John Deere CS52 Chainsaw Maintenance

[Maui]

I bought this John Deere CS52 chainsaw at an auction years ago. When I brought it home I was surprised to find that it actually ran. I never had to do any repairs to it. And I think its well past time that I did a thorough job of performing some routine maintenance on it now. It’s been a good saw. It has a 16” bar and I’ve used it sparingly over the years. Today I wanted to use it again. So I mixed up a fresh gas/oil mix this morning and filled the tank. After a few pulls it fired up. It idles fine and seems to run reasnably well. But it is struggling to run well at full throttle and after running for about a minute it stalls whether or not it is at full throttle. This happened repeatedly. So I pulled the cover and looked at the air filter. It should probably be replaced. I should replace the fuel filter too. And not a bad idea to get a new spark plug for it as well. I looked online and can’t seem to find anyplace that sells the air filters for this model. I did find a store that sells aftermarket fuel filters for $1.90 each. I’d also like to get my hands on an owners manual too, and it seems like my best bet is ebay. You can get one there for about $20. Does anyone here own one of these chainsaws? Any idea where to source routine maintenance parts or find a pdf of the manual? Thanks for any insight you can share.

 

[Legion Prime]

https://deere-manual.com/john-deere-cs52-chainsaw-service-manual-download/

 

[Maui]

Thanks LP - I did see that link before posting here. They want $39.00 for the manual. I can get an original manual off of ebay for about $15.00 plus whatever shipping costs.

 

[Legion Prime]

Ah sorry, didn't see it was a link to a sales page. In the meantime you should be able to wash the air filter, clean and gap the current plug. They're generally in the neighborhood of 0.020-0.025". You'll have to take a look at the mix screws to see if you can tune it. Some manufacturers just use slotted screws but others insist on being dicks and use splined, pacman, hourglass etc screws. The dying after a minute sounds to me like a either the carb needs a rebuild or apparently the kill switches on them are supposed to be rather finicky. Apparently they're made by Efco, hopefully that helps your search.

 

[Jswain]

Routine maintenance, keep it full of bar oil, blow out the the air filter occasionally with air, keep the chain sharp...if you are an occasional user then about 5 minutes with a file/guide everytime you use it keeps it always good to go, flip the bar while your at it/clean & file any burrs, once again of you're an occasional user once youre done empty the gas tank then run the saw until it does out on its own, preferably ethanol free gas with a decent oil mixed properly...keep it in your can and dump it into your truck or something else annually to keep the stuff in the can less then 1 year old. Blow out around the pull cord/vents with air every now and then to keep it running cool.

Once youre in the habit it's and extra few minutes of work everytime you use the saw. Sure beats the frustration of pulling 100 times on the pull cord, bogging down, rebuilding carbs etc.

 

[ericm]

Try the "beg for manuals" section of the chainsaw forum on Arborsite.

The stalling sounds like a fuel flow problem. I'd try the filter first. Also inspect the fuel lines. I have had some rot out.
Fouled spark plugs usually cause starting problems but once started it will run. If it's not the lines or the filter then it's likely the carb being clogged or damaged internally. I prefer to rebuild the good quality carb that came on the unit rather than buying a questionable chinese carb. Some of those are fine, some are not. Saw carbs are not hard to work on, you just need to be gentle and patient.

If I have a saw that's going to sit for a while, I empty the fuel tank (which goes into the lawn tractor or log splitter) and run the engine at idle until it stalls to get the fuel out of the carb.

 

[Maui]

When I last ran the saw a few years ago I ran it until it was empty of non-ethanol fuel, so there should not have been any additional gumming up of the carb while it sat. But based on how it ran I am also guessing that the fuel filter should be replaced. I called a local shop that can source Deere parts, and he said that Deere showed zero air filters in stock (and their price is $38.00 each). Apparently this saw is at least 15 years old, and Deere hasn’t made parts for it since about 2007. So maintenance parts are hard to come by. But I can blow out the air filter and gap the plug. And I can order an aftermarket fuel filter, or buy an OEM fuel filter off of ebay.

 

[Lasu]

I would check all hoses, primer pump, carburetor basic adjustment.

The air filter is easy to clean. If broken, then a new one. Is the fuel filter dirty, dark?

The Efco 152 looks similar.

 

[Jswain]

Pull the spark plug and take a picture, no need to throw the parts cannon at it

 

[joe_pinehill1]

I would try a new gas filter and fuel line. also new 2 cycle carburetors are not expensive, just remove and replace.

One test I do for compression is to hold the saw by the pull cord, if the cord recoil can't resist the weight of the saw, you may have poor compression.