I have a Shimano Curado that I brought from American Legacy less than a year ago. I fished it as it is straight out from the box, didn't open it up or anything. It was a smooth and satisfactory reel. Not even after 6 month of use, it is starting to feel geary on retreive. When putting load on the reel like fishing swimbaits or spinnerbaits, it would have a humming or whirring feel. I then opened it up and did maintenance, cleaning the parts and adding oil or grease where needed. Also cleaned the gears and added fresh grease. I used the Shimano star drag grease for the gear. The maintenance did not fix the issue, and the problem worsened. The humming or whirring feel is very noticeable in the hand and "loud".

 

Usually the culprit is the pinion bearings going bad. I replaced the bearings and that did not solve the problem. I'm sure it is the gears that is the problem. After the cleaning and maintenance, I had used it for another 2 trips and opened it again to redo the maintenance since there was no improvement. Already I found the gear grease getting discolored. I wiped it off with white tissue, and it is dark gray. It seemed like the gears is getting abraded or wearing out heavily, which may explain the discolored grease. I then redid the maintenance and grease and after a few more use, I get the same results with no improvements. 

 

I recall that the box was already opened when received from American Legacy, so maybe the reel was on a display and handled by customers in the store, which may caused the gear problems? Any input or advice is appreciated.

Contact ALF and they may help you out. Pretty decent folks.

Buy and install a new gear set. 

Shimano's micro module gears. I have 2 SLX. 1 is "geary", not as bad as you describe, so now it's a shelf queen. Second one is a bfs and doesn't have the issue- yet. And it gets used alot. Try a heavier grease instead of drag grease. It it still under warranty?? Call shimano??

To me most Shimano reels feel geary out of the box, and the Curado 150MGL I bought a couple years ago certainly had that geary feeling out of the box.   

 

It's never got worse or better, so to me it's just the way they feel.  

 

 

Might just need some casting reel grease. If it were me I'd pick some up and hit it with that since you will probably need some at some point anyway if you don't already have some. I believe Shimano actually makes their own but the Lew's casting reel grease is usually available locally (for me at least). You can also find some videos on applying it to a Shimano casting reel on youtube. Fair chance that fixes it, probably easier / cheaper than any other option, and worst case is you buy some casting reel grease for $8 that you will most likely use in the future anyway.

 

If that didn't work I'd call Shimano and show them the receipt. Honestly 6 months later is a bit much to be calling back any retailer but I believe it should still be under warranty...but that said I doubt the gears on a Curado would go bad after only 6 months so I'd definitely try the grease first. 

 

 

2 hours ago, little giant said:

Shimano's micro module gears. I have 2 SLX. 1 is "geary", not as bad as you describe, so now it's a shelf queen. Second one is a bfs and doesn't have the issue- yet. And it gets used alot. Try a heavier grease instead of drag grease. It it still under warranty?? Call shimano??

The slx dont have micro module gears. For me, the standars gears are better. The MM is smoother but its not gonna last forever. I know a lot a fisherman who burned the MM, mostly those made from aluminium. 

I would call Shimano or buy a new gear set. 

I would send it to @Delaware Valley Tackle for a refresh and let him tell you if something is really wrong or it just needs some careful attention. You shouldn’t be needing to regrease gears after two trips even if you submerged it in saltwater.

That's what you get from Shimano. They sell you their reels on micro module for over 10 years, making it sound likes its a positive, when its a massive negative. I also find it funny because i've said this on a bunch of forums, and people are like "Daiwa troll!!!". Crazy that after over a decade, some are still unaware. But i believe i know why. The reason being is that a lot of people aren't sensitive to their reels being grindy like a pepper grinder, so they aren't even noticing this unless the handle stops turning, and only then will they be asking themselves if something is wrong with their reel lol.

Not trying to be a.....forgot how to use English, but you have started several threads where you are not happy with your reels after you take them apart and then put back together.

 

My advice is to stop messing with your reels.

Most of the time (like 99.9%) it's this and not the gears. 

 

 

14 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

the Curado 150MGL I bought a couple years ago certainly had that geary feeling out of the box.   

 

It's never got worse or better, so to me it's just the way they feel.  

Exactly the same experience here. I can live with it the way it is, it hasn't gotten any worse and I'm praying it doesn't, as I like everything else about the reel. 

15 hours ago, QuirkyCarp2000 said:

Usually the culprit is the pinion bearings going bad. I replaced the bearings and that did not solve the problem.

 

It could be the pinion bearing, as many "geary" feeling cases result from that. But it could also be other bearings. One of my Abu reels developed geary feeling because the small bearing at the bottom end of the main shaft went bad. Changing it fixed the problem. I also had a geary reel because the two ceramic hybrid spool bearings were worn out. Changing them back to SS bearings fixed the problem as well.

 

And then of course I had some geary reels because of the gears were worn out, but IMO discolored gear grease doesn't necessarily mean the grease need to be changed or the gears have gone bad. I used to have new gear grease went dark right after several trips.   

 

Saying "I have a geary reel" is equivalent to saying "I heard noises from my car engine" to mechanics. There could be many reasons, so if the culprit couldn't be pinpointed, sending it to professionals like DVT here may be a good choice.  

15 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

To me most Shimano reels feel geary out of the box, and the Curado 150MGL I bought a couple years ago certainly had that geary feeling out of the box.   

 

It's never got worse or better, so to me it's just the way they feel.  

 

 

My Bantams are the smoothest reels I own w Daiwa Zil HD a very close second, still, the MM2 does give me pause on durability which was a big reason I sprang for 2 HD zillions. Other than many complaints online, my personal reels are fine. I use them differently also. Time will tell and if I do have issue I will do a tell all..

 

So far so good 

12 hours ago, ABU is overpriced said:

That's what you get from Shimano. They sell you their reels on micro module for over 10 years, making it sound likes its a positive, when its a massive negative. I also find it funny because i've said this on a bunch of forums, and people are like "Daiwa troll!!!". Crazy that after over a decade, some are still unaware. But i believe i know why. The reason being is that a lot of people aren't sensitive to their reels being grindy like a pepper grinder, so they aren't even noticing this unless the handle stops turning, and only then will they be asking themselves if something is wrong with their reel lol.

Oh come on now.. the gears you refer to are MM, the newer are MM2 and my Bantams are the absolute, most quiet reels I’ve ever owned w the exception of my “D” series. Now with that said, I’m now using Daiwa zillions HD x 2 and one new old stock 1016 9 speed and I’m enjoying the Daiwa reels a great deal. They’re race reels, I can change them easily and make them my own. Not so easy with Shimano generally speaking. I like the gear cut on the HD reels better and it’s probably my work background that gives me that confidence. In other words, I’m not sold on MM2 either, but I’m working on using these reels and if I have the vaguest indication there is a a catastrophic failure, I’m gonna tag you and buy you a beer 😂😂😂

5 hours ago, FishTank said:

Most of the time (like 99.9%) it's this and not the gears. 

 

 

Now this is useful information. 👍

I noticed that my MGLs got smoother after I did the first service to them.  Not that they were bad but I was pleasantly surprised how much nicer they got.

 

I recently spoiled myself with an Aldebaran so now my MGLs feel a little geary but it’s only because that Aldebaran is so smooth, just relative. 

Also to mention. A friend recently bought a daiwa zillion, spooled at the store he purchased. No idea what they used but when I tried it, I didn’t think it was that smooth. Fast forward, he was complaining about the line while we were fishing. I handed him a spool of my sniper assassin FC and we re-spooled it. What a difference!  Now smooth and much better composed for him.  Line matters, age of line matters too. 

13 hours ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

Not trying to be a.....forgot how to use English, but you have started several threads where you are not happy with your reels after you take them apart and then put back together.

 

My advice is to stop messing with your reels.

I never opened this one up or anything.  I used it as is from the box. Even though I never opened it up or messed with it, the problems arose anyway.

16 hours ago, AbelG said:

The slx dont have micro module gears. For me, the standars gears are better. The MM is smoother but its not gonna last forever. I know a lot a fisherman who burned the MM, mostly those made from aluminium. 

I would call Shimano or buy a new gear set. 

It seems that many of the Shimano reels including the higher ends ones come equipped with micromodule gears, so we all don't have much choice. 

17 hours ago, Brian11719 said:

Might just need some casting reel grease. If it were me I'd pick some up and hit it with that since you will probably need some at some point anyway if you don't already have some. I believe Shimano actually makes their own but the Lew's casting reel grease is usually available locally (for me at least). You can also find some videos on applying it to a Shimano casting reel on youtube. Fair chance that fixes it, probably easier / cheaper than any other option, and worst case is you buy some casting reel grease for $8 that you will most likely use in the future anyway.

 

If that didn't work I'd call Shimano and show them the receipt. Honestly 6 months later is a bit much to be calling back any retailer but I believe it should still be under warranty...but that said I doubt the gears on a Curado would go bad after only 6 months so I'd definitely try the grease first. 

 

 

That's a possibility.  The only thing I didn't do differently was to use a different grease.

DVT has one of my MGL 150's.  lets see how it does when it gets back.

 

i never noticed the geariness, until i bought Zillions..then with the 150MGL, it was, "how do i even use this thing?"  hahah..

 

great reels nevertheless.  i seem to have more line noise than anything else.  but that reel DVT is babysitting, was clacky.  if that even makes sense. 

@AbelG So I had to open up my SLX and have a look at the gear set.

It's a SLX -A, 71, mgl III, 6.3 speed. It has micro module gears, exactly like my slx bfs an 2 Curados.

I have a Metanium 101hg,  micro module, its smooth and quiet.

Malaysia vs Japan???

 

On 5/10/2025 at 4:39 PM, QuirkyCarp2000 said:

It seems that many of the Shimano reels including the higher ends ones come equipped with micromodule gears, so we all don't have much choice.

I only trust the micromodule on the Bantam 18/A and Met B. Below those, I prefer a slx xt over a curado

 

10 hours ago, little giant said:

@AbelG So I had to open up my SLX and have a look at the gear set.

It's a SLX -A, 71, mgl III, 6.3 speed. It has micro module gears, exactly like my slx bfs an 2 Curados.

I have a Metanium 101hg,  micro module, its smooth and quiet.

Malaysia vs Japan???

 

I dont know about the bfs but Im sure the slx line dont feature micromodule.  

12 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

DVT has one of my MGL 150's.  lets see how it does when it gets back.

 

i never noticed the geariness, until i bought Zillions..then with the 150MGL, it was, "how do i even use this thing?"  hahah..

 

great reels nevertheless.  i seem to have more line noise than anything else.  but that reel DVT is babysitting, was clacky.  if that even makes sense. 

Did you have the early USDM zillions?

9 hours ago, ABU is overpriced said:

Did you have the early USDM zillions?

no.  i am a late adopter into the Zillionaire lifestyle. 

Pinion bearings can go bad but it’s not as common as made out on the web. Changing them isn’t a cure all or even a go-to. Just one link in the chain to check. I’m happy to look at what you’ve got if you’d like. 

This is because you aren't using Daiwa