Sturmey Archer 3SPD Problem
 

I'm resurrecting a Raleigh Sports bike with a 3SPD SA hub. The date on the hub is "76". I put 30W oil in it and took it for a spin on its new rubber. It felt like it was skipping a beat in all gears. Most of the new oil leaked out, and now it doesn't tick when being moved around. I searched on here and most ticking posts are about "Is it supposed to make that noise?"posts. Any ideas?

You have an AW, read this: Servicing Sturmey-Archer 3-Speed Hubs

-Bandera

how much? ? it only needs to be a little wet.. in there.


I use just a tiny amount of Phil's Tenacious Oil , and grease the bearing balls that support the Axle.

do you know how to match the indicator chain cable tension while in 2nd?

For what it's worth, those were the bad SA years according to Sheldon. Might be a bad unit?

Here's an idea - don't put 30w auto oil in, but now that you have read the info on correct adjustment and make sure your cable is moving freely. If correct adjustment does not resolve the problem take it apart. This is a good video about the procedure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea6krXSs-lc

The first thing that comes to mind is the spindle adjustment. Those hubs rarely go bad, even ones from the dark years, but it's easy for the spindle to go out of adjustment, causing all sorts of skipping problems. There are probably 100s of instructionals on this scattered about the internets. Just google "Sturmey Archer indicator spindle adjustment".

This one is good too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNxwMwzS3Jo

See "Lubrication" for the 30wt. http://vancruisers.ca/Members/bhughe...r-3-speed-hubs

A note about the indicator spindle, St. Sheldon offers an alternative technique here:

Sturmey-Archer Hubs, Adjustments