Chainsaw Repair

Husqvarna - Stihl - Poulan - Jonsered - Dolmar chainsaws and more => Poulan => Topic started by: Poulanman on December 09, 2018, 05:42:25 pm

Title: PP3816A
Post by: Poulanman on December 09, 2018, 05:42:25 pm
This started out in a post called "Poulan 2000 won't die" about the old saw that this new saw replaces. Now it is about the new saw, a PP3816A, so it needs a new thread.
 I shopped online for a day or two to find the modern equivalent of my old saw. I wanted to preserve the desirable characteristics such as light weight, not too heavy, and doesn't weigh too much. I call this specification my "Old Man Saw". Doesn't wear me out lugging it to the worksite. My shopping list included 16" bar, power equal or better than the old 34cc unit, light weight, and perhaps some parts interchange (chain, bar and maybe clutch). Since the old Poulan had lasted more than three decades I saw no reason to switch brands. Then it got complicated. Nowadays there are saws labeled Poulan and others labeled Poulan Pro. Some are different and some are common to both lines. Just in my narrow search of 16" saws with low-to-mid 30s cc displacement that meant 3416s, 3816s, even a couple of 4016 models for comparison. Then there are the prefixes and suffixes. Pxxxx saws are Poulan and PPxxxx are Poulan Pro. Then we have one or two letter suffixes. The suffix AV seemed to always come up as forged crank and rod, but the description said "automatic chain oiling" or something vague like that while other saws clearly specified gear oil pump. So I guessed that the PP3816AV would be a good block with the same old crankcase-pressure chain oiling system and I ordered one. Curiously, the price was about what was paid for the old saw 30-some years ago. Here begins my review of the new saw.
What I got was a nice new PP3816A in a hard case. I don't know what happened to the V suffix, maybe it was lost in transit. Who cares, this is the saw I wanted! It does appear to have the good engine guts because there is no "Oxy" stuff on it anywhere and it is not California compliant. It is 4cc more engine than the old saw and does weigh a bit more. I read quickly through the manual to see if there was any break-in routine. Mixed a bit of kerosene with my bar oil as per the advice in the manual. Tried to pull the rope in a dry test and found it rather awkward in various positions. Fueled it up and ran it in the barn a bit, then got in the Gator and headed out to cut some fallen limbs into firewood. The new PP3816A did a fine job. I like the primer bulb. Lots of our power equipment has them these days, but not the old saw. No more pulling until your arm falls off to get fuel to the carb! The auto-choke system is nice, familiar from other saws and trimmers. It has a Half-choke position that includes fast idle, but I only learned that reading the whole manual while I rested after cutting wood. I expect starting to be even easier now that I know what to do. And speaking of starting, the awkward pulling angle I mentioned earlier is due to the saw being designed to start with a foot on the rear handle. Maybe I should have read the yellow sheet that came with the manual. Most bestest of all, the chain oiler is a gear pump! The old saw used crankcase pressure and would blow all the oil out long before the fuel ran out unless one used very thick bar oil. And the reservoir would drain into the storage case overnight. The gear pump has got to be a great improvement. I was skeptical of the blade brake. "Just more of that darned safety crap"... well, it is completely unobtrusive, no more than the hand shield on the old saw. And if it ever needs to work, there it is. A good thing, for sure. When the saw arrived, my first impulse was to wait and test it after the carb adjusting tool arrived. But we needed some wood so I went out to cut some. The saw seemed to be running lean at first. It started and idled well, but at WOT the engine would bog and try to die unless the throttle was pumped repeatedly. The longer the saw ran the more this condition improved. After perhaps twenty minutes it was running much better, so it may have just been cold, but still I like to keep the carb adjusting tool handy when using a 2-stroke. The PP3816A filled the Gator bed with wood and I'm sitting by a hot stove in my sweats now. So this looks like another 30 year saw. I can work this thing as hard as an old man can and probably never wear it out. That is great value for a small price.
Title: Re: PP3816A
Post by: Cut4fun . on December 09, 2018, 05:59:31 pm
Poulan 3816

Is this what you have?  From poulan website. http://www.poulanpro.com/ca-en/products/chainsaws/pp3816a/967196401/
Title: Re: PP3816A
Post by: Poulanman on March 02, 2019, 10:15:35 am
Yeah, except mine had the Poulan Pro logo on the blade horizontal rather than slanted. Whatever, it's worn off now! I forgot to mention one of the best improvements over the old saw: The large filler caps with big ears on fuel and oil tanks. They can be used with gloves on.