# Shimano Stradic 8000FJ: Service Tutorial



## CoralSeas

Hey guys,

Serviced my Stradic FJ and came across a few pit falls that I thought I would share for those attempting the same. Forewarned is forearmed they say and hope this helps some. A much smaller version of this tutorial was previously posted in the elsewhere but new photos and info has been added to make this post far more complete. As well, I wanted to contribute to 2coolfishing as a post by MattK on rebuilding the Roller Clutch was very helpful to me.

Hopefully even those who don't own a Stradic FJ will enjoy a look at the innards .

This Basic Tutorial is to clean and re-lube and as the reels are notoriously dry from the factory a "pre-service" is recommended before fishing to give max "smoothness" but more importantly to provide additional protection from Salt. Shimano rates this reel for "salt water use" but it is not remotely sealed so some liberal use of marine grease is recommended to provide a bit of increased protection.

This is not going to be a step by step photo epic of every detail as I just shot some photos of the problem areas. The rest is very straight forward and a verbal tutorial should be adequate. These are just a few notes to help with the tricky bits and those really into a 100% tear down should still be able to proceed with confidence into those areas I won't cover.

The schematic that we will be using as our reference can be found at the bottom of this post as a .pdf for your reference.

Here is the Patient:










Ok, the top stack in the spool is as straight forward as can be. Remove the spring clip and pull out the drag washers noting their order. You'll find no surprises and the schematic is clear if needed. The washers seemed dry so I put some Cal's grease on them and put them back in. You can be somewhat liberal with a spinning reel as any excess just ends up lubing the shaft and Cal's is fine for that. The Drag Knob (14976) deserves some Cal's grease on it's underside as this forms the seal of the top of the stack. Don't overdo it (but don't stress, if a tiny bit ever ends up in the drag no biggee) just a little thin film. Underside the spool is the clicker, just a dab of cleaning and lube is all that is needed here. The sealing of the underside of the spool is only the close tolerance of the Main Shaft (14980) up into the spool. Keep this greased.










Now, with the spool off you give some gentle wiggles and tugs to pull the plastic clicker and spool support (14978 & 14979) plus any spacers (3503) off. They will more or less all come off together. The spool support is keyed to the clicker so be sure to get it seated properly when putting them back on or you may have line lay issues. Then seeing as we want to get down to the main body we have to take off the rotor and RCA (6395 Roller Clutch Assembly). Easy Peasy. There is a little retaining screw for the rotor nut that comes first then the nut itself. This is righty tight and lefty loose (the normal way) enabled by the retaining screw.










Remove those then wiggle the rotor off and find the RCA bearing below. This is held in place by 4 screws all the same size and color so do your thing and pull it off (best to take the handle off first otherwise you'll have to put the RCA back on to get the handle off). Don't mess with the black screws unless you want to rebuild the RCA (tutorial for rebuilding the Roller Clutch Assembly #6395 can be found by doing a web search for "Roller Clutch on Sedona". This will lead you to a tutorial on rebuilding most Shimano AR Clutch's with a little extrapolation on your part).










The RCA has a little slot on the underside for the Anti-Revese Cam (12902) that orientates it when it goes back on. Just line it up with this and flip the switch back and forth to make sure it's put back correctly. When the RCA comes off there is a sleeve that is not shown on the schematic that is slotted to the main/pinion shaft but lays loose inside the RCA when it is removed. You will likely find it when it drops out in your hand. No stress, a little squirt of Corrosion-x or the light oil of your choice and back it goes. NO MARINE GREASE near the RCA bearing. It will gum it up and cause it to stop working properly. A little corrosion-x on the inside of the roller clutch sleeve itself where it contacts the shaft is all you need. Cleaning as needed of the RCA itself should be done with carb cleaner and compressed air. Light oil in the RCA will protect it from corrosion but some loss of max drag before slippage will be noted. FWIW I leave mine dry. Pick your poison and take your chances.

The AR Lever itself (12904) will benefit from some corrosion-x to keep it flipping smoothly. Dis-assembly is very simple and should rarely be necessary.

Ok, here comes the first little nut to crack. The "Bail Trip Strike" (14987). This is held in place by a screw and also a little lip on it that makes it nearly impossible to remove first so you actually have to crack the body which opens up the slot it's base is locked into.










Carefully stretch the friction ring (12900) up out of the way to expose the body screws (4362) and remove these first.










There are 5 body screws that have to be removed. It's a terrible photo below but you get the idea. One of the body screws is hidden in the shadowed recess to the left. In this photo below the rear plastic cap and friction ring have already been removed.










You end up with a group like this:










Note that the two from under the friction ring (those on the left above) have different threads than the others. Shown also are the two from the plastic cap with the notoriously hard to see on the schematic long one (12468) that has caused some to come to grief. It's in a hidden spot on the stem that is easily over looked and practically impossible to note on the schematic:


----------



## CoralSeas

*Continued:*

Take a look here at the Bail Trip for a second:










If you look carefully at the photo above the tweezers are holding the ear where the retaining screw holds it and the underside has a little lip that fits the slot on the body formed by the 2 halves with an additional lip (slightly discolored at it's base) that locks into the slot formed when the body comes together. This is why you do the friction ring and the body screws first. I simply modded mine after it was out and took a utility knife and trimmed off some of the little secondary flange on the stub that was making it so locked in. This allows you to take off the bail trip in a somewhat more natural order before removing the friction ring. THIS IS NOT A RECOMMENDATION simply a relation of what I did. This bump of nylon is the auto bail trip and I unconsciously manually trip my bail anyways from using Stellas so if this ends up causing any problems with auto tripping the bail it is inconsequential to me. The next time in there I will remove it for good converting to manual trip only and simply put the retaining screw in to plug it's hole. This will leave behind the little slot for the part that may collect some schmutz/sand/goo but will not allow any entry into the reel.

Ok, in the photo below we are now inside and it looks like this. The grease from the factory is pretty light stuff and it has more or less all worked it's way out of where it belongs. If things are clean you can simply re-spread it around (and I did on the worm gear as lighter is better there) but liberally "Alan Tani-ized" the remainder with Marine Grease. You should know the drill so no "after Tani-ization" photo should be necessary.


















Especially try to get all the mating surfaces so that a bead of marine grease will seal the body when re-assembled. Also be sure to get some on the outside of the bearings that support the pinion (13188 and 13274) and the handle (13989) and in their receptacles. These are shielded but a good greasing will form one more barrier. The Main Gear that you see there is one piece (an improvement from previous models) and per Alan Hawk is made of 7076 Aluminum, cold forged (Paladin Durability Enhancement).

If you want to get in there deep and take apart the worm gear/idle gear etc you should find it as straight forward as can be and if you have the confidence and competence to attempt it no tutorial should be necessary. Bear and mind the Oscillating Slider (12912) usually has it's screws (5841) secured with Loctite so don't strip them when removing them and have some of your own to add back to keep them tight or you may come to grief. Hint: You have to start with the Worm Shaft Retainer (12914) to remove it and it's guides etc.

Then, an area of interest, where the handle meets the Main gear. The gear has a hollow shaft that the handle threads into. The only seal of the body in this area from the outside and salt is the tolerance of the bearing in it's housing and around the shaft so be sure to get good grease on all surfaces as well as the opening to the outside:










There is no seal on the handle like a Stella has just mating metal surfaces so this should be a regular area of maintenance and observation to be sure you are not coming to grief. Liberal use of Marine grease and fresh water rinses as it will definitely get drips around the base where it threads to the shaft.

Then we come to the Line Roller Bearing. A recent post was asking for help as his (possibly older FI) had become frozen. With the FJ there is an important change to Shimano's basic design that is a classic example of Shimano refinement and a possible pitfall: The Line Roller Oil Cap (14250). The rest of the assembly is the standard Shimano Japanese Puzzle of inter-fitting parts that have to be in the precise order and orientation (pun alert ) to function.










If you're like me you fiddle with flexing the arm over after taking off the screw (12440) and the whole assembly ends up going shooting across the table and you lose the order of the parts . Well now, additionally, this microscopic piece of black sand drops out of there and that is the aforementioned Oil Cap. This is not a Cap at all but an extremely short tube that lines up with the exterior hole and a recess in the Line Roller Plate (14982) to allow oil to be squirted directly inside the Line Roller. Yep, that's it next to the plate. It's small so don't drop it ever. And you thought other parts were small!










This is what it looks like from the outside when re-assembled. The little hole next to the screw is your oil maintenance port:


----------



## CoralSeas

*Continued:*

One tip to make putting it back together easier: The plate and the cap can be "glued" in down with Marine Grease to hold them in place while you line things up. Just slather some in there and press them in or you will spend some time with them continually falling out and spending some time on the carpet with a magnifying glass to find the bits again. . Once back together you can really see that this type of refinement is what Shimano is all about. Some would say less is more and it certainly is a pain to re-assemble. But as far as I know they are also the only company trying to make it easier to get oil in there in a VERY common problem area.

Putting the entire assembly back together is not tough once you orient the Line Roller (10422) properly. It has different diameters on either end so it will only go back with the larger end closest to the bail arm. After that all the rest of the parts will only fit one way to make it all as compact as possible to fit together and screw tight properly. Be sure to get the last Line Roller Washer (14981) in the right order to prevent binding of the Ball Bearing (13981) at the heart of smooth Line Roller operation.

Shimano also puts a drop of Blue Loctite on the Line Roller screw. If you regularly monitor this area you can go without and just use some grease Tani-style, if you want to put it back together and forget about it probably best to add some back to keep it tight. I lined up my slot on the screw head with the hole (more perfectly than shown in the photo) so that I have a reference that I can simply inspect to see if it is ever loosening as I went with grease.

Ok, if you have the inclination you can get into the Bail Spring to grease stuff in there for extra protection. Just be careful of these bits too as the schematic is not the slightest help putting it back together. Those of you that have know what I mean. Two screws (3492, 9379) to remove the Bail Spring Cover (12922).










The thing to keep in mind is that the Bail Spring Guide (11159) goes in a little slot on the inside of the Bail Arm itself. This is blind to you when you are trying to re-assemble. The easy way for me is to put the Bail Spring (10790) on last after it is all back together and tightened down, otherwise it's in the way. Don't lose the Spring Guide Support (10752) when you take off the Spring. Keep an eye on the Click Spring and Click Pin (7919, 7920) and if you look carefully at the photo below you can see the Pin peeking out from under the arm as it has fallen out of position. Reality is that 3 things have to lined up semi-blindly so a measure of trial and error is necessary to get the Bail Trip Lever (12889) and all the bits into their slots inside the arm but out of your view. Deep breaths and patience .










I did not disassemble the handle for this pre-service or take apart the bail completely. Bear in mind that you may be venturing into "blue loctite" territory for these otherwise very simple assemblies. Grease their screws and be prepared to deal with loosening (ie small screw driver in your tackle box) and eternal vigilance (or risk losing parts/failure when fishing) or have some of the Blue handy if you take them completely apart and want to put them back together and forget about it (at the risk of corrosion). I simply applied some Corrosion-X from the outside on all exposed nooks and crannies/articulating surfaces to provide some additional protection before fishing. Best, imo, to use grease sparingly on anything that would routinely come in contact with sand, light oils attract less and rinse easier.

Ok, that's what I've got for now. Like I said, not a photo epic and for the straight forward parts you should not need much. I am no reel expert just a reel nerd that wanted to give back to the community that has helped us all and follow in the foot steps of ichiban, Scoobydoo, Alan Hawk and Alan Tani etc (even though my efforts pale in comparison) to share some info that might help others.

As I get deeper in the reel I will add more photos and post any other pitfalls I discover over time, so check back if you have an interest and maybe Bantam1 will chime in and clarify if anything is in error.

best, John


----------



## Lexy1

Wow. Awesome. Thanks a lot for pictures and detailed instructions. 
A friend of mine has a Stradic 6000FI. I'm not sure if it's the same as FJ or not but I definitely will pass this info to him to take a close look at it before breaking down his FI.

Can Bantam1 or someone else can confirm with me that FI and FJ is about the same?

Thanks.


----------



## CoralSeas

Lexy1 said:


> Wow. Awesome. Thanks a lot for pictures and detailed instructions.
> A friend of mine has a Stradic 6000FI. I'm not sure if it's the same as FJ or not but I definitely will pass this info to him to take a close look at it before breaking down his FI.
> 
> Can Bantam1 or someone else can confirm with me that FI and FJ is about the same?
> 
> Thanks.


They are very close but not identical with some important changes that kinda motivated me to create this post. He can easily find a video tutorial on breaking down an FI on youtube. The FJ just has some changes that are both improvements and potentially pitfalls/confusing and I tried to point out some of the key maintenance issues for your average DIY guy.

best


----------



## Bantam1

The X-Ship is the major change to the FJ model over the FI. The change in gear design and position allow for reduced cranking effort under a load. This means you can transmit more power when cranking on fish. 

I disagree 100% with Tani's "Yamalube" grease in our reels. Spinning reels will have more effort when over lubricated, and with heavier grease such as the "Marine Grease" you mention. The Permalube grease we use is more than sufficient at offering protection. If you want a sluggish reel, then by all means grease it up like he tells you. Also be careful using petroleum based grease around the friction ring. It will cause the ring to swell and break. This is why we use Permalube which is silicone based.

I realize he is an internet superstar with his reel "upgrades" and maintenance guides. However, I am not a fan. I personally have worked on more reels in my lifetime than he has ever seen. I agree to disagree with what he preaches on the net.


----------



## CoralSeas

Thanks for that tip on the Friction Ring. I don't grease mine at all but it is nice to know that a silicone type is recommended as needed and will pass that bit of wisdom along to those that may be helped by it.

I apologize for not being more clear in my post as to how much grease I added and where. I think you will find that Alan's current thought is a very light coat on interior surfaces simply so that any water intrusion can be trapped before it reaches more vital areas.

As far as moving parts on the inside goes, I personally only use heavier stuff on the main and pinion as I find the Factory Lube to be ideal for that light spinning that we all love about Shimanos but that I have to reapply it more often than I would like. Judicious use of heavier types has no noticeable effect on handle turning pressure, imo.

A point of clarification that I would be very interested in is your position on grease on the Handle Bearing (13189)? I realize that these are "ARB" type but are they considered water proof? Or would they benefit from the treatment you see in my post where they are coated on the outside to prevent salt water contact and (not shown) I greased their interior receptacle to form a small barrier as well?

I travel a lot with my reels and am always interested in how to properly prepare them so I have no trouble when far from your stellar Customer Service.

best


----------



## Bantam1

Grease is a double edged sword. Salt can stick to the grease and cause corrosion because it is now trapped. You can use a very light coat of grease to protect the bearings in the handle. It will not affect the performance too much. The bearings are not waterproof, but the shields help keep the junk out of the bearing. Some use rubber shields, while others are metal. 

Adding grease like you did to the bearing pocket will not do much on the handle side. Simply turning the handle will move the grease enough that saltwater can still get in there. Water molecules are pretty small. Salt is small too. You can't see it in a glass until the water evaporates. 

Dissimilar metals cause more issues than anything else when it comes to saltwater. Unfortunately we cannot make the reels 100% stainless to help combat this. Composites are the way of the future.


----------



## fishingcacher

Thanks for the write-up. It is probably a good idea to clean several of my spincasters from the previous season of fishing. I only use my spincasters in fresh water.


----------



## altez

Did the reel come with the oversized handle or can you buy that separately?


----------



## CoralSeas

altez said:


> Did the reel come with the oversized handle or can you buy that separately?


That is the stock handle and knob on the 8k, it appears larger due to the short focal length of the camera lens used in the pic.


----------



## CoralSeas

Image of the drag stack order that was asked for:










best


----------



## goldie

what kind of fishing line is that?


----------



## CoralSeas

It's standard white solid braid (50lb izorline I think) but it has a leader tied on top for the last ~10 feet or so which you may be wondering about.


----------



## flounder daddy

Is there really an difference between the Stradic CI4 and the FJ other than the material? Im trying see if its really worth the extra $50 or so.


----------



## CoralSeas

flounder daddy said:


> Is there really an difference between the Stradic CI4 and the FJ other than the material? Im trying see if its really worth the extra $50 or so.


The material and the handle design that has bearings rather than bushings. It's a little "nicer" but only you can decide if it's worth $50 to you.


----------

