Hi and first off thanks to Hobby Talk for hosting this forum. It has given me the courage to start trying to fix my slightly used and non running Poulan 18" wild thing chainsaw - model 2375 type 1

It won't even THINK about starting :confused:

I've looked through the forum and the archives and have gone through the following steps:
*spark ok and new plug
*new gas mixture
*cleaned air filter
*no cracks or kinks in feul lines or primer bulb
*no real fuel filter on this model, just a fuel pick up assembly
*nothing blocking exhaust
*roughly checked cylinder intake pressure with finger with carb off

My question is whether you guys think this could be the problem: After taking the carburator off, I noticed the gasket between the cylinder and the carb was torn (partially removed) on the right hand side of the carb assembly, all the way from the screw hole outward. The gasket is perfectly intact immediately around the actual cylinder intake, just outside the screw hole... (email (pknc@earthlink.net) me if you want an image representation of the gasket)

Would a tear in this location cause the compression of the cylinder intake to be lessened causing the carb diaphram to not suck in the gas/air into the cylinder?

Now I'm not 100% sure the gasket was like this before I hit problems, or if tearing it was a result of taking the carb off during these tests. That made me think to ask the experts here.

Thanks in advance
-p

First thing you will need to do is a compression check. A quick check can be done by looking in the exhaust port for scoring on the cylinder/piston.

From you description it doesn't sound like the torn gasket would cause a problem but is would always be good to change it.

If all of the above seems well, it could be an air leak. First thing to do is turn the saw over and tighten down the 4 bolts on the bottom of the saw directly below the engine. These bolts hold the engine halves together and are known to loosen up and cause air leaks.