Chainsaw Repair

Understand that I am by no means a mechanic.
I have a Husqvarna 257. It's not cranking. I want to fix it myself and decided to give it a go. I have pulled the plug and decided to replace it. Before I put the new plug in I dropped a bit of gas in and then put the plug in. After doing this the saw fired up and promptly died. This told me that gas was not getting where it needed to get. I found a good video on youtube on how to dissemble and rebuild a Husqvarna 55 and the inside was very close to mine. So the next thing I did was pull the top again and I pulled the gas line from the in take on the carb. I blew into it and when I stopped I saw gas bubbling up and coming out. So I think the gas is getting as far as the carb. I pulled the carb and inspected it but didn't see anything that looked bad. I am not sure what to do to make sure the carb is not the problem. I considered just ordering a carb but I don't want to do that just to troubleshoot the issue. So I went looking for a forum to ask. Am I correct in my thinking that gas is getting as far as the carb. How could I test the carb to see if indeed that is bad.  As for my troubleshooting did I leave out another possibly. Any help would be appreciated.

Also, does anyone have a digital copy of a service guide for this model, or maybe point me in a direction to get one. Thanks

I sent you a Email

There is a combined manual that includes several other Husqvarna at


http://www.getsaws.com/PDFs/w9600001.pdf

I pulled the guide from http://www.getsaws.com/PDFs/w9600001.pdf, so thanks a million. That guide looks like it covers all of our saws.
So as for the diagnostics I did. Did I leave anything out or should I go ahead and get a new carb or what.    Thanks again people for the help!

I think you are on the right track. I would have a look at the membranes in the carb first.
Pump membrane stretch and stop pumping. Fuel eats metering membrane. under pump membrane there is a filter that can get full once in a while.
If so, change pic up filter too. Look over hose for cracks too.

I doubt you need a new carb.

1 turn out from lightly seated on H and L needle is a good starting point.

The metering valve diaphragm needs to be very supple. If it gets stiff at all the engine will be impossible to tune.

If one of my saws gets hard to tune I change the metering valve diaphragm and back flush the fuel filter. It usually straightens things right up.