new Husqvarna 372xp blew up?

I bought a 372 xp chainsaw about a year ago for general farm use. From new it was hard to start, taking 10 or so pulls cold. My older Husqvarnas would start on the 3rd or 4th pull always. Yesterday it wouldn"t start. I don"t think it has had 10 tanks of fuel through it yet. I took it in to the dealer, and got a call back that it had been run with raw gas and the engine needed new crank, connecting rod, cylinder and piston. I am positive that it has never been run on raw gas, I am very particular to use 93 octane with husqvarna oil mix, and stabil. I use the same gas from the same can in my other saws and weedeater and they are still running fine. What happened? This was my first "pro" saw and I was very careful with it, always let it warm it, and never ran it really hard. My older ones do not get warmed up and get ran hard and are fine. The dealer says it is not worth repairing, parts and labor are more than a new saw. Do I get another 372 or try a Stihl? Or try a different mechanic? The 372 was a nice saw when it was runnning, balanced and powerful.
Josh

Seems to me that IF somehow it got straight gas, or IF the mechanic is wrong, it really wouldn't matter what brand saw it was. Either are good brand of saws, seems price and dealer make the decision for you.

Could it be that some friend, relative or neighbor "borrowed" it without your knowledge and put gas in it?

I would not buy my next saw from that dealer.

Josh,

I bought a new Echo brand string trimmer at Home Depot a couple of years ago. I had the same results that you did with your chainsaw. Used it a few times and it locked up. Took it back to Home Depot. Their service people said it had been run with raw gas. That absolutely did not happen.

Fortunately, the store manager at Home Depot heard my complaint and gave me a new string trimmer - no problem.

I've used that trimmer hard now for about two years with no problems.

You might talk to the store manager where you got your saw and see if he can make any concession at all.

By the way, I've used Husqvarna chain saws for many years with very good results.

Tom in TN

Barring anyone else being involved, hard to determine from a layman's view, how and or what did the dealer do to determine the cause of the failure, can they explain ?

I had it happen to an echo string trimmer, for no apparent reason, few years in service, and like most, I am respectful of these tools, do my best to take care of them and use them wisely, they sure are a work saver considering what folks had to use say 100 years ago LOL !!!

I'm a nut on mixing gas, I use 93 octane, measure 1 gallon carefully, add the oil from a measured container for 1 gallon or make sure to measure from a larger container, to insure I'm not shorting the mix, better to be over, and I rinse the container with the same gas to get the remaining oil out and into the fuel, there is none left behind, and its an accurate mix, I use Stihl oil in my Stihl saw and whatever else calls for 50:1 which some say is lean, even though the book states that is what the ratio is to be. I add Startron enzyme additive to the small engine gasoline, whether its snake oil or not, I've had little trouble over the years.

My neighbor sells Husqvarna and Echo for many years, good brands, perform well, be likely if that happened, knowing you're not trying to get something for free, given the time, frame, probably sell you another at cost or 10% above to get running again, sure is odd especially if you dot your I's and cross your T's when using 2 cycle equipment, only other thing is in this heat, air cooled, I try not to run them if possible, and or fool with air fuel mixtures, could have leaned out on you, none of these are foolproof, but aggravating when one seizes and you know you have taken care of it.

My dad had the same problem with Stihl saws. He even got the owner of the repair shop to mix gas for him. Two months later and with maybe 3-4 tanks the new one quit running. Repair shop refused to replace or honor the warranty. Tried to contact Stihl corporate, but had no luck. Must be the ethanol in the gas.

I recently inharated my dad's 357XP. It had set for 5yrs. I dumped out the old gas, replaced with new, and didn't expect it to run, but it did after about a doz. pulls. WOW,, However he had had problems with the muffler. It was broken at the jug, and the threads for the screws holding the support bracket which go into the oiler tank. I contacted our local dealer and he told me the muffler had had many updates, and the latest and greatest was $87 bucks. I will rebuild the existing "juice can muffler and bracket so it will hold. This thing has terrable engine vibration, but cuts like a tiger that hasn't eaten. It ain't no Mac, or Stihl, as far as quality though.
You might want to check your muffler, if it is bad the saw will run LEAN and that could have caused your problem.

Josh, where did you buy it. If it's from HD or another box store a dealer may be trying to get even with you for not bying it from him.

Rick

Hillside" I am intrested in why you say that. Are you thinking the dealer is lying or the dealer does not know what he is looking at or the dealer should just eat it and give the guy a new saw. Just intresting because as a dealer for 28 years have been in this kind of thing more than once. I can tell you the huskie people can look at one and pretty much tell what the failure was caused from.. Just intrested is how you were looking at it. Myself we always did as one of the other posters suggested tried to sell the guy another one at cost or sometimes even lost the profit on the original if it would make the customer satisfied.

Never use Hig Test gas in a small engine use regular and double the amount of oil in the gas mix done this for years and never have locked up a chainsaw engine.With the new smokeless 2 cycle oil you can't tell the difference.

Doubling the oil in the premix actually leans out the mixture and can seize the engine.

Do NOT pay any attention to the above post. As mentioned below, doubling oil will cause engine to run LEAN and most likely lead to it's death.

....From someone who spent 17 years working along side engineers from Honda (while racing 2-stroke dirt bikes)

I feel the same way as hillside does. I wouldn"t go back to that dealer anymore either. You can"t just look at a saw and "know" what happened to it 100% of the time. The dealer is being somewhat narrow minded in saying that a seized engine means that it was ran without the proper mix or on raw gas altogether. The OP made no mention of the dealer offering him a deal on a new one or trying to make it right somehow. All the dealer wants to do is fix it at full rate.

The dealer tore the saw down, and I saw it afterwards. The symptons exactly matched those in a factory manual they showed me for being run on raw gas. However, I don't think I possibly could have done that. I am very particular about my mixed gas, follow the same routine every time, use 93 octane and stabil. I have never used an entire can of gas only in this saw, there was always another saw where this saw was working, and I have had no problems with my others. I think the dealer is honest, but I don't think raw gas caused this. They did offer the new saw for $800 which is about $60 less than the tag that was on it.
Josh