"Scratchy "Reel Noise: Pinion Bearing Replacement or Relube???

[Roccus7]

Learned Colleagues:

I fish my reels "hard and put them up wet", never getting much TLC at all. I did catch hundreds of bass last year on my Go To Clash 4000 and it started making this noise the other day:

I popped the cover and slapped in some more Penn lube grease around inside, but no joy on noise abatement. There was plenty of grease in the reel when I opened it. The noise is more apparent when there's direct load on the reel, e.g. quickly reeling in a mass of seaweed, but no noise when there's no load.

It's been suggested that it's a pinion bearing problem, which fits with my observation above, and the fact that I can't get any lubrication directly on these bearings by just popping the cover. Therefore I'd like the collective knowledge here to respond to these questions before I take the reel totally apart, something I only want to do once...

1. Is it the pinion bearings, if not what is it?
   
   
2. If it is those bearings, should I:
   1. Clean and relubricate them?
      1. Use Penn grease or Penn Oil, if not what else?
   2. Because of my heavy usage, should I just replace the bearings?
      
3. While I have the reel apart, anything else I should be looking for or should just replace as a matter of course yearly???

Thanks,
R7

 

[flounderbound]

All the bearings on the Clash 4000 are sealed.Check the 2 pinion bearings and the main gear`s 2 bearings for dirt or sand/salt. After cleaning them if there is still noise they should be replaced

 

[flounderbound]

Before checking the bearings remove the spool and see if the noise is present.then proceed ,The reel doesn`t look like it`s spinning freely. WD 40 to clean,followed by penn lube and oil on the bearings.

 

[Roccus7]

Before checking the bearings remove the spool and see if the noise is present.then proceed ,The reel doesn`t look like it`s spinning freely. WD 40 to clean,followed by penn lube and oil on the bearings.

Thanks, that wasn't my reel, something I found on YouTube that had the "correct" noise. Right now the noise has abated, but I ordered the bearings anyway so when I finally break down and take it apart, it will be "once and done".

 

[Old Mud]

Thanks, that wasn't my reel, something I found on YouTube that had the "correct" noise. Right now the noise has abated, but I ordered the bearings anyway so when I finally break down and take it apart, it will be "once and done".

Call me before you order more bearings.