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Broke my ratchet greasing it ..........

marnav1

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Matco AFR8TM ratchet. Recently bought on Ebay. Worked OK was a little rough but nothing terrible. Opened it up for SuperLube. Now it will ratchet smoothly one way but locks the other. I thought maybe I installed the pawl upside down but it only fits one way. Nothing looks worn or broken. I'm stumped and not real happy either. I don't have access to a truck either, if I have to buy a kit well grrrrrr.......It hasn't seen 1 bolt yet. :mad:
 
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bigcaddy

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I've had the same exact problem with a older Plomb ratchet. If the springs get pinched when you reinstall the cover plate, the pawls won't engage properly and it will lock up.

You might need to do the rebuild just to buy yourself peace of mind.

Its frustrating but isn't it better to have it fail before you use it rather then be depending on it and have it fail then?
 

Outlawmws

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how much grease did you use? You only need a light coating on the parts, anything more can make things stick...
 
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marnav1

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No springs in there. I feel like throwing it into a river to be honest, but that won't solve much..........
 

John316

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I have had this happen with Superlube when used on fine tooth ratchets. I would disassemble, totally clean and use a SUPER light coating. Try again. This has worked for me on 2 gearwrench ratchets this happened with.
 

dale500

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I took one of my Craftsmans apart a few weeks ago and lubed it with grease and it didn't work worth a darn afterwords. I took it apart again cleaned out the grease and used some Phil Wood oil and it worked great. The grease was keeping every thing inside from moving fast enough to engage properly but the oil allowed everything to move freely.
 
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marnav1

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Well I must say I didn't think grease would mess things up but I will clean it and see what happens ..........
 

gatewaysysop

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Well I must say I didn't think grease would mess things up but I will clean it and see what happens ..........

Let us know what happens. Believe it or not this is a common problem. Less is more when it comes to using that stuff. Hope all goes well! :(
 

KU_MechE

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My Matco 88 would lock up with red lube. Cleaned that out and used a dab of superlube and much better
 

metaldad

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Hmmmmmm............ I did just re lube all my ratchets tonite with super lube. loaded the cavities full, and had it squish out the sides. all seem to work ok. the craftsman 3/8 thumb ratchet took several reassembly tries to get it to work.
now.............. what should be done with a RDFT? Seems to be a chore to attempt to load with grease. Soaked her in oil overnite?
suprised that some of my new, or like new ratchets were dry.
 

Toolhorder

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Everyone goes overboard greasing ratchets here. The tool truck guys add a drop of oil maybe when they rebuild mine. That's it. All you need. I don't get the need to clean and grease them. Some are obsessed with it here on GJ
 

SMKS

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Everyone goes overboard greasing ratchets here. The tool truck guys add a drop of oil maybe when they rebuild mine. That's it. All you need.

I don't frequently agree with this member, but he speaks the truth on this topic. A few little dabs of grease is all that's needed in most course ratchets.

Many modern fine tooth ratchets don't do too well with grease. Oil is often better for modern fine-tooth mechanisms.

People who pack the ratchets full of grease are doing it wrong.

racing%20doing%20it%20wrong.jpg
 
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chris6278

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I avoid superlube for this very reason at least with fine tooth ratchets. I use a dab of air tool oil
 
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marnav1

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There is a spring under the selector...did you forget to install it?;)
I don't disagree sir but i see no springs. What happens is when i turn it the one way the selector moves toward the center and it locks. I didn't use all that much grease, cleaned it all out but it didn't help much. The selector looks like a single piece, IDK if it comes apart or not. I'm gonna put a couple drops of oil in it, otherwise I guess I have a $35 piece of junk. :dunno:
 

G1GRANDEUR

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my Matco ratchet would lock up if I use some type of grease. So I just use thin oil.
 

SMKS

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To the OP-

Post some close-up pics of the mechanism and someone will be able to tell you if you're missing pieces.
 

TwoInch

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th superlube is not the problem. but as stated above, if you pack the ratchet full, it will make fine tooth ratchets act up. superlube works well in all the fine tooth ratchets i own, i just learned after cleaning the first one, that you have to go light with it, compared to how you can pretty much pack a coarse tooth and it will still function fine.(not that you should)

as for tool hoarder, i havent seen anyone that appears to be claiming to clean and lube their ratchets often at all on this board. it does get discussed quite a bit tho, maybe thats why you feel that way? from what i see, a lot of guys clean them when they are new(new-used), and put their lube of choice in. many ratchets are sold nearly dry inside, and thats no good. snap on supplies superlube with rebuilds, but the truck guy uses light oil? truck guys sell tools, and the ones ive met, i wouldnt let them change my oil.... because they do something doesnt make it correct.

lubing when new, and once a year after, or once every two years or so is usually plenty, unless you are dropping them in buckets of ***** oil, sand, or what have you... nothing wrong with attempting to make your tools last IMO..
 

OEXL16B

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Opened it up for SuperLube. Now it will ratchet smoothly one way but locks the other. I thought maybe I installed the pawl upside down but it only fits one way. Nothing looks worn or broken. I'm stumped and not real happy either.


Are you 100% sure you re-assembled the ratchet correctly?
 
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TwoInch

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it must not be too simple if it worked before you took it apart, and now no longer works. not to many possibilities there.... :twak:
 

MrMark

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I've had that type ratchet lock up from SuperLube. Snap-on dual 80's seem to be the only fine tooth rats that like SuperLube in my experience. Try a light gun oil.
 

TwoInch

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i have all 3 of my gearwrench ratchets superlubed, one with a 88 kit in it, and all three work perfectly. so im assuming the matcos and armstrongs would work just the same. if it doesnt work, wipe some out and use less. should be fine.
 

Buckgnarly

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I don't disagree sir but i see no springs. What happens is when i turn it the one way the selector moves toward the center and it locks. I didn't use all that much grease, cleaned it all out but it didn't help much. The selector looks like a single piece, IDK if it comes apart or not. I'm gonna put a couple drops of oil in it, otherwise I guess I have a $35 piece of junk. :dunno:

I should have been more specific, it fits inside the narrow piee that pushes up on the pawl....hard to explain, but it is in there.
 
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marnav1

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A few pics ............
 

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marnav1

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The selector lever will not stay to the left. You can feel the detent but when you have it to the left and turn the ratchet the lever will move to the center and lock up. IDK if the selector can be replaced or not, no screws holding it together. I put two drops of oil in it, still broken.
 

SMKS

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Yeah, this mechanism doesn't do well with heavy grease.

Also, I would guess it isn't "broken." You must have gummed something up with grease or assembled it wrong. Let me find some pics of my Armstrong with a very similar mechanism. But, if it wasn't working great before, perhaps something is wrong.

My guess is you are somehow inserting the pawl wrong. Either backwards or it isn't sitting properly on the plunger. There is a spring under that little plunger, correct?
 
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kippieland

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I just switched to air oil in my fine tooth ratchets. A little goes a long way. I still like superlube though, but I have had problems with to much in my Armstrong 88 before.
 

LumpyMusic

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I've oiled my ratchets once in 40 years. Gun oil, air tool oil, break free, 3in1 or similar is what I use on any kind of small mechanism like that. Grease is for Ball joints on a truck. Sewing machines use sewing machine oil for a reason and they get thousands of times the wear and heat that our ratchets get, even if we're a full time mechanic.


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