Curado 70 MGL Geary On Retrieve

[Happybeerbuzz]

Like others have mentioned lately on other threads, my Curado 71 MGL has developed a gearyness during retrieve.  Has anyone successfully cured this or is it basically part of the life cycle of these reels?  

[Tatulatard]

Most likely a bad pining support bearing.  Dry/crunchy bearings here give the illusion of gear feel.  Is it only under load is feels geary or can you smack the handle and feel it as the handle spins?  

 

[Happybeerbuzz]

33 minutes ago, Tatulatard said:

Most likely a bad pining support bearing.  Dry/crunchy bearings here give the illusion of gear feel.  Is it only under load is feels geary or can you smack the handle and feel it as the handle spins?  

 

You can feel it regardless of load.  I had a weightless fluke tied on when I noticed it.  You can feel it taking in slack line. 

 

[Gorris317]

I noticed my Curado MGL 150 does the same thing. Noticed it about a week ago.

Like you can feel a "grinding" or vibration in the gearbox when reeling?

 

Might just give mine a good cleaning and see what happens. 

[JustJames]

I cannot believe this happen with the Curado 70MGL that fast. I was hoping the bearing support mainshaft would help since I don’t hear a lot of complain on the 200K. 
Anyway another note, since Shimano use spool shaft with pieces of carbon fiber on both side, if you set spool tension too much you would feel a little bit of grinding when reeling.

X-ship bearing I replaced both of mine and those didn’t help. I guess I abused the reel too much. What gear ratio you got? It might not related but haven’t heard a lot of complain from XG model.

[Happybeerbuzz]

7 minutes ago, Bass_Fishing_SoCal said:

What gear ratio you got? It might not related but haven’t heard a lot of complain from XG model.

It’s an XG.  I have had it about a year or so.  

[JustJames]

Cheapest way as @Tatulatardmentioned is to replace both X-ship bearings. If that doesn’t help Shimano have gearset available for pretty reasonable price. Since your reel is still pretty new why don’t you contact Shimano. You might be able to send the reel in to look at under warranty.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Those gears nor bearings have not worn out so quickly. What you feel is just the result of a very light weight rigid frame transmitting feel similar to a high end rod. Frequent cleaning and a little extra grease can treat the symptoms temporarily but just mask it. 

[waymont]

I had the same thing happen to two 7 speed Curado 70 MGL reels.

I regularly cleaned and greased them, changed the bearings, but didn't want to dump more money into them buying gears, so I sold them. BUT, for 1.5 seasons they were very smooth and great casting reels. After that I didn't like the way they felt. When new they were fantastic feeling. I have since moved on to Metanium 150, and I am hoping it doesn't happen to them.

[JustJames]

1 hour ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Those gears nor bearings have not worn out so quickly. What you feel is just the result of a very light weight rigid frame transmitting feel similar to a high end rod. Frequent cleaning and a little extra grease can treat the symptoms temporarily but just mask it. 

A little weird though, this doesn’t happen to other smaller aluminum frame or magnesium frame like, any of the Shimano 50e series both aluminum/magnesium. Alphas SV TW from a hard year of used.

[Manifestgtr]

This seems to be a hallmark of the smaller curado type reels, unfortunately…I also had an slx mgl go geary as well. The two that have remained rock solid for years on end have been my engetsu 100 and my original curado 70hg

 

I stick mostly to aldebarans and metaniums nowadays as a result. I love the smaller curados but I hate that vibrating, geary feeling. Shimano is gonna have to address that at some point…

[Phil77]

Don't know how you guys are tearing these reels up so quick. I still fish some of the E series shimanos on a daily basis and they are all stock original parts. My yak reels are two K's and an Aldebaran that have been absolutely tortured over the last three years and they are still smooth but won't win any beauty contests. All I do is an annual cleaning with an ultrasonic cleaner and lightly lubricate where needed.

[Manifestgtr]

Just now, Phil77 said:

Don't know how you guys are tearing these reels up so quick. I still fish some of the E series shimanos on a daily basis and they are all stock original parts.

the e’s and the higher end shimanos don’t really suffer from this issue. My aldes, metaniums and e series have remained solid (with normal maintenance and a yearly teardown). I think it’s mostly the smaller k’s and slx that go geary for some guys 

[JustJames]

13 minutes ago, Phil77 said:

Don't know how you guys are tearing these reels up so quick. I still fish some of the E series shimanos on a daily basis and they are all stock original parts. My yak reels are two K's and an Aldebaran that have been absolutely tortured over the last three years and they are still smooth but won't win any beauty contests. All I do is an annual cleaning with an ultrasonic cleaner and lightly lubricate where needed.

It doesn’t seem to happen with reel before Curado 70. I have 200ipg use for nothing but big spinnerbait and 2.5oz lure but still smooth. I used my Chronarch 50e hard jerking 95SP, zoom magnum fluke or chatterbait, smooth until the day I sold it. 
But we are talking about Curado 70 here which is very un-usual for Shimano. To be fair all 4 of mine really get used almost everyday, some showed sign slower than other. The one I used for frog seem to be the hardest hit one.

[Tatulatard]

12 hours ago, Happybeerbuzz said:

You can feel it regardless of load.  I had a weightless fluke tied on when I noticed it.  You can feel it taking in slack line. 

 

That sounds like a bearing to me.  

[Happybeerbuzz]

11 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Those gears nor bearings have not worn out so quickly. What you feel is just the result of a very light weight rigid frame transmitting feel similar to a high end rod. Frequent cleaning and a little extra grease can treat the symptoms temporarily but just mask it. 

Theoretically, do you think that it is possible that a frame might deform slightly over time and use to cause the geary effect?  It is starting to sound like it is the nature of these reels and that "it is what it is".  The reel still cast like a dream.  

 

For those who have experienced the effect, does it worsen quickly?  Anybody have any insight on how the gearyness is over time?  

[LCG]

This may be a stupid question, but does the gearyness occur without line on the reel?

 

I have the Curado 71 MGL HG and the only time I ever feel anything abnormal has been when my line has some wear. I also don't lock down my drag, other than that I can't imagine what else other than a bad bearing would cause that sensation. 

 

 

[PhishLI]

13 minutes ago, LCG said:

This may be a stupid question, but does the gearyness occur without line on the reel?

This has nothing to do with line. When gear meshing becomes noticeable enough to be called "geary", just tighten the spool tension a bit or ride your thumb on the rim of the spool while cranking and you'll feel it. IMO, "grinding" is too harsh of a description and not really accurate. I have a few very geary older reels. None of them grind though, and cast and retrieve as well as they ever did.

[ska4fun]

12 hours ago, Phil77 said:

Don't know how you guys are tearing these reels up so quick. I still fish some of the E series shimanos on a daily basis and they are all stock original parts. My yak reels are two K's and an Aldebaran that have been absolutely tortured over the last three years and they are still smooth but won't win any beauty contests. All I do is an annual cleaning with an ultrasonic cleaner and lightly lubricate where needed.

 

You cant compare the acclaimed E series to these modern reels, with downgraded quality overall.

[T2DM]

Bad X-ship bearings can sometimes trick you into thinking the gear set are getting bad, 
My 71HG developed more of a "raspy" noise than "Geary" a while back when it was only a few 
weeks old, narrowed it down to one of the two bearings (BNT3927) located at the spool side.
(One is located on top of the AR bearing). I then switched those two around and it fixed 
the noise issues it was having which was pretty weird.

 

I learned from a trusted source to never oil X-ship bearings since it will flush out
any factory grease inside causing them to become noisy and wear out prematurely. I also 
learned that X-ship bearings take a lot of loads since the pinion gear does not rely on 
the spool shaft for support and it's normal for them to go bad overtime so it's best to 
just replace them with new ones.

[Phil77]

8 hours ago, ska4fun said:

 

You cant compare the acclaimed E series to these modern reels, with downgraded quality overall.

I don't think Shimano's quality has gone down. 

[ska4fun]

6 hours ago, Phil77 said:

I don't think Shimano's quality has gone down. 

Yet, the facts speak from themselves. The metanium buzz is the best example, showing construction and quality control downgrade. And I'm just using baitcasting reels, in spinning gear the process is even more evident.

[The Bassman]

I believe Micro Module gearing was a huge engineering mistake and is at the root of this problem, especially with composite sideplate reels.

[ska4fun]

54 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

I believe Micro Module gearing was a huge engineering mistake and is at the root of this problem, especially with composite sideplate reels.

Doyo and Daiwa use micromodule-like gearing and have no chronic issues.

[Phil77]

7 hours ago, ska4fun said:

Yet, the facts speak from themselves. The metanium buzz is the best example, showing construction and quality control downgrade. And I'm just using baitcasting reels, in spinning gear the process is even more evident.

I have a JDM and USDM Met20 and neither has any buzz. Are you calling posts by random internet users facts? The Met20 and the Bantam with core solid design are some of the best reels Shimano has ever produced.