Husqvarna 562 problems

[junkfxr]

    I bought a Husky 562 back in May and it's one of the best running saws that I've ever owned, when it's running right. It has always had hot starting issues to the point of hot starts being non existent during the summer, have to let it cool down before restarting it. It also has a horrible off idle flat spot after it starts warming up, it'll actually die when you hit the throttle after it gets good and hot. I finally got fed up enough this morning to take it to the dealer that it came from, a full service dealer for Husqvarna and Stihl. I asked the owner if he had the tools and software to work on Husky's Autotune carbs and he said no, that he figured he'd worry about that when the need arose, that he's only had to work on one Autotune since they came out and that was a mechanical problem. I explained what was going on with my saw, he looked at it for a few minutes and found the carburetor mounting bolts were loose, got almost two more turns out of them. So far that has really helped the hot restart, we'll see how much help it actually was this summer but the off idle flat spot is still there as bad as it ever was.
    My question is, has anyone else had the same experience with their Autotune carbed saws and if so, what did you find to fix it? I have several other pro Huskys and Stihls, all with conventional carburetors, and have never had a minute's trouble out of any of them but the 562 is starting to really get on my nerve. Oh, almost forgot, I can't find any Husky dealer within an hour from me that has the tools or software to reflash or even run diagnostics. That just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I haven't checked to see if any of the Stihl dealers have it for the M-tronic yet, I'm looking at a MS 362 pretty hard.
  Thanks in advance for any advice or solutions.

[clww]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum.
Where are you located in VA?

[junkfxr]

In the Bedford area.

[AdkStihl]

The flat spot off idle is caused by too much pop-off pressure in the carb. The solution is to trim a few rings/turns of the metering spring, lowering pop-off pressure.
mweba did a nice video and can be found on the Tube.

The hot start issue can be resolved by changing your hot start procedure.
When the saw is hot, simply pull the choke out and push it back in without touching the throttle.
This will set the high idle and the saw should start much easier.

[junkfxr]

Thanks. I'll have to look for the video for the carb fix even though I don't think that it should have to be done, should be right from the factory. As for the hot start, that's the way that I have always tried to start it hot but it doesn't work. My 346XP was horrible with hot starts also untill about 20 tanks of fuel had been ran through it but that's not seeming to help the 562.

[AdkStihl]

Hmmm, I've never heard of nor had hot start issues with my 346.

[junkfxr]

    Yeah, I got my 346 about a week before we got hit with a durecho and I spent the next two weeks breaking it in doing storm clean up, in 95+ degree heat. The failure to hot start was a welcome relief some days. Like I said, after about 20 tanks of fuel, there was no problem getting it restarted hot.
    I'm having some difficulty finding that video of the metering spring fix. Shoot, not having difficulty, just plain can't find it. Does someone have a link to it that could help me out? Thanks.

[AdkStihl]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_tWX2RSzLo

[junkfxr]

 Thanks, I found the video late last night and cut three coils off of the spring this morning. It's still falling on it's face when I hit the throttle after it starts warming up. Not quite sure where to go from here. I'll have to think about it some more after I get through being ticked off at it.

[tlandrum]

next step is to open the notch up on the throttle blade 

[weimedog]

Did some of those early saws have ignition issues? 555's & 562's?

[junkfxr]

next step is to open the notch up on the throttle blade

Nope, I refuse to do any more to it. There shouldn't be any problems of this type from the factory. This was supposed the be the greatest thing since sliced bread when it came out according to Husky. I waited for quite a while before I bought mine hoping that the bugs would be worked out. There is absolutely no reason to have to work on a saw right out of the box to make it perform like it's supposed to. I'm not looking for more performance, just to run like it's supposed to. And the lack of dealer support.... now I could get started for a while on that. Why don't the manufacturers make the dealers have the tools, software and training to keep their dealership status, just like in the automotive industry. I certainly hope this saw isn't destined to become an awful expensive orange and silver door stop.

[beenthere]

Vent your anxiety toward EPA and its regs, would be more aimed at the cause of the problem than the mfg. of the saws. Just my opinion as to why we see such auto systems on the market now.

[tlandrum]

take it to your dealer that you bought it from if your not happy with it. either make them fix it or give your money back. too bad your not close to me or I could fix it if its under warranty and it would not cost you anything.

[Andyshine77]

There have quite a few issues with early production runs of this model. If you have an early production saw, it will need a few updated parts, and reprogramming. I'd want a new saw or my money back.

We can blame the EPA all we want, but Stihl has had no issues with their AT system. So the blame does fall on the manufacture in this case. AT systems were coming no matter what, just like FI. I've played with quite a few of these AT saws and they all ran stronger and better than their non AT counterparts, but Husky has some issues that need to be addressed.       

[junkfxr]

Vent your anxiety toward EPA and its regs, would be more aimed at the cause of the problem than the mfg. of the saws. Just my opinion as to why we see such auto systems on the market now.

Yep, fully aware of the EPA's fault to the majority of headaches to do with anything with an engine since the late 60's. I was working as a mechanic, excuse me, a technician, in a Kenworth dealership in the mid - late 90's when truck engines were going from mechanical to electronic, because of the EPA, and it was the same nightmare except on a much larger scale. Saw manufacturers will eventually get it figured out but it's a shame that it's being done at the consumer's expense.

take it to your dealer that you bought it from if your not happy with it. either make them fix it or give your money back. too bad your not close to me or I could fix it if its under warranty and it would not cost you anything.

Who knows, I may be down to see you, you're only 5 hours away. I reckon I'll start looking for a dealer that'll work on it next week but I already know there's no one within an hour of me that can.

Thanks to all who have offered any help.

[hamish]

Vent your anxiety toward EPA and its regs, would be more aimed at the cause of the problem than the mfg. of the saws. Just my opinion as to why we see such auto systems on the market now.

The EPA has nothing what so ever to do with it at all. 

[beenthere]

Vent your anxiety toward EPA and its regs, would be more aimed at the cause of the problem than the mfg. of the saws. Just my opinion as to why we see such auto systems on the market now.

The EPA has nothing what so ever to do with it at all.

Hammish
It was my opinion, and you are welcome to yours.  ;D

[hamish]

Vent your anxiety toward EPA and its regs, would be more aimed at the cause of the problem than the mfg. of the saws. Just my opinion as to why we see such auto systems on the market now.

The EPA has nothing what so ever to do with it at all.

Hammish
It was my opinion, and you are welcome to yours.  ;D

I fully agree with having ones own opinion.

The EPA is a US entity, that has no power outside of the United States.  Product development and enhancement has nothing to do with the EPA.  Ethos of the manufacturer and competition in the market place is what drives it.

[jacob j.]

I fully agree with having ones own opinion.

The EPA is a US entity, that has no power outside of the United States.  Product development and enhancement has nothing to do with the EPA.  Ethos of the manufacturer and competition in the market place is what drives it.

How come there are specific parts in IPLs and Service Manuals marked "EPA" or "EPA only"  ?

-Parts that aren't used in the same model destined for other markets. I would say that's definitely something to do with "product development"...

[AdkStihl]

How come there are specific parts in IPLs and Service Manuals marked "EPA" or "EPA only"  ?
-Parts that aren't used in the same model destined for other markets. I would say that's definitely something to do with "product development"...

;)

[junkfxr]

Everyone has opinions so how about a little known fact. John Deere actually pushed the EPA to speed up and tighten the emissions requirements on hand held tools then backed out of the hand held market after they helped push it through. Gee, thanks Deere.

[hamish]

How come there are specific parts in IPLs and Service Manuals marked "EPA" or "EPA only"  ?
-Parts that aren't used in the same model destined for other markets. I would say that's definitely something to do with "product development"...

;)

They are marked as EPA or EPA only, so that the reader knows what parts will adhere to EPA guidelines.  By the law, failure to do so is punishable by law.  For Joe Blow consumer in the US this means little to nothing, but for manufacturers and businesses it does and can be detrimental.  Its your countries law you read it.
Certain non-EPA approved parts cant even be ordered by dealers in the US.  EPA parts are made for the US market that's all.  Its the manufacturer doing its best at appeasing a market.  Its product downgrading in many cases. Its applying a fix to keep the goods flowing, theres no rocket science involved.  The newer systems were not designed due to the EPA.  The parent companies ethos drove it in that direction.

[junkfxr]

The dealer has had my 562 for a week now so I called them this morning to see what was going on with it. They have replaced the carburetor, coil, fuel tank, and reprogrammed it. Told me that I can't have it yet, it's still not running right. Still waiting....and waiting......and waiting.

[7sleeper]

There have quite a few issues with early production runs of this model. If you have an early production saw, it will need a few updated parts, and reprogramming. I'd want a new saw or my money back.

We can blame the EPA all we want, but Stihl has had no issues with their AT system. So the blame does fall on the manufacture in this case. AT systems were coming no matter what, just like FI. I've played with quite a few of these AT saws and they all ran stronger and better than their non AT counterparts, but Husky has some issues that need to be addressed.       

As Andy already said there are quite a few hard and software updates needed for it to be up to date. There are quite a few threads about the Husqvarna problems on the net. But I have not seen one yet from Stihl. And as far as I understood there is no update for Stihl MT saws! That alone is an announcement!

7

[Andyshine77]

The odd thing is the older 576 hasn't had any issues that I know of. It seems Husky designed a good engine in the 562 and 550 but, dropped the ball everywhere else.

[junkfxr]

The dealer called this morning while he had a slack time to bring me up to speed as to what was happening with my saw. The carburetor that he had put on it came off of his shelf and it wouldn't even register on the computer, said that it wouldn't even show up. Got the saw started but it wouldn't run so he had to put the original carb. back on and order another one. I've been hearing stories of some of these carbs having to be replaced 3,4, or 5 times to get one that will work. Is there a bad batch of carbs floating around out there?

[ehp]

tell your dealer to use the box off your old carb on the new carb , if you put a new carb with new box on you need to hook saw up to husky software to get it to run , if you use the old box that came with your saw and put a new carb on saw it will run, ,

[Timbertron]

the 562 had serveral service update bulletins put out for it one was a faulty crank and bearings the other was ingnition modual and the carburetor having hesitation to it and hot start issues anybody with the affected saws that took the time to register the chain saw would had gotten a letter. dealer could look up the updates and my
562 had the carburetor and the ignition mod update and ran like a beast still dose 1 3/4 years going strong
side note brothers sthil 441 has had nothing but issues with the mtronic carb in his. so i would say both brands are having issues sthil dealer has 5 of them sitting in the corner with only 1-2 months of use with lean seizure or just plain no response on the the carburetor end said he would replace the mtronic and would be right back a week or two late sthil is just doing a better job of covering there problem up

[Terry Syd]

I can rework a conventional carb, but I've got no experience with these electronic carbs. Apparently the video fix has helped some saws, but it seems to be in conjunction with a software update.

I don't know what is going on. If a saw is HOT and dying when the throttle is pulled, that is usually a sign that the saw is getting too much fuel. The clipping the spring drops the POP and allows more fuel at idle and a faster ramp onto the low speed jet. So it seems opposite of what you would do with a conventional carb. However, maybe the software is somehow adjusting for the richer idle, bugger if I know.

The trimming the throttle plate is going in the opposite direction. It's allowing more air at idle, then because the low speed jet is still the same size, it gets more juice as it goes past the transition ports.

I need to take one of these AT carbs apart and try and figure out what is going on. My initial impression is that it can use even more POP to slow down the ramp (put a shim under the metering spring). If that doesn't fix it, then it is probably something related to the software.

[junkfxr]

I got my saw back last Friday and tried it out. New carb, coil, fuel tank, and reprogrammed. Worse than it was before I took it to the shop so I called them. They said it needs to be ran for a couple of hours for it to reprogram itself. Then why does the owners manual say 3 to 5 minutes but just to humor them, I tried running it Saturday. It ran for a while by babying the snot out of it but after it got hot and idled for more than 10 seconds or so, it would die when I hit the throttle. It would fire right back up and run for a little while then do it again. Finally got tired of it, put it back in the truck and got another saw out. Took it back on Monday. Just waiting to see what happens next. I guess it's a good thing that I've got more than one saw. I did mention to the owner something about sending it back to Husky's headquarters, maybe somebody there needs an $800 paper weight because that's all it's good for right now. He wasn't amused.

[Terry Syd]

I hate to give you anymore headaches, but try putting a shim under the metering spring.

It may not fix the problem, but it least it sounds logical - and it MIGHT work.

Take an aluminium beer can and cut a round disk that you can drop into the well for the metering spring. That will make the spring sit higher and give you more POP.

If it doesn't work, you can always remove the disk.

[7sleeper]

Why does one have to work on a new saw to make it work? That has always been a mistery for me.

7

[SlimJim]

Why does one have to work on a new saw to make it work? That has always been a mistery for me.

7

Hi-

Well said !

Reading this debacle should serve as another example of the govt-corporate complex conspiring to stick it to the joe consumer through forced higher costs due to "technology".

Sometimes technology has it's place.

I used to be able to tune my car-not anymore.
I used to be able to tune my saw and fix my carb-(still can).

You can see how the technocracy is removing control from the public. And the Public gets to pay for it's own loss of control.

[junkfxr]

Latest update on the saw. Called the dealer this morning to see what was going on. He had called the tech people at Husky and was told that they were working on another update to fix ALL of the hesitation problems and it would be another 30-90 days before they would see it, it's being worked on in Sweden. Until then, they weren't issuing any warranty carburetors. He asked about replacing the saw and they said no because it can still be made to run. He said that he would call the area rep on Monday and see what he thought about all of this. So the dealer has had my saw for over 3 weeks total now and can't get Husky to do anything to make it right. I am one of the ones that got bit with the new technology that apparently wasn't proven before it was put into production and I dumped almost $800 doing it. I haven't bad mouthed Husky yet because I try to refrain from that sort of thing but this is the second Husqvarna saw that I've owned and it WILL be the last and I WILL pass my experiences along to whom ever wants to know. I did buy another pro 60cc saw this morning with a conventional carburetor so they can keep the 562 as long as they want to figure out what makes it not work as advertised.

[Crow99]

Sounds like this has been going on too long. Neither the dealer nor Husqvarna seems able or willing to make this right with you. All states have consumer affairs offices (usually under the Attorney General. )  suggest that you make one last request, in writing, to the dealer requesting either a refund or a new saw. When he denies this, call the AG'S office and get them involved. Stringing you along like this is bound to violate some section of state law and they can probably help...

[junkfxr]

I'm back again with more news on my saw. The dealer that has it called and left a message today saying that they (don't know they are yet) have decided to replace it with a new one off of the shelf. Guess I'll go pick it up tomorrow. Don't know whether to try to trade it in right there, bring it home and run the snot out of it or list it on Craigslist to try to recoup some of my money.

[JohnG28]

Bring it home and run it!

[junkfxr]

After standing in the dealer's shop deliberating on what to do for a while I decided to bring the new saw home and run it like I stole it. Finally got a chance to use it on the following Tuesday. Started and ran great at first but then it started to warm up and the problems started showing up again. The tree that I was cutting was a 30+" diameter chestnut oak for the first 12 feet or so and the 20" bar was buried for quite a while so the computer had plenty of time to set it's self. The same old hesitation showed back up and continually got worse until it would die when I hit the throttle. After I pulled the saw out of the cut on about the second or third cut, it wouldn't idle back down. Sounded like it was idling about 4-5000 rpm, chain still spinning. Took about a minute for it to idle back down. Set the saw down to move some brush and it was idling fine fir a minute or so then just died for no reason. Had to use full choke to get it restarted. Called the dealer back on Thursday and told him what was going on and he said that he didn't know what else to do to it other than wait on Husky's fix that they are working on and for me to keep using it so I took it to our church's anual firewood cutting get together on Saturday. When I pulled it out of the truck, everybody wanted to try out the " new" saw so I passed it around without saying anything about the problems. After it got warmed up good, it wouldn't idle down at all, the chain keeps turning. Some of the replies I got were " cuts great as long as you hold it wide open, what's wrong wit it the rest of the time", " that thing's dangerous because the chain won't stop", "I'd take it back". That's just a few comments, there were a lot more.

[Andyshine77]

The carb on the 550 has a low speed needle. The carb must be removed to access the needle, and some of the newer saws have a brass plug covering the needle, but it's easy to remove. Turn the needle screw 1/4 of a turn counterclockwise. Brad Blsnelling has a thread on as about to his, and it fixes the issue on 99% of the saws with  acceleration problems. You're saw sounds more like an air leak that develops when the saw heats up. Buy this point you should have a new saw or your money back IMHO.

[junkfxr]

This is a new saw and the dealer said that Husqvarna won't even talk about buying it back. I know of a fellow that had real similar issues with a 576 and couldn't get it fixed or replaced. His saw is now hanging from the ceiling in his shed as an expensive reminder to stay away from Husqvarna products. It's the first thing you see when you walk through the door. I'm hoping mine doesn't end up the same way. My 346 has been absolutely trouble free from day one as well as a blower and trimmer, it's just this saw that cost over 3 times what the other stuff did.

[Andyshine77]

This is a new saw and the dealer said that Husqvarna won't even talk about buying it back. I know of a fellow that had real similar issues with a 576 and couldn't get it fixed or replaced. His saw is now hanging from the ceiling in his shed as an expensive reminder to stay away from Husqvarna products. It's the first thing you see when you walk through the door. I'm hoping mine doesn't end up the same way. My 346 has been absolutely trouble free from day one as well as a blower and trimmer, it's just this saw that cost over 3 times what the other stuff did.

Sounds like more of a dealer issue than a Husqvarna problem. A good dealer with get things done when something goes south with a new product. This should have been resolved on the spot. Find a better dealer and contact husky directly.

[thecfarm]

    I bought a Husky 562 back in May and it's one of the best running saws that I've ever owned, when it's running right.

Heading towards a year and still no results??  :  You need my wife to call them folks. She'll give them a wake up call. As she says we work hard for our money and when we spend it we want something that works right. Good luck.

[tlandrum]

I thought you were sending me the saw to straighten out. ?? sounds to me like the saw has an air leak but you wont know till its tested.

[junkfxr]

I thought you were sending me the saw to straighten out. ?? sounds to me like the saw has an air leak but you wont know till its tested.

I have about decided not to send it because you have a full time job coming up and I don't want to add to your list. Besides that, we've been crazy busy and shipping the saw off got moved to the round to it pile.