OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Chainsaws and Concrete Cutters Petrol Chainsaws and Concrete Cutters Homelite xl mini super loosing power

Hi all,
I have a pretty old homelite saw its been good to me for some years now but recently I gave it a good workout trying to cut up a heap of trees that a developer left behind my work. It has good compression and cuts nicely for 10 mins or so then it wants to stall and doesn't idle and struggles under load.
Don't know weather its worth fixing or to toss it away? And post up some picture if it helps.
Cheers :-)

It has the right symptoms for having been underlubricated when you worked it hard, and having scored the piston as a result. There are other possibilities, but it might be a good idea to remove the muffler and look at the piston through the exhaust port. If you see significant scoring on it, that is likely to be the problem. You would then need to inspect the bore and see whether it just needs a new piston and rings, or perhaps a bore hone as well.

If the piston looks good through the exhaust port, please post some pictures and more details, and we can talk about other possibilities.

My saw had identical symptoms (a much newer homelite) when I got it, it was also almost impossible to start when hot. All I ever did was to wind the mixture screws out 1/4 of a turn to richen it up, Its never stopped since apart from the starter rope breaking.

A restricted gauze carburetor fuel intake filter could cause lean mixture which is a reasonable match to the symptoms, but does not really explain why it would have suddenly happened when you began running the saw hard, or why it runs properly for 10 minutes before it begins to show the symptoms. I agree with Joe though, that you should check the mixture and see if making it richer improves the outcome. Even if it does seem to improve things, though, you need to look at the carburetor fuel filter, and the in-tank fuel pickup filter to make sure they are both clear.

The air filter is pretty sad, when I took it off it ran better then it started playing up again. Looking at the piston won't be hard cause the last time I used it the muffler almost fell off : o hehe
I've copped a lot of flack off a husqvarna owner, he says the homelites are old rubbish. I disagree it cuts a lot better than many other small saws..

Well I pulled the muffler off and can see the piston,bore there's lines on piston bore looks clean. I can pickup the saw by the pull cord and it very slowly turns over.has good compresson I can't workout where the mixture screw is..

I had a quick go just now after mixing fresh fuel and tightening up the muffler, it seems to be going very good again. Every minute or so I would stop cutting and let rev freely for a bit then got back into the cutting again. After I finished I was still able to pick it up by the pull cord and it very slowly turned over so I guess its ok.
Thanks for help cheers..

I don't think you've done anything to fix the problem, Jason, so it will probably be back. We'd need to see a picture of the piston to form an opinion on whether it is OK. Remember to use good 2 stroke oil in the proportion recommended by the engine manufacturer, not the oil manufacturer.

I'll close this thread. If it becomes necessary to re-open it, just PM a moderator.