I'm going to look at a 372XP tomorrow after work. It's described as a "parts or repair" saw which doesn't necessarily bother me as that's what both of my current saws were. I won't be able to do real testing on the saw but I'm wondering what I can look for that might indicate bigger issues that push it into the not worth it to fix it range? I got my two saws I have now going but I don't have the same experience that some here do so I figured I would look for some advice.
At the price he's asking, I'd want to have a pretty clear idea of what the problem is because it would be easy to spend more than you could hope to get back out of it. The saw looks fairly solid, but turn it every which way and look for any possible crankcase damage, e.g. cracks, missing chunks, or missing fasteners that might indicate stripped holes. Remove the clutch and starter covers and wiggle the crankshaft left and right, up and down, forward and back, feeling for possible bearing play. I'd like to tell you to rotate the crank directly by turning the flywheel, feeling for any roughness in the bearings, but the ad already indicates it's difficult to turn over. Chances are that's because of piston damage, and you won't be able to distinguish roughness in the bearings from the resistance of a badly scored piston. Remove the muffler and look at the piston. Assuming it's scored, try to gauge how severe the scoring is. Do you see damage that seems so severe that you think the cylinder itself might be damaged? If you rotate the motor until you can see over the top of the piston, do you see scratches or aluminum transfer on the far/intake side? If by some chance the piston is not scored, then you have to ask where the resistance is coming from. Is a crank bearing locking up? Crankshaft damaged? If you can get away with cleaning up the cylinder and replacing the piston and a few other small bits and pieces then this might be a good deal. If you have to split the case to replace bearings or a damaged crankshaft, then not such a good deal. If the case and crank are good but the cylinder is damaged along with the piston then it's kind of at the break-even point.
Thanks, that's about what I was thinking but laid out in better more detailed way, very helpful. The way I'm looking at this is I'm looking for something to use, not flip. that being said I don't want to end up paying the same or more than I could get a good running saw for. I'd like to pay less than he is asking but if it looks like all it needs is a piston (I'm thinking this is doubtful) I wouldn't have a problem with it.
I wouldnt pay more than $100 for that saw. Ive seen beat runners go for not much more than that. Jon covered all the important points. I would start w pulling muffler. Get a good look into cylinder and see whats up. Scoring on intake side is usually synonymous with straight gas/lean mix episode. Pulling clutch cover and starter is quick an you can get a lot of good info.
When buying a used saw, anytime there is top-end damage, assume the top end is junk from a "what's it worth" standpoint. Never proceed into buying non-functioning equipment of any size hoping that the cost of repairs will work out in your favor. Because it never does.
Jon1270 covered it. I generally make it a point to check the plug threads as well to make sure they're not stripped.
As an update, I got it, paid less then he was asking but a little more than I wanted to. It looks like the reason it stopped running was the coil rubbing on the flywheel, theoretically I think it might run as is but the piston does show some scoring so I want to pressure test it and tear it down and go through it to get an idea how far I want to go. In the process of going over it I get it turning freely and the crank bearing felt fine from what I could tell. A couple missing screws but nothing stripped and as I read when researching these saw missing screws are pretty common. In person I think it looks a little better than the pictures.
I bought several in that price range. You get bit every now then. The worst were the big end crank bearings being out. Luck of the draw good luck. I'd buy it all day for 200 IMO as is.
Well I started breaking it down tonight to see what I am dealing with. It looks like it's not going to be too bad overall. I didn't pressure test it before starting, I forgot my pump at work and was feeling impatient. Definitely found some issues with assembly, the guy I got it from said he replaced the rings hen he got it and I found the clamp for the intake was not tightened so I'm surprised things are not worse then they are. The issue with it being hard to turn over ended up being one of the screws behind the flywheel backing out and rubbing on the flywheel. Thoughts on whether this flywheel is ok or should I replace it? This saw was being run pretty rich, any recommendations for cleaning this up? Would I be better off just putting a meteor piston in? Finally the cylinder, from what I can see thing should clean up well. I don't see aluminum transfer here just streaking I think from the carbon on the piston. I am considering splitting the case and replacing the seals, I do see a leak in the oil tank under the muffler. Honestly I am tempted to do it more for the experience than anything else (well knowing that things are solid would be nice too).
I was thinking the gasket between the case halves (should have said gasket not seals) but it occurred to me that the screw that backed out was holding the case together where the oil was leaking so maybe tightening that up will stop the leak.
