Crank bearing fit dilemma

A question for you experienced builders out there. I’m having an issue on the clutch side case for my 372XP. The new bearing is a couple thousandths sloppy in the bore. I thought it was weird when I had the bottom end soaking in ~ 150 degree soapy water, removed the case bolts and the cases came apart with no resistance. My guess is that someone already replaced the crank bearings on this at some point and didn’t use a temperature differential, and the bearing removed magnesium from the case. The bearing on the flywheel side went in mint with the temperature differential, and locked right into place when everything acclimated.

Is this side of the case junk? Can I peen around the bearing pocket? Shim it? High temperature loctite?

Thanks in advance.

 

Problem solved... new case. The hole is egg-shaped from being run like that a while with the sloppy bearing. Up and down isn't terrible but side to side I can get a 0.007" shim in there with room to spare! I was thinking of machining the bore larger, making an aluminum sleeve and hoping for the best, but I found an OEM case on the bay for $50, so that's the route I'm going.

 

680 loctite would work too...

 

I was thinking the same thing, but a new case 1/2 is even better.

 

I'm just more than a little leery about that gap. That and who's to say all said and done the bearing will be seated where it's supposed to be? If it was a consistent couple thousandths slop like I originally thought, I'd almost take a gamble. Full disclosure too: this is my first complete chainsaw rebuild from the bottom end up, and I'd hate for something to go wrong. I'd rather lessen my chances of catastrophic failure

 

Meh...it's a husky...

 

You’re absolutely right. Being a Husky, it can take things not being perfect and still run anyway.
I still can’t believe this is what the spark plug looked like when I first bought it… but it somehow ran.

 

I just said "meh, it's a husky"...that could be taken either way, a good thing, or a bad thing...
That plug is pretty nasty, but believe it or not I've seen worse!

 

All in good fun
This plug was as bad as I’ve ever seen, and indicative of what I found during tear down. This poor saw had a hard life. Luckily the original cylinder was still good, but by the time this goes back together it’s going to basically be a brand new saw. New top end, bottom end, clutch, muffler, ignition… But I don’t mind putting the work into a pro saw.

 

Good that you are keeping it oem. The aftermarket stuff is better than it has ever been but factory is better!

 

Poor saw, it was run hard and not cared for. Will be nice to have a "new" 372!

 

I've seen only one worse plug on a running unit. Was a GX Honda. Add 20% more fouling and color it black. I was stunned. I do have a pic but no idea where it went. That's an impressive one you have there.

 

Might as well give the 1/2’s fresh powder?

 

Knowing your skill set this would have worked for you. Certainly, you could easily do that; eyes closed and blindfolded.

That probably acts like a glow plug once it gets running.

 

I don’t know about all that
But I do think I’ll do that to this case half and save it as a spare. You never know when I might need it again.

 

Why not. Maybe it is just me but sometimes those one-off projects are actually fun, especially the ones where people say, " You can't fix that it is junk". Then you go and pull a rabbit out of the hat!

 

oh , and even better when you do it at work , on their time , their machines and tooling. Now that's a winner.

 

I wait for my lunch break to do that, or at least when I have a long running job with some ample cycle time. Nobody works faster than the guy trying to sneak a quick job in while a legitimate one is running

 

The old machinist trick of peening the pocket or bearing to get the proper fit does work, but often ends up with slow air leaks if the sealant has any porosity or doesn’t adhere to the case. It’s a fantastic trick on wheel bearings or other non-two stroke bearings, though.
Non x-torq 372? OE? Verify case halves as there were some minor differences depending on what ya got and what you’ve ordered.
I have built up 3 of this series and like ‘em. The 371/372 original edition (OE) just makes sense to me.