rain day, so pulled the oil system on the 2186 and went through it.
Seems to work okay, all lines and grommets clear and in good condition, pump and worm gear fine, worm gear drive arms engage clutch cover bell cutouts just fine.
No stops on the adjuster screw, it just keeps rotating through 360 degrees in either direction- so set it visually to max and will test run it sometime this week to see if it is sufficient flow. If not I will "adjust" the adjuster some more to allow more piston travel.
Saws and sawing have taken a bit of a backseat to 300 acres of cultivation this week.

 

[Nutball]

How is one supposed to know where max and min is if there's no stop to the output adjuster rotation? Is something missing? I've never seen that version of oil pump in person.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

How is one supposed to know where max and min is if there's no stop to the output adjuster rotation? Is something missing? I've never seen that version of oil pump in person.

Could well be something broken or missing that only allows one 360 degree rotation of the adjuster screw- but it was not obvious when I pulled the pump apart.
I am not familiar with the style and pretty sure this saw is the only saw I own that uses it- but believe it to be much the same system of oil delivery most the 3 series Husqvarna's use and I don't really do the 3 series Husqvarna's.

 

[huskihl]

There were two different pumps. On the older ones, keep turning the control bolt out counterclockwise until it stops. To the left. They’ll oil a 36

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

There were two different pumps. On the older ones, keep turning the control bolt out counterclockwise until it stops. To the left. They’ll oil a 36

Okay, what if you can turn the control bolt counter clockwise until the cows come home and it does not stop nor fall out?
Basically the control bolt is a 4 sided affair held in place by a spring in a slot of the pump casing, in theory each side of the square, lets call them 1-2-3-4 should give varying amounts of oil flow. However, in the case of this particular pump there is no stops to govern which position is 1 by turning all the way in clockwise- or position 4 by turning all the way anticlockwise, this one just keeps turning through 1-4 and start over again.
Quite possibly there should be a stop- who knows who did what in its past life before I owned it. Maybe I am just more used to older saws that throw oil, but this is much more Stihl like than Jonsered like- very stingy with the oil regardless of position.
It is not exactly under oiling to the point of overheating, but it certainly is not coating the chain either.
Lets just say, as the saws current owner- I would prefer it to deliver more. I am the type of saw user that sets oilers to max and leaves them there.

 

[jasent]

How does the oiler gear look? Had a 281 come in last night doing same thing. Gear is pretty stripped and chewed up. Apologies if you already stated

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

How does the oiler gear look? Had a 281 come in last night doing same thing. Gear is pretty stripped and chewed up. Apologies if you already stated

Looks good- I checked out the obvious things first- the two grommets on the brass delivery line (although damage there usually shows as a leak when not running) drive gear, gear wing engagement with clutch bell, worm gear, bar condition and it lining up with gallery.
Don't get me wrong- it delivers oil to the bar- just not a lot of it- and yes I am using a thin oil at the moment.

Just busy enough at the moment regrassing and recropping around 300 acres- 8-10 hours a day in a tractor, then if I am lucky an hour on saws and an hour or so on the splitter. Hence me typing this at what is 5AM here.
Will pull the pump again, maybe take some photos and file one of the positions I consider to be the max setting on the adjuster to allow the pump rod a wee bit more travel to open more fully and see what that does, as currently, best I can get is near two tanks of fuel to one tank of oil.

 

[huskihl]

If you keep turning the control bolt, does it eventually screw out and fall out? If not, then you probably have the newer one that has I believe three or four positions on it. That would mean that you have a couple of stops broken on the casting of the pump. I have a couple of them here. I will look in the next couple days and try and find which position does what

 

[R&R]

Believe another thing to look at is how oil port on saw aligns with bar oil track. Have had to open bar track up and make sure to hold bar up when tightening bar nuts. That was on 390 using a cannon bar.

 

[Fabz]