Cleaning Pedals

pesky_jones
pesky_jones Posts: 2,890
edited December 2013 in MTB workshop & tech
This is the pin that my Saint pedal rotates around, I'm trying to clean it to eradicate a clicking noise.

IMAG0133_zps94ce265f.jpg

So far I have left both whole "pins", fully assembled (as in pic) in white spirit overnight. It stripped alot of grease but there is still a bit of grease inside.

When I spin the gold thing or the top silver thing, It doesnt spin especially smoothely, it feels a tad gritty.

Should I strip them down further, as in undo the nuts at the top and grease the BBs?

Comments

  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    why? why?

    strip it down remove al the dead grease and re grease and re assemble. all you needed to to was add more grease until the old was out. now you have used a solvent you have a whole lot more to do.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • pesky_jones
    pesky_jones Posts: 2,890
    A couple of people advised to do what I did on another thread, and no one contradicted them so I thought it was appropiate.

    Ok, so I should strip it down further then, I take it I just need to be carefull when it comes to the ballbearings, a.k.a not loosing them.
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    You actually took advice from this guy? Seriously?
    slickmouse wrote:
    Pesky Jones wrote:
    slickmouse wrote:
    what im trying to find out, is do the pedals run on a plain bearing, ie one piece of metal running inside another, or is there an actual caged bearing in there ?

    Yes, The pedal rotates around a large "pin", the "pin" screws into the crank arm

    im still not clear if these pedals have a needle roller bearing in them of not, however the clicking suggests they do ?

    you could try cleaning the grease out of them , throw it in a bowl of white spirit or paraffin over night( petrol works best but be very careful) and then repack with grease, if you lucky its just a bit of grit rather than the onset of bearing failure
    I don't do smileys.

    There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda

    London Calling on Facebook

    Parktools
  • pesky_jones
    pesky_jones Posts: 2,890
    felix.london wrote:
    slickmouse wrote:
    you could try cleaning the grease out of them , throw it in a bowl of white spirit or paraffin over night( petrol works best but be very careful) and then repack with grease, if you lucky its just a bit of grit rather than the onset of bearing failure

    +1

    Strip em down, give 'em a good clean up. re-grease and re-assemble.
    And him. And the others who didnt disagree with him after he made the comment. Normally if someone suggests something stupid, your're the first to point out how wrong they are - so in a way, this is your fault - thanks a bunch Cooldad.

    (Not actually blaming anyone here but myself before anyone gets menstrual about it)
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    My apologies.
    I accept full responsibility but in my defence I got a bit sidetracked in that thread. I was also trying not to be 'condensing'.
    slickmouse wrote:
    its one of his usual condensing posts, ignore him, i do to the most part
    Clean and lube is good, dumping stuff in petrol less so.
    I don't do smileys.

    There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda

    London Calling on Facebook

    Parktools
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    Pesky Jones wrote:
    A couple of people advised to do what I did on another thread, and no one contradicted them so I thought it was appropiate.

    Ok, so I should strip it down further then, I take it I just need to be carefull when it comes to the ballbearings, a.k.a not loosing them.
    yep strip down more and give them a right good clean

    explode views are on shimanos webby. watch out for any left hand threads

    http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techd ... 818656.pdf

    nothing wrong with dumping stuff in solvent as part of the cleaning process but solvent needs to be removed after.
    img1214mn.jpg
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • slickmouse
    slickmouse Posts: 155
    Pesky Jones wrote:
    This is the pin that my Saint pedal rotates around, I'm trying to clean it to eradicate a clicking noise.

    IMAG0133_zps94ce265f.jpg

    So far I have left both whole "pins", fully assembled (as in pic) in white spirit overnight. It stripped alot of grease but there is still a bit of grease inside.

    When I spin the gold thing or the top silver thing, It doesnt spin especially smoothely, it feels a tad gritty.

    Should I strip them down further, as in undo the nuts at the top and grease the BBs?

    take no notice , a lot of the folk on here have technical knowledge that stops at'' BUY A new ONE''

    there are two reasons why it wont spin freely, 1) there is still grit in there, you could have done with a bit more white spirit to splash is about a bit and 2) there is now no lubrication in it,l get some WD et al, with the straw in the nozzle and blast it through the bearing, the lub will immediately make it turn better, when it spins like a demon its grit free, then repack with grease
  • Chunkers1980
    Chunkers1980 Posts: 8,035
    I'd just strip it and clean it all and put loads of new grease in. Be careful the bearings are small and the seals have flaps on that need to got the correct way to work right.
  • slickmouse
    slickmouse Posts: 155
    Chunkers1980 wrote:
    I'd just strip it and clean it all and put loads of new grease in. Be careful the bearings are small and the seals have flaps on that need to got the correct way to work right.

    why is that better than pressure cleaning it with penetrating oil ?
  • rgliniany
    rgliniany Posts: 753
    slickmouse wrote:
    Chunkers1980 wrote:
    I'd just strip it and clean it all and put loads of new grease in. Be careful the bearings are small and the seals have flaps on that need to got the correct way to work right.

    why is that better than pressure cleaning it with penetrating oil ?

    have you ever seen an excavator operator regrease his macine? he pumps new grease in every day..until the old is pushed out... he doesnt remove the part, strip it down and pressure clean it.... same idea with the pedals... pushing new grease in will push any contaminants out with the old.
    It's a boy , It's a boy , I Shouted Running Into The Street With Tears Running Down My Face.....

    That's The Last Time I Holiday In Thailand

    URL Pinkbike
  • slickmouse
    slickmouse Posts: 155
    rgliniany wrote:
    slickmouse wrote:
    Chunkers1980 wrote:
    I'd just strip it and clean it all and put loads of new grease in. Be careful the bearings are small and the seals have flaps on that need to got the correct way to work right.

    why is that better than pressure cleaning it with penetrating oil ?

    have you ever seen an excavator operator regrease his macine? he pumps new grease in every day..until the old is pushed out... he doesnt remove the part, strip it down and pressure clean it.... same idea with the pedals... pushing new grease in will push any contaminants out with the old.

    he does have the added advantage of having a grease nipple and of course a grease gun, however if and when the bearing is seriously contaminated with grit, then yes a service engineer pops down and cleans it, the reason being that if the grit is lodged in the track of the bearing the replacement process alone wont shift it

    of course with pedals and you finger youl only push out some grease and some will remain, something you could only ascertain by stripping it down and looking
  • Chunkers1980
    Chunkers1980 Posts: 8,035
    Slick, you asked a question, then answered it :-/
  • slickmouse
    slickmouse Posts: 155
    Chunkers1980 wrote:
    Slick, you asked a question, then answered it :-/

    , grease replacement works wonderfully if you have a plain bearing and can get up 50psi of pressure, not at all well with ball bearings and trying to feed it through with your finger
  • FishFish
    FishFish Posts: 2,152
    rgliniany wrote:
    slickmouse wrote:
    Chunkers1980 wrote:
    I'd just strip it and clean it all and put loads of new grease in. Be careful the bearings are small and the seals have flaps on that need to got the correct way to work right.

    why is that better than pressure cleaning it with penetrating oil ?

    have you ever seen an excavator operator regrease his boyfriend? he pumps new grease in every day..until the old is pushed out... he doesnt remove the pants, stripand pressure him to suck it clean ... ... pushing new grease in will push any contaminants out with the old.

    Do you mind?
    ...take your pickelf on your holibobs.... :D

    jeez :roll:
  • Chunkers1980
    Chunkers1980 Posts: 8,035
    slickmouse wrote:
    Chunkers1980 wrote:
    Slick, you asked a question, then answered it :-/

    , grease replacement works wonderfully if you have a plain bearing and can get up 50psi of pressure, not at all well with ball bearings and trying to feed it through with your finger

    You really are a tool.
  • Kowalski675
    Kowalski675 Posts: 4,412
    And not the sharpest one in the box... :wink:
  • BigAl
    BigAl Posts: 3,122
    Sorry, joining this late but I do have a vague memory of the original pedal thread.

    One very good piece of advice (from the Superstar components guy) was to apply some anti-seize to the pedal/crank interface.

    Did you try that first?
    Anthem (now without bar ends)
    Duster
    My Bianchi
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    slickmouse wrote:

    take no notice , a lot of the folk on here have technical knowledge that stops at'' BUY A new ONE''

    there are two reasons why it wont spin freely, 1) there is still grit in there, you could have done with a bit more white spirit to splash is about a bit and 2) there is now no lubrication in it,l get some WD et al, with the straw in the nozzle and blast it through the bearing, the lub will immediately make it turn better, when it spins like a demon its grit free, then repack with grease

    yes right.

    WD a lube?

    why give the worst and hardest info to follow? all that is needed is a strip and clean a grease and reassemble.

    at times I wonder about some people
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • rgliniany
    rgliniany Posts: 753
    FishFish wrote:
    rgliniany wrote:
    slickmouse wrote:
    Chunkers1980 wrote:
    I'd just strip it and clean it all and put loads of new grease in. Be careful the bearings are small and the seals have flaps on that need to got the correct way to work right.

    why is that better than pressure cleaning it with penetrating oil ?

    have you ever seen an excavator operator regrease his boyfriend? he pumps new grease in every day..until the old is pushed out... he doesnt remove the pants, stripand pressure him to suck it clean ... ... pushing new grease in will push any contaminants out with the old.

    Do you mind?

    :lol: nice work
    It's a boy , It's a boy , I Shouted Running Into The Street With Tears Running Down My Face.....

    That's The Last Time I Holiday In Thailand

    URL Pinkbike
  • pesky_jones
    pesky_jones Posts: 2,890
    BigAl wrote:
    Sorry, joining this late but I do have a vague memory of the original pedal thread.

    One very good piece of advice (from the Superstar components guy) was to apply some anti-seize to the pedal/crank interface.

    Did you try that first?

    Did I try it when I first installed the pedals? No. Will do this time, cheers
  • pesky_jones
    pesky_jones Posts: 2,890
    nicklouse wrote:
    Pesky Jones wrote:
    A couple of people advised to do what I did on another thread, and no one contradicted them so I thought it was appropiate.

    Ok, so I should strip it down further then, I take it I just need to be carefull when it comes to the ballbearings, a.k.a not loosing them.
    yep strip down more and give them a right good clean

    explode views are on shimanos webby. watch out for any left hand threads

    http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techd ... 818656.pdf

    nothing wrong with dumping stuff in solvent as part of the cleaning process but solvent needs to be removed after.
    img1214mn.jpg
    Can't seem to find the exploded views for saint pedals. The one in your link is different, mine only has one of the small cylinder tubes that are shown in the link
  • Chunkers1980
    Chunkers1980 Posts: 8,035
    That's for an xtr spd. Saint should be there, but either way the principle'll be the same.
  • pesky_jones
    pesky_jones Posts: 2,890
    Saint isn't up there, probally why he linked xtr. What do you mean principle...
  • Chunkers1980
    Chunkers1980 Posts: 8,035
    The stacked diagram of the axel will be the same in principle as yours.
  • pesky_jones
    pesky_jones Posts: 2,890
    All done. Clicking seems to have gone.

    Out of interest, how would you have proposed I clean out the old grease and grit and replace with new grease, without dissasembling the axle?
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    it depends on the pedal design but one way is shown in the tech FAQs.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • pesky_jones
    pesky_jones Posts: 2,890
    Yeah I've seen that before, doesn't apply.

    So how would it be done? I just can't see a way of removing the grit and crap and repalcing grease, without dissassembling it and chucking it in a bowl of solvent.
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    no idea for your pedals as i have never seen any on one piece or taken them apart.

    but from what I can see i would just strip clean and grease.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • pesky_jones
    pesky_jones Posts: 2,890
    nicklouse wrote:
    why? why?

    strip it down remove al the dead grease and re grease and re assemble. all you needed to to was add more grease until the old was out. now you have used a solvent you have a whole lot more to do.

    It was just this comment that confused me. The way you wrote it makes it look like I was stupid to do this, but it now appears it was the only way?
  • WillHyn
    WillHyn Posts: 1
    I had the same problem,when i stripped down my pedals the bearings were absolutely shot,I measured the knackered bearings with a vernier caliper and put them into a great web site called www.simplybearings.co.uk order that night really cheap and free post and received them the next day.Pedals fixed and back on the road

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