My chainsaw is a 35 year old Homelite Super XL 2. The symptom is that it will not idle. At full power it still runs great. I can keep it running at a lower speed only by goosing the throttle. It is however becoming more and more difficult to start.
I thought maybe the pumping diaphragm or gasket valve tabs in the Walbro carb were becoming stiff and or there might be some crap that needed cleaned out etc so I bought a gasket kit. Unfortunately, I discovered that the old diaphram and valve tabs are fine, no stiffer than the new ones. The inside is very clean, all the jets are open, etc.
Upon further ruminating I noticed that the thin stainless steel flapper of the induction valve assembly is not completely closed. There is a slight gap of about .015"
Could this be the reason the engine won't idle?
If the SS flapper was mounted with screws I would have just disassembled it, flipped it over and reassembled (& not have written this entry!). But no, it's mounted with what appear to be rivets. The body of the assembly is some sort of plastic or maybe bakelite so I think the rivet stems were molded into the plastic then cold headed with the flapper in place.
I don't see any point to pursuing it if the slight gap is normal but I have no idea if it is normal or not.