Had a friend drop off an Echo CS-4600 that was a hand-me-down. Said it was working. I couldn't start it. Compression felt a bit wishy washy and I have so many saws I need to fix for my tree service buddy (11 372xp, 3 193/194) and kind of tossed it aside. Well the other day I had a few minutes to kill before picking up the kids so I decided to take a look. I took off the cover and was SHOCKED at how dirty it was. It was nasty, like it had never ever been cleaned. I first removed the spark plug, sprayed a little starting fluid in there, and got it to burp. So I knew it was a fuel delivery issue, most likely a filthy carb, a ripped fuel line, a clogged fuel filter....... I had previously put in a brand new fuel filter so I knew it wasn't that. I took a before pic. See if you can spot the issue. Spoiler below. Then I took a brush and proceeded to clean it up. And about 3 seconds in I was like "Wtf?" I looked and sure enough the damm fuel line was pulled right off the nipple of the carb. I thought surely I had brushed a little too vigorously so I decided to put the line back in. Well, turns out it was one of those super rigid fuel lines and I had a hell of a time putting it back on. It was cold out (25F?) and I really had to use some pinching strength to get it back on there. Tried brushing it off and it didn't move 1mm. I was pretty sure it would start now so I put it back together and after a few pulls it started right up. Then I took a closer look and realized that the rear anti-vibration damper which actually holds the two halves of the saw together (handle, crankcase) was completely missing. The two dampers in the front looked like they had seen better days too....so that was the issue - the missing dampers caused the body/handle to flex so much it literally yanked the fuel line off of the nipple. Just look at how filthy this thing was! This friend is a cop and I jokingly texted him "It's so dirty I feel like I should write you a ticket right now....." About $90 for 3 sets of dampers, caps, and screws, 2 cans of brake kleen, a fuel filter, and I went a little proactive and just ordered a carb rebuild kit.
Ok not quite fixed but now it's almost all fixed. I installed 3 new bushings.....Didn't realize there was a 4th one hidden under the flywheel cover. Luckily the front left one was in good shape. The other 2 that were still there were badly damaged. The one under the flywheel handle was pulled right out of where it was supposed to be and wedged in there!!!! I had to pop it out with a flathead. New screws, new bushings, new caps on 3 out of 4. When I discovered the 4th bushing I noticed the fuel tank vent was spewing out fuel. Popped the cap off and there was some debris in there but it looks like that vent is shot so I ordered a new one. The grommet that holds the vent in the body is NLA and I found one in England for $20 shipped ($1.75 for the part the rest for shipping wtf). I popped that guy out and it seemed a little oblong instead of nice and round. There was a ton of debris in there so I cleaned it up and reinstalled and I think it might actually be ok for now. So just waiting on the new tank vent and then I'll reinstall the bar and chain and sharpen it up for my buddy. I have a carb kit for it so I think I should just take the carb off and inspect. I'm sure it's dirty as heck. Here's the rear right bushing completely missing. The bushings have a metal plate vulcanized into the rubber and all that was left was the metal plate. Old cap and bushing front right. Plate New bushing installed Here's the left rear bushing completely pulled out of where it's supposed to be. Fuel tank vent is the aqua cap. Here's the rubber piece inside of the fuel tank vent. Caps and screws installed. Old parts. Fuel tank vent grommet pulled out. Dirty as heck.
Part number for the Echo fuel tank vent. A356000031 OEM Echo CS-341, CS-370F, CS-450P Vent, Fuel Tank
Made in Japan, serial number 60016 Thanks. I chatted with customer support and they said that the CS-4600 was only manufactured between 1987-1990.......so that makes it at least 32 years old and possibly 35!
If his saw was that dirty, I wonder how well he cleans his service weapon. Maybe you should offer to take a look at that for him too before he needs it.
