Servicing Sturmey-Archer freewheel

[zigzag]

after the recent audax ride where flood levels were above hubs, next day the freewheel sounded like there was gravel instead of ball bearings and brown emulsion dripping out of it. these freewheels are can be taken apart fairly easily and serviced in less than an hour. the main thing to bear in mind that the front cover plate has a reverse thread and unscrews clockwise - i've done this by punching philips head screw driver with a hammer, alternating two opposite holes. loosen the plate first with the freewheel still on the hub, then unscrew the whole freewheel, put it flat on a smooth well lit surface and undo the front plate. you'll see gazillion (ok, i've found 95 of them) of 1/8" ball bearings inside - try not to lose any. take the freewheel apart, clean every surface, re-grease bearing races, put a drop of lube on each pawl and reassemble - job done! see the pics below for details (these instructions are valid for more popular shimano mx-30 freewheels as well).

[rogerzilla]

I've done this to a cheapo freewheel; they're all pretty much the same.    Flushing them out with white spirit, then detergent, then clean water and drying the whole lot quickly in an oven is also effective if you are sure there are no plastic or rubber seals inside (on cheap ones, there won't be).  Then you just re-lube.

It's not normally necessary to remove the freewheel from the wheel if you're stripping it down.  The last bit can be left on the hub.