starting Husky 359

JimMartin9999 · September 04, 2010, 11:54:10 AM

After I have used my Husky 359 saw, and take a break, in hot weather, it often won't restart.
I'm getting spark.
It appears flooded. The plug is wet . When I eventually get it started , after a long wait , I get a blue cloud.
I have tried taking off the plug and blowing into the cylinder, and waiting up to a half an hour, but it won't start.

What can I do?

JohnG28 · September 04, 2010, 12:29:41 PM

How do you try to start it? I have had similar issues with my saw in same conditions. Usually will start if I go through cold start procedure, even though the saw is warm. Might also be vapor lock. You could try cracking fuel filler open to release air pressure.l

John Mc · September 04, 2010, 04:12:18 PM

If you set your saw down while idling, and come back to it a minute later, does it stall when you pick it up and/or tip it?

nmurph · September 05, 2010, 12:01:47 AM

what yr is the saw? does it have a walbro carb?

ladylake · September 05, 2010, 06:17:35 AM

Sounds like it's flooding, my old 610 Mac did that all the time. On that one I held the throttle wide open while cranking and it would take up to 5 or 6 pulls depending on how long it sat. If I didn't hold the throttle open it wouldn't start. Setting the fast idle on your Husky by pulling the choke and pushing it back in will keep the throttle open a little and help in starting a flooded saw, not as good as holding the throttle wide open but that's hard to do on some saws. Steve

John Mc · September 05, 2010, 11:18:38 AM

Quote from: ladylake on September 05, 2010, 06:17:35 AM
Sounds like it's flooding...

That's one of the reasons I was asking if he had troubles with the saw dieing if he pick it up or tipped it after idling... if the idle mixture is set too rich, it can cause a puddle of fuel to build up, which flood the saw as soon as you move it. If he never lets it idle much, Idle mixture probably not the issue, though.

hlhill · September 05, 2010, 11:51:18 AM

You may need to replace the gas line.

Avoid gas with Ethanol...it is hard on gas lines...among other things. The gas line becomes soft and collapses...stopping fuel flow. Keep the gas and air filters clean.

Also keep your chain sharp. A dull chain overworks your saw and will reduce the life of the power-head significantly.

Set the saw on the ground and pull the start rope out a foot or so before you shut the saw off...this may help when restarting. Good luck.

ehp · September 07, 2010, 04:54:19 PM

first thing I would do is take the saw to the dealer you bought it from or if you know a better husky dealer that treats you proper then go to them, The 359 has a problem in the carb right from the factory and most dealers will put the new carb on the saw as it was a problem and they got bulletins from husky to do so , next do not put pressure air into the jug cause if there gets enough pressure in the crankcase you can blow the crank seals out and that causes another problem, if saw is flooded , pull the sparkplug out , make sure ignition is turned off, flip saw over so sparkplug hole is down hill and pull motor over by the rewind . if any fuel is in it it will come out the spark plug hole or ext. port , dry plug or put new plug in and try it

g_man · September 12, 2010, 05:15:56 PM

I have a 359 and it ran fine for a year and then started to act totally inconsistant when warm. Either would not idle or would not rev up or would be fine. I would adjust the carb and it would be good for 10 minutes. Finally took it to dealer as suggested above. They did a carb job and it has been good for two years now. However, they would not admit to a Husky problem. They said it was bad gas which I new was BS because my other saws and equipment ran fine and I fill my gas cans often.

ehp · September 13, 2010, 02:47:12 PM

I have seen dealers that do not want to give you the new carb but put into husky that they did put the new carb on and keep the carb for themselves , biggest problem with the 359 carb is on the needle and seat side of the carb it does not vent proper so this causes the carb to not pump as much fuel and it leans out

g_man · September 14, 2010, 08:25:26 PM

Thanks for the info. Is there any way I can tell if I have a good carb or a potentially bad carb. Or are all 359 carbs problematic? Its been running fine but I'd like to know what I should do if I have trouble again.

SawTroll · September 15, 2010, 09:03:00 PM

Quote from: g_man on September 14, 2010, 08:25:26 PM
Thanks for the info. Is there any way I can tell if I have a good carb or a potentially bad carb. Or are all 359 carbs problematic? Its been running fine but I'd like to know what I should do if I have trouble again.

Only some of those with Walbro carbs afaik, far from all....

They changed to Zama carbs after that, and I never heard of any problems with those.

g_man · September 16, 2010, 10:43:58 AM

Only some of those with Walbro carbs afaik, far from all....

They changed to Zama carbs after that, and I never heard of any problems with those.
[/quote]

Thank you very much - I'll see what I have on it.

Singlemalt · September 24, 2010, 08:34:09 AM

Had this issue with my 359. Had a carb kit put in and the problem appears to be corrected.
The saw does take 8 to 10 pulls on initial startup before it runs but then everything is good.

Does anyone have a Zama part number for this carb?

John R · September 24, 2010, 10:35:09 AM

Quote from: hlhill on September 05, 2010, 11:51:18 AM

Set the saw on the ground and pull the start rope out a foot or so before you shut the saw off...this may help when restarting. Good luck.

How can this help?

Singlemalt · September 25, 2010, 03:31:59 PM

Zama doesn't list a carb for the Husky 359 and the most rescent Husky web site manuals still list the Walbro carb in the specs.

Would anyone have a Zama part number for these carbs?

raven737 · September 26, 2010, 08:00:02 PM

I just wanted to through my 2 cents in. i have a 359 that would act very similar to what you describe. After changing the muffler to a non cat i was surprised at how easy its been to start. At times i would cuss that saw . It ran great but hard to start, now 3rd pull most every time. Just something to consider.

Singlemalt · September 27, 2010, 06:54:03 AM

Appreciate this info. Would like to give a non cat muffler a try.
How do you go about getting one? Would Husky supply them?

John Mc · September 27, 2010, 12:47:19 PM

I think Bailey's (a forum sponsor) may sell them. At least that's where I got the non-cat muffler for my Jonsered 2152 a few years ago. My saw was running hot, and swapping out the muffler made it run cooler, and gave it a bit of a power boost.

You do need to remember to retune the carb after you swap mufflers

John Mc

Cut4fun · September 27, 2010, 02:55:42 PM

Just so it's out there for others. Zama C3-EL42 carburetor Husqvarna 359 357xp is the replacement carb. $40-$50.

northwoods1 · September 30, 2010, 09:56:24 AM

Had the same problems with the last new 359 I purchased. Checked the fuel line first because that is a common cause for a sawing acting like that. No luck so then took saw to dealer where they had to put a brand new carb on it which fixed problem but to the tune of $150 or so. I've had at least a dozen new huskies over the last 20 yrs and that saw was the very first one I have ever had to do anything with a carb or anything else for that matter. I like the 359s' I run two as my medium saws one with full wrap handle and find that I rarely pick up my larger or smaller saws. tc

JimMartin9999 · October 10, 2010, 07:30:09 AM

So sorry to take so long to get back to you on this. I was away on a longs trip.
Following one suggestion I cleaned the air filter very, very carefully. Just about that time the weather cooled off considerably.
Then the problem disappeared.
I am not sure which carb I have, Walbro or Zama. I cannot take it back to the dealer because I bought it for half price on Ebay seven years ago.
Thanks for all the suggestions.

g_man · October 16, 2010, 01:28:17 PM

If it is a Walbro you may be able to see a "HDA" stamped on the side of it.

JimMartin9999 · October 16, 2010, 09:18:17 PM

thanks I will try out your your suggestions.

Brucer · October 17, 2010, 01:25:32 AM

I sometimes had trouble starting my Jonsereds saws after working them hard in hot weather. An "old-timer" showed me a trick that fixed the problem -- instead of hitting the kill switch to stop the saw, pull out the choke and flood it. When you want to restart the saw, don't use the choke.

He told me that flooding it cooled the carb down as the gas evaporated. I don't know if there was an underlying problem or not. The trick worked just fine when I tried it.