04-10-13, 12:24 AM
No theory Darrsi, this happened me at the 40000 mile mark and drove me to distraction. :'( Eventually I bought a low mileage second hand cover for €20 and then dismantled the original one to see what was causing it. The grease in the mechanism had dried out causing the bearing to make a cracking sound and the end of the lever pull when full pressure was on them. As a few previous post have said the foccing bolts holding the mechanism in place must be made of play doh. If the heads do not chew up the bolts shear. I found that heating the cover and drilling a hole in the bolts with a left hand drill bit before trying to undo them usually spins them out. Replace them with real bolts
I eventually devised a method of regreasing the mechanism without having to dismantle it.
Remove the rubber plug and remove the lock nut.
Remove the sprocket cover and clutch cable
Remove the mechanism spring and push the lever up as far it will go
Turn the cover over and using spray grease, I used a molybdenum disulfide spray grease.
Spray the grease into the bearing spiral. you can just see the bearings and the spiral.
Operate the mechanism a few time to allow the grease to run down into the bearings and repeat the whole thing 3 or 4 times. There is a seal in the moving part of the mechanism this is supposed to prevent grease getting out or water getting in
Put it all back together and all is well. You may need to leave it for a while for the grease to settle.
Prior to putting on the locknut remove the adjusting screw and spray a bit of grease in to the hole as there is a bearing in there also.
If that does not solve it then remove the mechanism, dismantle it and replace all 16 bearings and the 2 play doh bolts with real ones.
I eventually devised a method of regreasing the mechanism without having to dismantle it.
Remove the rubber plug and remove the lock nut.
Remove the sprocket cover and clutch cable
Remove the mechanism spring and push the lever up as far it will go
Turn the cover over and using spray grease, I used a molybdenum disulfide spray grease.
Spray the grease into the bearing spiral. you can just see the bearings and the spiral.
Operate the mechanism a few time to allow the grease to run down into the bearings and repeat the whole thing 3 or 4 times. There is a seal in the moving part of the mechanism this is supposed to prevent grease getting out or water getting in
Put it all back together and all is well. You may need to leave it for a while for the grease to settle.
Prior to putting on the locknut remove the adjusting screw and spray a bit of grease in to the hole as there is a bearing in there also.
If that does not solve it then remove the mechanism, dismantle it and replace all 16 bearings and the 2 play doh bolts with real ones.