Anyone know how to fix the level wind bar on a Abu 5501c3 left hand reel? The level wind bar that moves the line back and forth stopped working consistently. After a cast when I engage it and start to reel - it works ok for a few seconds but then stays to the right hand side.
thanks.

Carry a spare pawl with you as well, and oil the one in the reel every trip. WD 40 will work without slowing things down, but it doesn't last more than a trip or two. The access screw is on the bottom side of the level wind bar. That reel is simple....get a diagram and take it apart and put it back together until you know where everything goes.

i have also seen the worm gear wear out on occasion. if you don't have the kind with the ball bearings in it(C4 or C5) they're fairly cheap and just take a minute to replace.

i don't oil the gear itself anymore, just the bearings or bushings in the ends.

1. Get a screw driver, and work in a area that doesn't have lot's of "stuff"......I use a old towel or bedsheet. If you drop a part, you'll be able to see it.

2. first tighen to the cap cover...could be simple as that....if the cap cover is loose, then no pressure on the pawl. See if that helps/works...

3. if doing #2 above, doesn't work........then take the "cap cover" off...pawl should fall out.....look at it, should have 2 points that engage the level wind.

4. If one of the "points" in broken off....replace pawl and you'll be good to go......actual if you have any ABU's.....can use the pawl out of one of those.

5. If you have to buy a pawl.......get 2......at some point you'll need that 2nd one....

Make sure you "oil" the level wind......often!!!!

Good luck!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks guys - that will get me started.

And...you can order a small bag of a dozen pawls for cheap...and they're all interchangeable between ABU's...just keep a few around, if your reel makes it to "old timer" status, it will have burned thru a few over its lifetime.

Fish on...

Todd

P.S. On the river, without a spare pawl, I've found that cramming a bit of yarn in the cap on top the pawl will cram it just a bit tighter into the worm drive and might squeeze another half a day of life out of it

it is highly recommended that pawls and worm gears be changed together. adding a fresh pawl to a worn & tired wormgear does not really fix this problem. this is the long term correct fix.

What Stam said,=Shimano.Good luck,
SZ

if a guy is content with a Abu c3 reel there's no need to step up. especially if it's just a plug reel.

thats like telling a farmer to step up to a corvette intead of his tractor.

sometimes a reliable tool is all a guy needs.

The Ambassadeurs are timeless.
They are the Harley Davidson of reels.
Many fish have fallen to one of those mounted on a honey-colored Lami.

Sounds like the OP has an easy problem to correct.

google Mikes reel repair they have all the parts you need.

the brewer is correct again! It's a solid reel that works. Worth repairing if possible,

[/quote]the brewer is correct again! [/quote]

chock another up! thats like twice now!

This is the site for rebuilding reels, has saved me a few times..

http://alantani.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=sd4nb561ul8pitoiajmp002eh6&topic=67.0

Thanks for the info. The reel was fixed in 10 secs. Never had to fix it before so I didn't really "need" to know how until now.

So....
in 10 seconds what did you do ?

a 10 second fix, thats pretty fast. did you drop out that old pawl and drop a new in?

Apparently it's a big friggin secret