Happy to help, It's a great way to save your shifters and your money!! Please take a moment to subscribe to my RU-vid channel, I appreciate the support! Don't forget to apply some WD40 in the coming months twice or so, this will make sure you break down any smaller pieces of hardened grease and it won't give you problems in the future.
Dude - I took my bike to the shop twice and the problem kept coming back. After watching your video, I took your advice and completely solved the problem - Thanks!!!!
Hi Michael! Please take a moment to subscribe if you havent already! Thanks for the support and the kind words too, this is exactly why I created D2 WrenchWorks & DIY so it's awesome to hear people saving money fixing their own stuff!! Don't be shy about asking for a refund if they charged you too!
Love to hear stuff like this Stan! Thanks for the comment and please take a moment to subscribe if you haven’t already! I highly recommend using the Tri-Flow in the description, at least 3-4 times over the year. This insures you don’t have small bits that were washed to the side of the shifter find their way back, it’s happened to me and the tri-flow really is an excellent lubricant with PTFE! Great for your chain too!
Great news, I love to see comments like this! Always happy to help and please don't forget to subscribe to my channel! Many more helpful videos coming!
Many thanks for the kind words Mick! Please take a moment to subscribe and when you get a chance, checkout my recent videos as I've gotten much better at making them!
Wow! You are the man! This seems to be the problem I am having, especially now that it is cold! It seems you were able to do it while the wire was still in there. My bike has its wires in there. I will try it. And there are "junk" shifters available on auction here in Japan with the same problem! Unbelievable. Thanks very much. And yes. It worked. I used 1. Brake cleaner sprayed liberally. 2. A generic WD40-like light spray oil. 3. A PTFE lubricant spray. I should get some PTFE grease but the shop did not have any, and if I keep spraying with 3 I think I should be okay.
And another of my bikes cured! I had a bike I had not ridden in a while since the front shifter would ignore me. It was completely non-functional being unable to change down when I tried it. But now it changes down no problem.
This is awesome to hear Timothy, great work! Be sure to add some tri-lube in there at some point, it is a silicon based lubricant that does a great job inside shifters!
@@D2WrenchWorksDIY If you unscrew the screw under the shifter you can take off two covers to expose the cogs and clean them well. I have a right ST5800 that only shifts 10 (as opposed to the 11 that it should) times. I have taken off the covers and sprayed it with a lot of brake cleaner but still only get 10 clicks. I rarely use my lowest gear but, if you have any other suggestions I am all ears.
Hi Brad please take a moment to subscribe to the channel if you aren't already! Happy to hear this saved you a trip and money too, it's crazy how expensive shifters have gotten since I made this video! Keep applying tri-lube in multiple spots on both shifters, this way you continue to break down and stubborn bits of grease!
Hi there! Please take a moment to subscribe to my channel if you haven’t already, thanks for helping grow my channel! I love to hear stories like this Jimbo, thanks for sharing! These shifters are CRAZY EXPENSIVE NOW so I’m glad you saved $$$! I got tons more tech tips on my channel and many more to come!
Thanks for the comment and please take a moment to subscribe if you haven’t already! Almost 100% certain it’ll work as long as you didn’t jam a shift cable inside wrong or break it, I have some advice here in the comments you can check out too!
Thanks for the video, excellent stuff. I'm gonna take a guess that you don't have a pro $80K camera !! My Sora R3000 right shifter (9 speed) seems to index/click shift when I take if off the drop handlebar - I see the cable indexing around it's "housing" but I lose any shifting when I screw the unit onto the handlebars!! The levers just move back and forwards (against the internal spring) but without any shifting or indexing. The cable isn't actuated at all once on the handlebars. Confusing. Do you think it's the same thing and I need to get rid of internal gunge and re-lubricate ? thanks
Hi Deepak! Thanks for kind words and the laugh, unfortunately despite 600k views I'm stuck using a busted cellphone. The small channels dont make much money, so I do the best I can haha. This is a good time to ask you to subscribe and like the video lol. I actually have a video on a very similar r2000 and I've had this issue before where, when bolted to handlebars, the shifter is engaged by the shifter grips and im wondering if that's your issue. Almost never do you see these new generation shifters having issues unless someone previously jammed a cable and forced the shifter which isn't a grease situation at all. Here's the video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-reAHjMnMCQg.html
Thanks for the comment and please take a moment to subscribe! CFR you say!? Well I got some videos for you bud! They're awesome bikes! Part 1: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hPiKQTVcLs4.html Part 2: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZEGmOpG1qXg.html You'll want to slide out the inner dustcaps on the RSX shifters, it's better to remove these and soak them in hot water for while! The 7 speed shifters can be the absolute worse so use hot water and a degreaser and be patient.
If you can help: Edit: it's a shimano claris st-r2000 Got shipped a used bike, assembled it, shifted crap, went to adjust the rear derailleur. Something something something, something clicks, and the shifter just doest not move the (slacked) cable. I loosen the cable completely. The shifter will do a click when i move the big leaver, then when i try to do it again it just gets stuck, unless i click the small leaver: then the big leaver will give a click again. Basically works great if i alternate up and down shifting, but won't upshift multiple times (as i think it should??? Should be able to upshift 8 times right?)
Hi Charlie, please take a moment to subcribe if you haven't already and thanks for the question! Unfortunately I can't really help you over comments and it sounds to me like you have something that is already broken or is breaking because someone likely put the cable in wrong and jammed it. I am totally guessing of course because it is extremely common, I would certainly fix this before riding it anymore. If you wanted my help repairing I do have a Patreon where I offer my services, one on one. All proceeds greatly help the growth of this channel, link here: www.patreon.com/D2_WRENCHWORKS_DIY
@@D2WrenchWorksDIY I suppose I should do a follow-up: I pumped the sucker full of WD-40 and lo and behold, it started working like a clock. So you totally did fix my bike through the internet. Thank you!
This is good to hear, please take a moment to subscribe to my channel if you haven't already! I even have a video for your shifters and how to install new cables when the time comes! Somewhere in the buttload of comments here another guy had this weird issue with your exact shifters and sadly they were jammed up and broken as I described so this is excellent news! Don't forget to fill it full of Tri-Flow after, that is way better than the oem grease and great to use on your chain too.
Usually the left shifter will fail first. What if no matter how much you spray cleaner or wd 40 it will not shift anymore up or down? Even if you leave the shifter in a brine of cleaner solution for days or in an ultrasonic cleaner
Hi Jesus, please take a moment to subscribe to my channel if you haven't already! For sure try WD40, something about it is WAY more effective about breaking down the stubborn grease, also blasting super hot water in there works great so sometimes I'll do wd40/hot water/wd40 etc until I feel it coming back. If I run into an issue where the grease still feels like it's in the shifter, it's so much easier to just remove it, take off the shifter nameplate, remove the dust covers and blast it with hot water/bathe it in wd40 in the sink. If you squeeze the brake handle you will see the two plastic halves screwed together with one screw....that is your dust covers and you can see the actual grease that is being stubborn!
Hi great video really clear and helpful, I've just bought a 2nd hand bike with shimano r2000 8 speed shifters, but the 8 speed isn't shifting, I've managed to get the old cable out, which was a mission in itself lol, I've squirted the wd in a few times, sometimes it's clicking but the barrel or whatever it's called that the cable and nipple sit in just isn't moving down at all it remains up the top away from the hole you feed the nipple into ,if that makes sense, do I need to put a cable in and keep it under pressure to shift or should it be doing it without the cable ? I've currently been doing it without the cable, please any help as I'm losing sleep over this I never knew how expensive new shifters would be !!! Thanks in advance Mick 😉👍👍
Also as a foot note the bike was bought new in 2019, so I'm assuming with hope that it shouldn't be anything mechanical with the shifter with it just being over a year old ?? Thanks again 👍👍
Hi Mick thanks for subscribing I really appreciate the help in growing my channel! So as far as your shifters, I am happy to help! Of course you may be having one silly issue I forgot you can have lol, if the grips are rolled up the shifter will not downshift because the shifter is catching the metal piece. Try rolling the grip down and see if it shifts down. If that isnt it, at this point it may not be a bad idea to take it to your local bike shop and have them install new shift cables. I have gotten second hand stuff with this SAME issue, the people before us messed up and broke the shifter forcing the repair. When you have issues sliding out an old cable it's because it was either installed not catching the barrel you described or it was so old metal strands frayed off into the shifter. So when the barrel piece that holds that cable isnt moving down on it's own it's being caught by the broken cable pieces, but they can be fished out with a pick or maybe washed out with wd40.
@@D2WrenchWorksDIY hey thanks for the reply, I had actually took the hoods (rubbers off) I did get it to down shift today after putting a cable in and applying pressure but then it wouldn't up shift, I got it to a point where it would click up a few times, so I fitted the gear cable, but now it will up shift but not down, I spoke to my local bike shop who said to try brake and clutch cleaner as this is more effective than wd40, anyway long story short I've spent the best part of 2 days squirting soaking and fiddling with the shifters and I'm not really much further forward apart from 3 upshifts and nothing else, I think I'll have to take it to the bike shop, as I'm not even sure where the nipple top position should be, does it carry on right round or stop at the top near where the cable grove runs round ? That's where mine is stopping, I'm now fearing the worse as I'm starting to think the guy I bought it off had tried forcing it and caused real damage somewhere 🙁🙁 but thankyou so much for your help so far 😉
@@Mickoutdoors thanks for the kind words friend! I suspect you are VERY close and there is a likely chance you are correct. It’s been a while since I had R2000’s, if you check my videos you can see I did a shift cable replacement video for these because they were a bit tricky even for me! So anyway have you tried opening the little windows? I recall there are two little square hatches on either side of the shifter that let you see both sides of the shifting mechanism. Maybe you’ll find broken shifter cable bits as I have that’ll unclog the shift mechanism. It’s never a bad idea to forge a relationship with your local bike shop either though! I’d bet if you called them back and mentioned the first call being great help but you still need one shift cable installed...as it’s giving you fits, they’d gladly help you for cheap! Plus if you ever needed some help in the future they’ll remember you supporting their shop!
@@D2WrenchWorksDIY thanks again for the reply, yeh had the windows off all the time, it's now been flooded with wd40 and left to stand over night, it's 4.25am here in the UK as I type this, I'm a early riser lol, I will deffo call the bike shop back as they may see something straight away that I'm unaware of, I think my last resort for me is to take the shifter off the bike and see if I can get the top cover off and get complete access to its guts so I can get deeper in with the wd40, on a slightly more positive note I did haggle the price of the bike down to give me a buffer if anything major such as the shifter needed replacing, so even if I buy a new shifter which I've already sourced for £65 I'll still have got a bike well worth the total amount spent, so today I'll see if I can figure out how to get that top cover off if the overnight soak hasn't worked, honestly thankyou so much for your help and time I really do appreciate it you've been a star, Mick 👍👍😉
Hi seakayaker, please take a moment to subscribe if you haven't already! I like thoroughly soak them in every part of the process so it flushes out on it's own. I don't have a compressor and canned air is expensive, if I run into an issue where the grease still feels like it's in the shifter, it's so much easier to just remove it, take off the shifter nameplate, remove the dust covers and blast it with hot water in the sink. If you squeeze the brake handle you will see the two plastic halves screwed together with one screw....that is your dust covers and you can see the actual grease that is being stubborn!
Hey. I got the same problem I've put loads of WD40 in there. This afternoon I put even more and got some clicks out of it, number of tries to get a click was going down that was nice. And now I can't get a single click out of it again, that's weird. When it was working It was with no cable in or with a cable in but without any tension. As soon as I applied tension by hand to the cable, it wouldn't shift to lower rings anymore. Any ideas? thanks
Hi Francesco please take a moment to subscribe to my channel! Don’t give up buddy! You’re actually super close and what is going on right now is that the Shimano grease will ball up as you break it down making it stick elsewhere and shift randomly. I would remove the dust covers inside the shifter, open up the shifter and you’ll see a small Phillips screw holding them together in a clamshell type design. This will give total access to the shifter guts so now take the shifters off and soak it once or twice in the hottest possible water you can find with some dish soap. I’ll remove them after a few hours and use my sink sprayer and super hot water to spray inside the shifter trying to break up that grease. Reapply your wd40 and keep shifting it and reapplying wd40 in all the gears up and down so you really break it down. If it’s extra stubborn apply trilube. Maybe 1 in 100 shifters will need the nose of the shifter removed as well. That’s honestly not much more work but you likely won’t need that. Let me know how that works for you!
Hi Craigo87, please take a moment to subscribe! I would be VERY careful messing with brake cleaner, that stuff destroys plastic so I don't use it in my shifters. This is an older video of mine and I have since perfected my recipe lol. I need to make an update vid sometime soon, but I no longer do the rubbing alcohol if it isnt productive with wd40 within 10-15mins I soak them in SCALDING HOT water, if you have a sprayer and remove the dust covers this is easiest way to soften the grease. Once this is done the wd-40 turns it into a liquid and you just flush it all out. Tri-lube still kicks butt though, you just reminded to order a new bottle and so I did! Thanks!
@@D2WrenchWorksDIY I hadn’t considered the plastic aspect. Asked my wife about it, she has a ChemE background, and she said the brake cleaner will cause polycarbonate plastics to craze and break down. Fortunately they don’t make shifters or their components out of that stuff. But brake cleaner could still damage rubber and possibly some other plastics. I like your idea of hot water. I have a portable steam cleaner that generates boiling hot steam. That would work in conjunction with the WD40 as you described. Thanks for the words of caution.
Yeah the hot water is a HUGE game changer as well as having a spray attachment on the sink, soaking it then spraying the grease makes it soft and jelly like! I'll usually tie the brake handle to the clamp of shifter so its wide open and I don't get burned holding it...then go to town in the sink. A steamer sounds WAYYYYY easier and less messy though so good thinking! RE: Brake Clean, while I am definitely no Chemist lol I have been an automotive mechanic far longer than a bike mechanic and we were always told brake cleaner will expedite the plastics drying out at an exponential rate and within months will develop cracks and stuff. I have seen it mess stuff up using it where it doesn't belong and shifters are COSTLY (which is why this vid has so many fews haha) so I always just err on the side of caution with stuff like this. It will definitely destroy grips too, I am the "better to be safe then sorry" type mechanic haha. Thanks for the comments and I appreciate you supporting and subscribing to the channel!
Hey man thanks for this video. Have you fixed older 105s with this method? I got an old Trek (probably 80s) with the old style 105 ST-1055 shifters that are not clicking at all on the right shifter, up or down. I tried this with PB Blaster but no luck so far.
Hi Sean, thanks for the kind words! Please take a moment to subscribe and help my small channel grow, if you haven't already that is! I actually just cleaned up a pair of Shimano 600 shifters that are very similiar! See if you can carefully remove the dust covers, if you are holding it and squeeze the brake lever down you will look inside and see the covers. For some reason WD-40 breaks down the shimano grease like no other so defintely switch to that, I like to leave the shift cable in and stand on it to give it tension and use that as an aid to move around the grease and help break it down. The more spots you can squirt in WD40 the better really, I like to soak them in a bucket full of scalding hot water with dish soap for half a day or so too. Doing this seems to help break down stubborn grease, quick tip: remove your shifter grips and work on the shifters off the bike!
@@D2WrenchWorksDIY You know I just ripped off all the tape and was taking the shifters off to open them up and work on them off of the bike after watching your and RJ the Bike Guy's videos, and then I realized it is shifting again after letting it sit in PB Blaster all night!!! Now I just need to get it tuned back in since I messed everything else up screwing with it lol. Thanks again for the videos and being so responsive even a year after posting this video, it's truly helpful and I really appreciate it - liked and subbed.
@@seanbellora1393 great news bud! Make sure you soak them down real good one more time for the heck of it! That grease is such a pain and the cold weather makes is really hard! Thanks for the kind words though, park tools has an EXCELLENT write up on how to adjust your front derailleur and rear derailleur. Make sure you adjust both limit screws on both derailleurs like they have you do and in the order they suggest, it’s a breeze really!
I tried mine using wd40 on 105 triple STI from 2013., its the front shifter wont upshift. After Wd40 soak , It started to work for couple shifts, then its stucked again.. i have left it overnight with wd40 in it and still no luck... thought ?
Hi there! Thanks for the question and please take a moment to subscribe, I appreciate the support! Since I have uploaded this video I have actually revised my method for extra stubborn shifters like you have here! If you squeeze the brake lever down and look inside you will see you can take apart your Shimano 105 shifters a little more. Depending on which Shimano 105 shifters you have ST-5600 or ST-5700, you can remove the nose cone on the ST-5600 if they are very stuck but you need to be careful with the spring inside and putting it back correctly. First though, remove dust covers inside and this will give you much better access to the shifter mechanism inside. Using a sink sprayer with water on absolute hottest will help get the hidden grease out too.
I did the same thing but it's still the same. It took me a few hours and even remove it from the bike itself but the result is the same..anymore advice to give? Thanks
Hi Tam thanks for your question and please take a moment to subscribe to my channel, I appreciate the support! You have two options I recommend, first take the shifter off the bike and soak it in basically boiling hot water/dish soap combo to break down the grease, the other you will need to remove the nameplate and the nose of the shifter, you'll need a phillips screwdriver for the nameplate and there's a 10mm nut to take the nose off.
Thanks Uncle Gopher! Please take a moment to subscribe to my channel if you haven’t already, glad to hear you saved big money! We love fixing instead of replacing here!
Hi Warren, please take a moment to subscribe to my channel if you have lent already! I appreciate the help in growing my channel! It can take several hours of soaking your shifter to break down the grease making it stick. I highly recommend doing it how I did in the video using a strong degreaser, then wd40 and then tri-flow. If the shifters are being stubborn I will take them off the handlebars and soak them in soapy water that’s extremely hot and has dish soap in it to break down the grease. If you have 10 speed shifters like in this video I recommend one last thing, you can remove the nose of the shifter too.
After I came back from the shop for a tuneup , and the repair guy told me because of the generic quality of my left generic/cheap shifter or derailleur, he could not fix the stuck. My wife Huffy bike is only a few months old. It is a handle type shifter that you turn up or down With numbers on it. Any advise ?
Hi there thanks for the comment and please take a moment to subscribe to my channel! It depends on the shifter and rear derailleur on the bike but the shop may be right. Often getting cheap huffy bikes working properly and safely it takes a few hours. It’s likely they were looking out for your best interest as they charge by the hour for stuff like this. To be honest I would get some cheap trigger shifters off Amazon and upgrade the rear derailleur. These parts are cheap and easy to get, let me know how many speeds the front and back of your bike is and I can recommend parts.
Hi Francesco, please take a moment to subscribe to my channel! Also, I have a Patreon page you are welcome to use to support my channel if you ever have issues needing solved ASAP. I have gotten second hand stuff with this SAME issue, the people before us messed up and broke the shifter forcing the repair. When you have issues sliding out an old cable it's because it was either installed not catching the barrel or as you described I t was so old metal strands frayed off into the shifter. So when the barrel piece that holds that cable isnt moving down on it's own it's being caught by the broken cable pieces, but they can be fished out with a pick or maybe washed out with wd40. You need to take off the shifter nameplate with a Phillips screwdriver, then use a flathead screwdriver on the lock washer, using a 10mm socket you can fully remove the shifter nose and expose all the broken cable bits.
Thanks for watching Ernesto, please take a moment to subscribe if you haven't already! I have a bunch more repair videos and custom builds I am sure you will enjoy, plus a bunch more coming in the next month!
Hey! Wondering if you think this method will work if the shifter is not shifting upwards, instead of downwards. Or might that be a different problem altogether? Thoughts? Thanks! Cheers!
Hello Sveinn, thanks for the comment and subscribing I really appreciate that! This grease is such a problem it can be not shifting at all up or down, or either direction. As long as you haven’t jammed a shift cable in there, trying to change cables and then forced it to shift, I’m certain it’s the grease that’s your issue. It can be a pain in the butt to get the grease to soften up but the combination of what I use in the video is my tried and true method for years now with nearly a 100% result! Rarely, if it’s REALLY bad, I will have to remove the front nose of the shifter and blast it with hot water and then let it soak in my sink full of hot water for a couple hours. Then I will go back to work with the degreaser/wd40/trilube and it will clear right out, having the nose off will also give you better access to the grease inside.
@@D2WrenchWorksDIY Awesome! Thanks for all the information and the encouragement. I gave it a two-hour treatment yesterday without much progress, aside from having the problem reverse; stuck in the highest gear instead of the lowest for a while. But then it went back to being stuck in the lowest again. Will keep trying and I'll let you know what happens! Thanks 🙏
Sveinn Breki Hróbjartsson don’t be scared to pop that nose off, assuming yours are also 10 speed shifters. What you’re dealing with is that hardened little grease ball starting to move around and the key is to make sure to get a lot of wd40 inside where it’s giving you issues. It will ensure you break it down in the problem area. Don’t be discouraged it can be a pain but it’s save a lot of $$$!
sir i hope you reply to my comment, i have shimano 105 shifter 2 speed for the chain ring and i experiencing the same problem but when i shift the clicking noise is quite silent than the normal i brought it to the shop and they said maybe theres something broke in the shifter i wanted to bring it back to live because i cant afford one im just 14 yrs old and i cant make enought money to buy a new sti shifter
Hello friend thanks for comment and please take a moment to subscribe to my channel if you have not already! So about your shifters! If you check the comments you will find many others having these exact issues like you are. First I would watch this whole video and spend a few hours on them if you need but I would try to make sure the grease isnt what is clogging up your shifter. If you check the comment I left to Francesco Mancetti it would be great help to you, taking off the dust covers and soaking it in your sink with scalding hot water for a few hours is great help for stubborn shifters. Then follow up with more wd40 and if you can run a shift cable inside, keeping tension on the cable and shifting it will help the wd40 break down the grease. Sometimes it takes a while to break down the big chunks of the shimano grease that is clogging it up. If you remove the dust shield and find broken parts, unfortantely it is only good for parts at this point.
Hi Ian thanks for the comment please take a moment to subscribe to my channel, I appreciate the support! I never take the shifters too far apart because the small parts are robotically assembled with special tools, the process I do in this video is the best way to save your shifters before things break. I have seen parts fall out on Shimano 105 10spd shifters that had your same issue and it was because the cable was jammed up and they kept trying to shift. So the spring that popped out of these when I removed the name plate/nose of the shifter, it is a non-serviceable part and the shifters are only good for external parts at this point.
Gracias por tu comentario, no estoy seguro si tus shifters se puedan re_construir, pero intentalo con Los tips del video . No se olvide de suscribir a mi canal.
You can engage them without cables no problem. Engaging with the cable left inside helps unstick the shifter. Neither of these will damage the shifters though
Hello Yur! Please take a moment to subscribe to my channel! If you check the comment I left to Francesco Mancetti it would be great help to you, taking off the dust covers and soaking it in your sink with scalding hot water for a few hours is great help. Then follow up with more wd40 and if you can run a shift cable inside, keeping tension on the cable and shifting it will help the wd40 break down the grease. Sometimes it takes a while to break down the big chunks of the shimano grease that is clogging it up.
always wear protective eyewear. can't afford to have that stuff squirt by accident into your eyes. I have seen it happen to a bike mech before and it ain't pretty. he was fortunate that they had a eye wash station.
This is EXCELLENT ADVICE! Honestly if you are spraying WD-40 and cleaner, it's important to wear a 3m Respirator with 60926 cartridges too, it's been a great addition to my toolbox. This is a super old video for me but I have been this mechanic lol! I had to get a piece of metal removed from my eye 15 years ago but I still remember how horrible it was, like it was yesterday! Thanks for the reminder to ALWAYS protect your eyes! I was raised in a OLD SCHOOL shop where PPE was unheard of, so as I am getting older, I try my hardest to break old habits and remember protective gear!
