Abu Ambassadeur 7000C3 busted (Help!)

So… I was out last night and landed a nice 7 lb channel cat with my main big game gear: 8’6″ Shimano Talora trolling rod sporting an Ambassadeur 7000C3 spooled with 80# Power Pro. Nice fish… it actually made a couple runs that took line against the drag.

Got the fish in, unhooked, measured and weighed and “reduced to possession” in DNR lingo. Rebaited, went to cast… and my reel made the most gut-wrenching noise I’ve ever heard come from a piece of fishing gear. It was a cross between a grind and a gag. As I was retrieving the botched cast I noticed that the levelwind wasn’t levelwinding anymore.

&&$^@#*

So I removed the cap from the side with the clicker and what I found… well, a picture’s worth a thousand words. Apparently the crank turns the spool and the spool turns a reduction gear that turns the levelwind. The part of the reduction gear that turns the levelwind is missing 4 teeth.

As an aside, I’m not an expert on engineering fishing reels, but it seems to me that making that gear out of plastic was… less than brilliant.

Anyway… I’m wondering if anyone has ever experienced this, knows if this can be replaced by the user and/or where I can take it for quality and quick repair?

I’m bummed… my baby is broken.

Do you reel with your clicker on??? You should not.

Almost never. This time the clicker was screaming and it caught me off guard, so I grabbed the rod, turned about 3 cranks with the clicker on, shut it off and kept going.

I do remember the reel acting oddly as I brought the fish in, but I was a bit distracted at that point.

I get my parts from ereplacementparts.com. Try this link:http://www.ereplacementparts.com/abu-garcia-7000-ambassadeur-parts-c-187196_187197_187640.html. Otherwise you will have to go with the manufacturer.

Don’t think your asking a bit much out of the reel?
Best I can find is it’s rated for 15# drag and suggested line of 25#.

Maybe cranking the drag to far ?

Sucks to have them break though.
Al

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Don’t think your asking a bit much out of the reel?
Best I can find is it’s rated for 15# drag and suggested line of 25#.

Maybe cranking the drag to far ?

Sucks to have them break though.
Al

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Well, I’ve never actually had a reel break on me like this… so it’s a new experience and yeah, it sucks.

As far as I know, though, the drag setting is the important part whether you’ve got 8#, 18# or 80# line on your reel. If you have the drag set right it shouldn’t really matter much what the tensile strength of your line is because it won’t ever stress the reel’s innards beyond their ability.

That said, in hindsight, I guess I really need to stop dealing with snags by pulling on the rod. I can see how that would stress everything… especially when I have had snags with this reel where I could lean back on my heels and the reel, rod and line would support my entire weight.

And I’m not a small guy.

Good input, dude. Thanks.

@backlasher, thanks… I’ll check into that.

I took it apart, looked everything over, checked all the other parts for fit and so on… when I put it back together, the levelwind seems to be working again. Now, it can’t be fully functional with 4 (at least partially) missing teeth, but it seems to work well enough to fish with for the moment.

Apparently Wayzata Bait and Tackle is also a full-service reel repair shop and there’s a place called Rob’s Reel Repair in Richfield. I’m checking into prices for both, but I may just take it in to one of those outfits for fixing. It may work for the moment, but I have no illusions that it’ll stay that way without repair.

Anyone have experience with either reel repair place?

I’d skip bringing it to wayzata bait! Worst reel repair service I’ve ever experanced!

Hey Jared. There’s a reel repair service at Trails Edge Pro Shop in Spring Lake Park. Nice folks there but I’ve never used the reel repair service. A bit closer than Wayzata and Richfield for ya.

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I’d skip bringing it to wayzata bait! Worst reel repair service I’ve ever experanced!

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Hey Tim… long time no talk. All that I’ve been reading about Abu big-game reels and gear ratios has reminded me of you and that day you schooled me on cast and retrieve with the big musky lures.

Good times.

When you took the reel apart, did you notice if the screws on the side were already loose? I have heard a gut wrenching sound when casting and find that the screws are loose and the gears are not properly alligned. It is possible that when you put the reel back together everything is now tight and that is why everything works now.

I get my parts from mikes reel repair online. I replace the level wind carriage screw for my 6300’s about every 5 years. Reels are going on 15 years now. I have never had the gear that went out on you fail on my reels and they have basically identicle parts in the reels.

Can’t help you fix it but I have a 6000c I just found the other day your welcome too.

@Wes… yeah, they weren’t loose, but it sure didn’t work. I ended up taking both sides off the frame and reassembling it all. I agree that there was an alignment issue. But it’s DEFINITELY missing teeth.

When I talked to Wayzata B&T on the phone the guy told me that all the manufacturers are using plastic gears in that particular spot so that the cog will fail rather than ruining the levelwind… it’s like a mechanical fuse. Cheaper to replace a $3 plastic gear than the whole worm gear assembly, I guess.

@Connell — I’m interested either way! I have been planning on picking up a 6k, 65k or 66k (just haven’t decided yet) for one of my other rods… PM me with details if you would?

Thanks!

As for buying the part and fixing it myself, I’m not sure what to do… the pin that the cog rides on has a ridge around the top that secures the cog in place. Not sure how to remove it or how to secure a new one and I can’t find much info online about the procedure.

Does anyone here know?

Try this site.

http://alantani.com/

Pretty good info here.

Line size normally wouldn’t make a difference, but it does allow you to put much more stress on the reel, that’s what I meant by line test being to high.

I do most my own repairs, I’ll get the camera out and take a picture each time I take a part off and note which way it go back on.
Seems to make it easier.

Al

Well that’s worth a laugh.

That’s a $1 or $2 gear. It’s the cog that drives the levelwind. It is meant to be plastic.

If you were to stick your finger in the wrong place when a fish was pulling line out or you were snagged and the boat was moving, the levelwind can pinch the heck out of your finger and something needs to give. Or if you backlash real bad or if you get sand in your levelwind, something needs to give. You can use the reel without the levelwind.

The cog just pops on that post. Maybe your levelwind is super dirty and worn out? And yes, abusing the reel can cause that also.

You can get parts from abu/berkley/pure fishing. Or your local place, or haterass outfitters is a nice shop that will hook you up.

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Don’t think your asking a bit much out of the reel?

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‘ell NO! We are talking about a 7000 here right? The “winch”?

But then I use a stick to break off snags for a reason.

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As for buying the part and fixing it myself, I’m not sure what to do… the pin that the cog rides on has a ridge around the top that secures the cog in place. Not sure how to remove it or how to secure a new one and I can’t find much info online about the procedure.

Does anyone here know?

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It should just pull out. The Abus may have plastic gears and cheap drag washers, but the up side is that they’re really easy to take apart and replace. Worst case scenario, you can order a new cover plate with the gear attached from Abu and it should be to you in a day or two.

It also might be worth it to go to the muskie expo every spring. Abu Garcia and Shimano have booths there and they’ll take apart your reel, clean it, and the Abu guys will replace any worn or broken parts for free if they have them on hand. It’s well worth the $10 admission.

As long as you have it apart, maybe contact these people for new drag washers..

http://www.smoothdrag.com/

Al

There are some pics here of a guy with a finger stuck in a level wind.

http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=340026

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Well that’s worth a laugh.

That’s a $1 or $2 gear. It’s the cog that drives the levelwind. It is meant to be plastic.

If you were to stick your finger in the wrong place when a fish was pulling line out or you were snagged and the boat was moving, the levelwind can pinch the heck out of your finger and something needs to give. Or if you backlash real bad or if you get sand in your levelwind, something needs to give. You can use the reel without the levelwind.

The cog just pops on that post. Maybe your levelwind is super dirty and worn out? And yes, abusing the reel can cause that also.

You can get parts from abu/berkley/pure fishing. Or your local place, or haterass outfitters is a nice shop that will hook you up.

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At first I was like “Hey, what’s so laughable, dude?” Then I noticed the title I’d given this thread and the fact that is was panicked and… lol yeah, now that I know that it’s a $2.99 part that’s -meant- to strip my initial reaction is kinda funny. But I’m on unemployment and that Abu is my baby… thank God they were cool enough to engineer a $3 weak link instead of $50 in parts…

I do appreciate the info. I understand now why it’s plastic… maybe you didn’t read the whole thread, so you didn’t see the part where I said “I get it now… it’s like a mechanical fuse.”

And I just realized last night that I can go without the levelwind entirely… my issue before was that the level wind wasn’t moving so the line built up under it and jammed the spool, basically. And this is the first time a $100+ reel has broken on me. Being used to cheap crap gear in the past, my first reaction was to be very sad because my baby busted… not to be fully expecting a quick fix cuz they’re that we’ll planned and made.

Anyway… I did look at the stuck-finger pics. Ugh. Nasty painful!

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As long as you have it apart, maybe contact these people for new drag washers..

http://www.smoothdrag.com/

Al

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Thanks for the input AllenE and lhprop1… I’ve been seriously considering upgrading the drag plates in this reel.

And in addition to drag plates I’ve been eyeing new bearings and a ceramic-coated levelwind, too… just a budget thing.

I suppose the drag plates would give me more bang for my buck in this case… something to seriously consider.

Pretty easy to end up with a reel that has over $200 in it total when you add upgrades.

I stopped with new drag washers on my garcia’s, most of them are 6xxx series though.

call 1-877-777-3850 and ask for real repair. Abu Garcia will fix it for a reasonable price and fix it correctly.