Just picked a used zebco cardinal 4: I noticed that when I spin the reel it makes a clacking noise. It seems to be the spool hitting the housing as it goes down. Any remedies to this?
Check the rotor nut and make sure it is installed correctly and tabs on the washer are in between the ridges. Make sure the small washers are in the correct place where the block on the oscillation arm/connecting link is attached at the rear of the main shaft. Also, the oscillation arm may be worn to point that it may need to be replaced, which happens rarely, but occasionally.
Remove the spool and push & pull the main shaft to see how much play there is. Once you do that remove the sideplate and do the same thing to see where the play originates. Then proceed accordingly.