vaporizor

My right brifter doesn't downshift unless I hold the brake and push the sti, only then can I doesnshift.

I ordered a set of good condition 105 5510 brifters for $85, but I wanna give it one more shot at fixing my dura ace 7700 brifter.

I never flushed it out on my own and my mechanic did it for me, probably without as much care or attention to detail that I will.

From what I read I need to flush them out with wd40 until it runs clean and use a aerosole can to flush out dirt particles, then let it air out for about a day or two and apply lube to them. Is this the correct method?

Also do I have to have the brifter off the bike while I do this, or can it be done with them already on? They're on my bike atm.

If I have to have them off ill have the new 105s put on and deal with them some other time, if not ill see if I can rejuvinate them and ill use the new 105s on my road bike that I wanted to regroup.

fietsbob

peel the hoods off, so you don't bugger them up. First.

WD stands for water displacement . you know...
you drop your jet engine airliner in Jamaica Bay
instead of taking off . you need a lot of it.

you are needing to dissolve the old lubricant,
so you can blow it and the grit lodged in the old lubricant
away and then replace the dirty lube with new ..

WD 40 [they tried 39 formulas first] is not
a good lubricant in the long run..

better to use a solvent , to loosen the grit embedded grease,
blow it out with an air compressor, then re-lubricate
with a penetrating oil.
there are some that thicken up
after penetrating the moving surfaces ..

then you wipe down the outside surface of the lever body,
to remove all the oils from the outside so the brake hoods

wont spin when you are holding onto them

easiest to do all this with the levers off the bars, fwiw.

cbuddy2005

Somewhere on the web there are pretty good instructions for cleaning/lubing sti shifters.
I did my ultegra 6500 right side with an aerosol degreaser that evaporates without any residue--no WD40!!

Take off the hood, disconnect the cables, take it off the bars

You want to flush out the old lube yes and NOT replace it with a substandard thing like WD40
Than hit it with a dry aerosol lube. Worked well for mine and they sat unused for years and didn't shift for crap.

Hope it helps

vaporizor

I have this degreaser - https://www.amazon.com/Finish-Line-Ci...ds=finish+line
This is the lube I have, I take its not good for the brifters?
https://www.amazon.com/Finish-Line-Pr...nish+line+lube

WickedThump

WD40 leaves a sticky protective film when it dries. That's not good for an assembly like a brifter because the protective film isn't a good lubricant. Better blow out the loose dirt with compressed air, soak then flush with a solvent that leaves no residue, then apply the proper lubricant.

dddd

I will second WickedThump's dismissal of wD40 for shifters. They usually gum right back up with the arrival of fall weather.

Your shifter has a failed anti-carryover latch, and no amount of lube or cleaning will remedy that.

This is by far the most-common failure of the right-side 6500 STI lever. I have a small box of these dead parts.

Look for some used 7700 or 7700c STI levers to replace them. They are a reliable used-parts purchase imo.

There were also similar Tiagra 9sp levers that I have had very good luck with as replacements, and these were produced long after the 6500 series Ultegra shifters ceased production so not hard to find, new or used.

Kimmo

I reckon merely adding a bit of WD40 to the crusty Shimano grease is usually all it takes to get em going again. The grease has gone crusty because lighter oils have evaporated out of it; add some more, sorted.

Just spray a bit in, work the shifter a bit, and done, with no drama.

Eh? Where'd you pull that from? And where can I learn the names of all those bits?

Didn't the OP say he's running 7700s?

reptilezs

i use liquid wrench penetrating oil to free up shifters. works well

Al1943

We've been through all of this very recently. My troll detector is beeping double time.
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-Lube-Shifters

cbuddy2005

Personally I use White Lightening Clean Streak no residue degreaser to loosen/clean out old lube.
Followed up by Finish Line Dry Teflon lube(for chains) --leaves a solid white residue so wouldn't use it on chains, but these two fixed my identical sticky downshift prob.

dddd

There is a latch mechanism (I named it Anti-Carryover) at the base of the small lever which prevents the big lever from being dragged along with the small lever's movement. The "teeth" (nubs, really) often break off or are blunted by forcefully pushing the big lever (after the small lever's having moved slightly had locked the big lever's movement). Forceful movement against the latch breaks off the nubs.
This part of the shifter is relatively accessible, but there are no replacement parts except those donated from other shifters. Sometimes the screw simply backs out, but with different symptoms than that of the OP's shifter.


"Didn't the OP say he's running 7700s?"
Yeah, I see that now, and the Dura-Ace version IS more durable.
The mechanism can still fail under forceful usage.
The 7700 shifters, unlike all the others, are fully disassemble-able, but again there are no small internal parts offered for them.

https://www.norvil.net/pedal/service/...ti/removal.php

WickedThump

+1
It's better to have a supply of dedicated products (lubricating oil, penetrating oil, etc), than rely on an all in one spray can. That said, I keep a gallon can of WD40 that I use with a spray bottle. It's great for loosening up rusted and crudified parts.

Kimmo

Uh, you might want to check the link in my tag.

6400, fully disassembled.

dddd

Pretty good, was it hard to get it all back together? Does anyone offer a re-assembly sequence or video online?

Kimmo

At one point I couldn't figure out how it went back together, despite keeping it in order by grouping parts in little sub-assemblies, but after futzing around with it for an hour or so it became clear.

Requires manual dexterity and a stiff helping of mechanical understanding.

...Like a whole bunch of other good stuff

AK404

This is going to sound like a dumb question, but from where do I flush out the shifters with WD-40?

Donsell

I'm not an expert at this, but I found that Brakleen works much better than WD40 to free up my stucky RSX shifter. Its a solvent so use a good lube after it dries.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...-crc_7060459-p

vredstein

It definitely does a better job of dissolving and cleaning. The problem is that if it contacts any plastic, rubber, or composite, it will damage them by chemical melting. I've learned this from first hand experience. I used this to clean out a Rapidfire shifter with plastic gears. Spraying it on and using a soft bristled brush rounded off the gear teeth. It was like they turned to soft clay. Also, the clear plastic gear indicator windows turned milky and opaque. Get it on the rubber hoods and you can scrape off chunks of rubber with your fingernail.
I still prefer to use this stuff for cleaning unpainted metal surfaces and occasional bouts of pyromania.