Poulan Pro Gas Cap

[willr]

We have a 20 in Poulan Pro chainsaw and the gas cap is ridiculously hard to get off and to put back on. I have to use pliers to get it on/off. Any suggestions on how to make it easier? thanks.

[beenthere]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum

Does the cap have to be put on so tight? 

[FayettesFinest]

I have a loaner Poulan Pro and it's the same way. I know the Husky gets like that sometimes, but the Poulan has never fired and the cap still get's tighter than two coats of paint

[beenthere]

but the Poulan has never fired

What does that mean?

[Mooseherder]

You can use the flat drive end on your scrench to loosen the cap. 

[old guy]

This is common with these saws, gas swells the plastic in these caps, I alternate two caps, the swelling goes down if you leave em off for a while.
  Sears has new caps that fit these as most Craftsman saws are Poulan.

      John

[trapper]

I find it helps to wipe a little bar oil on the o ring of the fuel cap with my finger before replacing the fuel cap.

[JustGreg]

I stopped using ethanol gas and stopped having the swollen cap problem......among others.

[chainsawwhisperer]

This is common with these saws, gas swells the plastic in these caps, I alternate two caps, the swelling goes down if you leave em off for a while.
  Sears has new caps that fit these as most Craftsman saws are Poulan.

      John

Exactly,  Buy an extra and swap them when they swell. Seems to take about a month to shrink back down.    CSW

[mad murdock]

You can take the o ring off the cap and go to your local parts house(auto parts) and ask for a Viton o ring of the same size. Will get rid of the swelling problem.

[old guy]

On mine it is not the O ring that's the problem but the plastic threads, as soon as the threads engage it gets hard to turn.
  I also saw these caps at Fleet Farm today.

     John

[FayettesFinest]

but the Poulan has never fired

What does that mean?

It never ran for me.

[Al_Smith]

Swelling of the o-rings on Stihl flip caps is also a problem .The solution rather than buy a new cap for 8 bucks is just a 29 cent o-ring .Actually in bulk about 12-15 cents .--you've got to kind of out smart them some times --- :D

[Bret4207]

I stopped using ethanol gas and stopped having the swollen cap problem......among others.

Right on. If you think a Poulan cap swells bad, try an old Pioneer! The swelling doesn't seem to go down on those. You end up spending a bunch of time with a file and hacksaw blade getting things fixed right. Big pain, no ethanol for my saws.