Penn 45 GLS Drag Problem

[Djamiller]

I recently got a broken Penn GLS45 from eBay for cheap that I rebuilt according to Alan's 40GLS guide. It turns out the bearings where bad and someone had taken it apart and reassembled it wrong. I lubed everything, replaced the bearings and reassembled it but I can't get the drag working properly. The reel has pretty much zero drag until I get it up past strike, any ideas on what could be the problem?

[Bryan Young]

I will assume that you have already tighten your preset knob...

When you change beariings, did you change the pinion bearing with one of the same width?

Does the spool have a pressure plate or was it left out from the previous service?

Is the integral cam on the side plate http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/100_00461.JPG worn?  How about within the lever?

[Djamiller]

The bearings are exactly the same as the originals, I got them from pennparts. The cam and everything look okay to me, I'll try and get some pictures up today.

[Djamiller]

The pressure plate your talking about is the one with the drag on it correct? The reel has the cam and the lever has the notches on the inside still. I've taken this damn thing apart several times now to figure it out, everything looks fine, I don't get it. About to give up on this one, getting real tired of dumping money into it, I could have a decent amount saved toward another tyrnos by now.

[Taily]

They can be a little tricky to put together right but the trick with the cam and lever is to put them together with the lever at the stop at the low end of the drag quadrant, then tighten the drag adjustment knurled nut. The ramped washer must sit in the right (located) position too... Just got to fiddle with that bit to get it just right.

A couple of points: If the drag side bearing is a bit gravelly in feel it really does need to be replaced, and if you are missing one of the belleville washers on the left hand side of the spool shaft you'll get little or no ramp up in the drag - similar to what you describe.

Does the spool move significantly left when you tighten the drag?

Regards,

Dave.

[Djamiller]

I put the lever on in free spool, I've even tried it other ways though and no luck . Also all the bearings are brand new and all the bellevilles are there, I also left them in the stock orientation. The spool does not appear to be moving left at all when I apply drag, it actually slightly moves to the right (toward the handle). I appreciate the help guys, I'm probably just being dumb here (hopefully lol).