Shimano Ultegra Ci4 XSA 5500 - Service and Maintenance

[REEFMAN]

The 5500 model has some noticeable differences to the 14000 XSA Ultegra.
Here's a Photographic Tutorial on how to service an Ultegra 5500 XSA...









Underneath the Line guard is a bearing, retained by a plate and some screws...





Top of the Rotor... remove the Lock nut and screw



Underneath the Rotor is a Copper washer





Now remove the Anti-reverse bearing by unscrewing the 4 Silver screws. DO NOT unscrew the Black screws at this stage, they open up the bearing...



Remove the bearing and it's rubber seal whole.








The reel has planty screws keeping it together...









The Drive gear has 3 or 4 bronze washers on...







INSIDE THE GEAR BOX:




Remove the Retainer plate at the rear of the reel.
















Open up the Anti-reverse bearing and service...

Start by carefully unscrewing the 2 Black screws...








The weights and springs can be removed, cleaned and replaced.



Do not Grease the Bearing - it will lead to it failing under pressure.




NOW FOR THE DRAG SYSTEM


These washers are oiled Felt washers. Clean them in Benzine, dry throughly and then re-oil them with Reel-X or a quality oil. Greasing these washers will cause them to clog and fail.



THE LINE ROLLER MECHANISM




Be VERY careful about which screws you undo on the Bail mechanism. The one near the Line Roller is extremely difficult to realign once opened.








Clean all parts in Benzine, allow to dry properly and re-assemble after lubing.


BEARINGS

I prefer to remove all the bearing seals completely and repack properly with grease.
The bearings I opened were bone dry...!!




OSCILLATING SLIDER

A part of the reel which many anglers neglect to service. The pawl on the Oscillating slider takes up immense force under fish pressure.





Oil all parts and replace.


RE-ASSEMBLY






This is the back view of the Collar. To insert the Collar from the other side ie: the front of the reel.






























And that's a wrap!
Good job.... 

[isivuba]

Good job?......No this is an AWESOME  job.  Reefz you out done yourself once again       Thanks!

[Charles]

Great TUT Reefs! 

[Willie]

Well done Reefz I will give you 11 out of 10 the one is for neatness.
 

[Homie]

 

Another one ?

Sheesh...... You're a machine bro !

 

[Kumz]

  ... Excellent...

[MIKE PIKE]

Nawt bru i give up ,      ... where do you find the time .. , excellent tut again , great stuff i dont watch tv anymore , i just wait for the next episode of        " Reel tutorials by Reefz " ... awesome stuff.

[joker]

 

That's all I have to say.

Well done!

[Kwagga]

Jeepers I just love your service tutorials - excellent photos and tips and even before u buy any reel u already know how to service it - dis nou 2 vlieë met 1 klap  

[Cam Mundy]

Nice one Reefs as always. That reel looked to be in really good shape internally had it been fished quite hard before the service? If so it must be a really good piece of kit may have to add one to the arsenal!

[REEFMAN]

Nice one Reefs as always. That reel looked to be in really good shape internally had it been fished quite hard before the service? If so it must be a really good piece of kit may have to add one to the arsenal!

Hasn't been fished hard. Has seen 2 R/S trips.
These are actually Freshwater Carp reels, which us Saffers have pushed wayyyyy beyond what it's supposed to do. Converting the reels into Surf Baitcasters...

Had an issue with it where the handle fused to itself after the first trip thro' corrosion.... check out below.
So Cam, no this is not a good reel for you to use on a regular basis off a boat. It wasn't built for that and is definitely not watertight.

Just a headsup to Ultegra owners...

Made the bad mistake of not   lubing mine out the box... fished with it for a few days in Kosi, rinsed   it off and returned to Jhb. 5 days later, opened the reel to service   it...
The handle has a Jacket sleeve on it that should have freeplay. Mine was corroded solid to the handle shaft...    wouldn't move at all. Almost wrecked the entire handle trying to hammer the sleeve loose....

Make sure you grease and oil this shaft properly before using it!!

[Cam Mundy]

Wouldn't use it off the boat I have fancy pants reels for that but it looks the business for scratching in the surf.

[REEFMAN]

Wouldn't use it off the boat I have fancy pants reels for that but it looks the business for scratching in the surf.

Ya it does the trick! Because it is unsealed, it is a high maintenance reel. Needs meticulous looking after to last any length of time.

But there are much better bigpit reels out there.... Daiwa Windcast, Shimano Bullseye, Saltiga Surf... but obviously at a better price too! 

[REEFMAN]

Some further updates...
Shewie, this is one HIGH maintenance reel. The lack of proper sealing allows sand/water into the innards of the reel. Can only cause havoc if not properly serviced after each trip...
On the Handle screw, this geared washer is a stupid 2 piece system?! Already lost mine! Have tried the reel without this part, causes play in the handle. Need to replace the lost washer with a similar size so that the Handles screw can screw down tight again.


 
Then we get back to that pesky corrosion in the handle problem...


 
Opened up the reel and there was a sand pit inside!




 
Not good for the reel!
 
And here is the reason why I open up all my sealed bearings... there's no way that this rust and corrosion would have been spotted with a bearing cover on. Bearing saved... just in time!


 
 
Then lastly, I noticed a crack in the reel frame where the small back screw closes the frame... eish.


 
Just a headsup to Ultegra owners. This reel needs work after every trip, otherwise you're courting disaster.