I own 7 of these reels and have had them for about 15 years maybe a little longer. They have been bullet proof and easy to work on if need be. However the other day I was practicing skipping a bait in my pool, so I put on all the brakes and finger tightened the spool tension knob. made several casts and all seemed fine until I backed off the brakes and tension knob for normal casting. I found that the spool still has a slight bit of tension on it and now casts with more difficulty and less distance. I have disassembled, cleaned, re-lubed and replaced two bearings and still no joy? any suggestions?

Double check that the side plate is properly seated with the cast cap loose 

1 hour ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Double check that the side plate is properly seated with the cast cap loose

As it turns out I had a small sleeve inverted. For the life of me I cannot see why it made a difference but the reel works fine now. Thanks for the reply as it made me rethink it all.

53 minutes ago, Ski said:

As it turns out I had a small sleeve inverted. For the life of me I cannot see why it made a difference but the reel works fine now. Thanks for the reply as it made me rethink it all.

99% of the time it’s something small. Sometimes just taking apart and reassembling fixes issues with no apparent cause.