I am the original owner of this saw and up to now have been more than satisfied with the performance. Never had a breakdown. Never had startup issues. I always kept it clean and made sure I used the proper gas to oil mix. I would even run the saw till empty before long periods of no use. Today is a different story. I cannot get it started. Tried a new plug, fresh gas, clean air filter. I have not touched and carb settings or tested any internal parts. Before I go back to the dealer, are there things that I can check myself? Just trying to save a few bucks without screwing it up.
Check for spark first thing. Once you know there is spark, remove the spark plug and make sure the plug and cylinder are dry (pull saw over several times and even use compressed air to dry out the cylinder). Put plug back in and drizzle a teaspoon or so of mix right in the air inlet of the carb, then pull over to start. It should fire on that mix that you dumped in and that will give you good impulse to the carburetor and will likely stay running. If it fires and runs a couple seconds, try that again. If all you get are a couple seconds of run time with the teaspoon of mix, it is likely a fuel delivery issue.
Has the saw ever had carb diaphragm changed? The last new 2054 was made in 2000. That'd be my target. If the rubber has packed up, probably time for new lines as well. It could be something as simple as your pulse line cracking. As Ronaldo says, pull the plug and put a little gas in the cylinder to make sure it'll fire off. Possibly this may bring it back to life but if it runs and quits I'd look to the diaphragm/pump. If you get nothing, try a new spark plug before blaming the coil.
Another easy one is to make sure the kill switch wire is still on the switch and not laying on the floor of the carb box
I agree with a carb clean/rebuild. If this sat with eth fuel outside in the seasonal weather changes, you could have some crust in there and the diaphragm might have gotten stiff. Definitely check the easy stuff mentioned first.
This rubber line is visible near the fuel cap. Lots of cracks. Is this the pulse line? Yup, I bought the saw new in 1996 Carb has never been serviced
That's not the pulse. Pulse runs from the little nipple on the bottom of Jug and looks to go through a separator plate then under side of carburetor. Trying to determine what your picture shows (not familiar with this model so working from diagrams). Honestly I'm not sure what that is? (your pic) Schematics do not plainly show what it is. My best guess is that there are two ignition wires in there related to kill switch?
Got into it a little further. Pulled the plug and grounded it on the cylinder head. No park! So, I pulled the coil. Using a multimeter, I get nothing from the spark plug end to the coil. I'll replace the coil with a new one next. I was told to use a spark tester instead of a multimeter to check for spark, but I don't have one and a new coil online is only $15. I will also check the other things that a few of you suggested. Many thanks for the help. By the way, I found my original paperwork when I purchased the 2054 back in 1996. $450 with a 18" bar.
So was that the kill wire beside the fuel cap or something else? Curiosity killing me. Yep, spruce it up while you got it apart for another decade of good service.
Coil tester is best, since that's a load test. But you can often at least tell if the coil has failed catastrophically with a multimeter...
Shop at work used to have a buzzer box but it kaputed itself. Was older than me and was excellent for it's purpose. We musta been the only ones in town with one still working because it was well used.
Look anything like this? It hasn't been discarded yet, hoping that it may be able to be fixed I guess.
IT'S RUNNING LIKE NEW! Many thanks for all the ideas. The coil was shot. My problem was that the original factory coil has an external {red wire} ground. This coil is very difficult to find, since Jonsered is no longer in production. Aftermarket coils for the 2054 have a different setup. You run the black wire from the kill switch to a spade lug that comes out of the coil then run the green wire to ground. Don't laugh. I'm a retired engineer, but I don't know squat about this stuff. Anyway, 30 year old saw with a new lease on life.
Well after being so proud of myself for getting the 2054 running, I think I have a bigger problem. Was cutting a rather large stump and got the saw pretty hot. The clutch seems to have frozen up while the saw was running. Stopped the saw and let it cool down. It pulls over {piston moving ok}, but clutch will not budge. So how do I get at the clutch? Or am I totally screwed? Are there disassembly instructions or shop manual available? Sure would like it fix it if possible.
Under the clutch cover is either an outboard or inboard clutch. They are both pretty straightforward removable. Watch a few videos and you should be good to go. I will never claim to be a mechanic, but I’ve removed a husky clutch assembly with a screwdriver and hammer and I slept at a holiday inn express last night.
