Spinning Reel problem & tear down

[Jeffonc]

I've got a 3 or 4 year old Mitchell 308x. Has been a really smooth reel, but last season it started to get a "catch" as I retrieve line. It just locks up with no warning, and no consistency. I can grind through it or flip the anti-reverse and get the mechanism spinning backwards then its fine again, until next time. The "next times" have been getting closer and closer together. I thought I'd take it apart and see if I could find something like broken/worn gear teeth or sand/grit inside. Two interesting things:

1) a small piece of plastic-coated paper was loose inside, on the worm gear.


2) An awful lot of play in the spindle.




The reel has never been opened before, so I can thank the manufacturer for the extra loose "part" floating around. Hopefully that's the primary issue.

There is going to be some play in the mechanism, as the pin needs to "float" within the grooves on the worm gear, but I'm thinking its starting to show some age in there. Would appreciate hearing from folks who've done more true reel reconditioning on how much play to expect.

I know its probably not worth a lot of effort as this is only a $30-40 reel, and it has served for 3 or 4 years, but if nothing else its good practice for the nicer ones...