Is it okay to soak my bearing from the left sideplate in lime away to free it up? This is my first time taking this reel apart, and I found that the bearing on the left side is attached to the spool. Can I just soak that side in something to free it up, cuz it catches a little bit when in freespool and when i turn the handle. Thanks a lot.

There is no problem with soaking the bearing in lime away. At the shop we prefer to use CLR because I find that it works a little better in breaking through rust and stuck parts. The only thing is that you should clean the bearing with with brake clean or contact cleaner or something similar before you go adding oil to the bearing when you have finished soaking it in CLR or Lime Away.

Good Luck with it if you have any questions call me at the shop.

Thanks a lot Matt, I'll try it when I get home. So does everything that I use Limeaway on have to be cleaned before it goes back into the reel?

Albert...Replace the bearings, if you are having trouble with them they only get worse not better.

as janz replied replace the bearings!
They only get worst if thier frozen now.

Thanks for the help guys

i know the newells can really cast pretty far, but i really just don't care for them, i've heard of too many problems with them,, why bother when there's so many good reels out there...

I dunno-every reel company has problems. I pitched a Shimano Tekota into the Alaska Ocean when both the anti-reverse and the levelwind failed on the same salmon. (We handlined the fish in-it weighed 17 lbs.) Newells like a little proactive care-but there is no reel that I would rather have when the tuna are finicky!

very true every reel has it's own little problems,, look at the history of the reel mgf, ask around and make a choice, most expensive is not always the best,,EXAMPLE::look at the jig master500, probably the most used and most reliable reel ever made...