I have/had several of the Academy house brand Pinnacle reels and I absolutely could not have been happier with them. Alas they are beginning to fail. They've never been taken apart and cleaned in the 5,6,7,8 years I've owned them because honestly they were only getting used 15-20 times a year tops. I should have still cleaned them, but I didn't so there it is.
I have a few of the new Academy brand H2O reels, but they're just not as smooth as the Pinnacles are/were.

So I tell you all that to ask this. Do you think the Pinnacles are worth trying to clean? Do you think cleaning would help them anyway? Are there other reels in the $60-99 range that are as good or are the cheap reels from Shimano, Daiwa, etc garbage?

Never fished a pinnacle. But yeah, I’d have to say, if you haven’t put any oil and grease on them after 5-8 years and they are acting funny, I’d give that a try before I threw them away. You happen to have the owners manual? If not, can probably find online. I use Penn. I think there is an oil/grease thread pinned.

Pinnacle went out of business a year or two ago so parts availability may be slim to none. Bearings on the other hand can be had, just need to know the sizes.

I would clean them myself and give them some oil and grease to see if they are salvageable.

If they need to be "sent off" to get repaired then toss them and get some new ones.

They are cheap for a reason so spend the money on some replacements.

Thanks, y'all. Kinda what I was thinking. I'm gonna try to clean them. If it doesn't work, oh well. I fit does great!

Great reels just can't get parts for them.

Take care of them and they will last.

Sent you a PM about some Pinnacle reels.

Steve O's reel cleaning charges $15.00 + shipping. He's cleaned 10 or 11 of my old ones and they come back nice. He's in Copperas Cove so if you don't want to pay shipping you may could drop em off. If you like em at that price it might be worth it!