Penn 501 rough feeling when pinion not fully engaged need guru help

[stevennc]

So I thought I had this fully diagnosed but now I need a second opinion

My penn 501 has a rough grinding feeling to it sometimes when going from freespool to gear.Lets say it happens 50/50. this can be fixed with a quick crank forward or backwards.  From then on it feels great. I thought it was the eccentric or the yoke , but now I have the problem still with those replaced. When I take the sideplate off and put it on a standard 500 (completely different reel)  it may feel rough , but then it engages the pinion to the spool significantly faster without any effort. I thought the actual spool is worn out.

This reel does have an unknown 5:1 gear ratio

Thanks guys

[Alto Mare]

The other few places to look would be the pinion and spool shaft...as you've mentioned.
The best way to do this is to take the pinion out and  test it by hand while sliding it on the spool shaft with very little force, see if it slides in and out freely.
Check the spool shaft for any burrs, the squared part where the pinion locks in at times need to be hit with a file.  The pinion will also need to be checked and so does the tip of the bushing.
When the spool is used with no side-way play at all, at times that bushing gets damaged at the tip.   

I purchased a magnifying glass with led light for less than $10 and its doing a great job on spotting damaged on parts, especially if you don't have other lights on.

Don't rule the gears out yet, try those first and see what happens.

If all mentioned above don't work, place the reel in the trash bin...just kidding .

Sal

[SoCalAngler]

Kind of sounds to me that the pinion slots are not sliding enough then put into gear to engage the spool fully because when you say you turn the handle the pinion locks in on the spool and everything is fine. Maybe it is just the lighter spool of the 501 is not giving the torque the larger spool is. Try spinning the spool fast and then engage the reel. Sometimes a reel needs a little more spinning force to get the pinion and spool to lock in place when put into gear.

[stevennc]

Tomorrow Im going to pull the pinion and check it out. My 500 right side plate works fine on the 501. I think this is more of a mental issue, and wont really be a hindrance while fishing.

With a quick glance at two standard pinions, and then this pinion I noticed a difference that may be the cause, but Im not sure. If you look at a standard pinion at the portion that accepts the spool square block when in gear, it has a slight recessed / countersunk portion. I attached a picture to explain kind of what I mean the red parts represent the skight countersink to possibly guide it better

[stevennc]

I pulled the pinion out and checked it on the spool. It would not engage easily while other stock pinions would. I think its the sharp edges and no bevel as I suspected a bit earlier. Good thing its not the spool. Im going to dremel a slight bevel , and clean up the sharp edges. Ill post how that ends up.

Thanks for the help guys. I never thought of checking a pinion for spool fitment prior to installation , but I guess with aftermarket gears its worth a try.