Replacing Pinion Gear on Spinning Reel

[Ol Dirty Basser]

What's up everyone, new guy here... I have an Abu Garcia Revo X 2X20 spinning reel that I have disassembled and reassembled a couple of times. A problem that I'm having is when reassembling, in the process of reinstalling the main shaft and pinion bearing assembly, sometimes the reel won't reel forward. It moves a fraction of a turn, then locks up.

The last time this happened, I disassembled and reassembled a couple of times and then it worked. I replaced the bearings on the pinion gear assembly today though, and I just can't seem to get it on correctly, to where it will reel forward.

My feeling is that it's just a matter of alignment/synchronization of the gears, like everything has to be lined up to a specific part of the handle rotation, when the pinion gear is installed. Or to put it in other words, I feel like if I have all the gears rotated to a certain position when I install the pinion gear, it will go on correctly.

I could be totally wrong about though. In any event, I think it's just a small nuance in the way everything goes back on, not a problem with parts or anything.

Do you have any idea what could be happening? If it helps at all, everything I learned about working on this reel is from this video . I wouldn't be surprised if the answer to my question is in the video. Unfortunately, it's not in English.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

[Gfish]

Welcome ODB!
Is that an anti-reverse bearing on the pinion? Prolly wrong cause I don't know the reel, but it(if it exists) and the inside sleeve have to be installed correctly for it to turn forward, then stop when the handle is turned backwards.

[Ol Dirty Basser]

Thanks! Yes, it is an anti-reverse bearing. I'm pretty sure it's on right because it has a pin that has to align with the pin on the body in order for the spring to attach. As far as I can tell, there's only one way for it to go on where the spring will be able to attach.

[alantani]

when you test it, is the rotor on?  you can have the spool off, but the rest of the reel has to be assembled.  that way the pinion gear stays in place. 

[Ol Dirty Basser]

I did not, but I just put it on and I get the same result. I might try reinstalling with the gears in a different position and attaching the rotor.

[Gfish]

The guy(kinda sounds French), speeds up the video for the AR bearing /pinion assembly, hard to see detail. Can you turn, upside-down, that big metal bearing on pinion(if it's the AR bearing)?
Those 2 posts running up through the gear-box look Shimano-like.
Do you have a schematic?

[Ol Dirty Basser]

So I tried messing with the AR clutch, and after trying to see if there's another way to flip it, etc. I'm pretty sure it was on correctly.

I do have the schematic, and I don't see anything different than what I've done. Let me know if you're interested in seeing it.

Kauai, huh?! Shoots!

[Gfish]

Sounds like you got it covered. Maybe the gears like you say...
Raining off and on here. Haven't been fishing/kayaking since late April because of an arm injury. Gonna push it forward before I haveta go back to work. I'm desperate. Looks like the in-shore/reef area is gonna be muddy...

[Ol Dirty Basser]

Just to close this out...

After considering buying a new reel (really!) I gave it another go. I took off the back and manually moved the main shaft to about the halfway (back to front) mark. I added the pinion gear assembly, with all the bearings etc. already on. I have to say that it looked like it sat differently for some reason. I spun the pinion a little manually, and it seemed to turn correctly. Hoping it was going to work, I slapped a little extra grease on the main gears before putting the back on. I reassembled and it works!

To top it off, the two bearings that I replaced on the pinion assembly, made a huge difference. A little (late) backstory, my rod got pulled into shallow saltwater on one of the rare occasions that I fish with bait. I initially only replaced a stuck handle bearing, but after a couple months of use I noticed an annoying grinding noise coming from the rotor area. I replaced those two bearings and now it's quiet and smooth. Hopefully I can get another couple years out it before replacing it.

[alantani]

glad it's working!!!