Took my old curado apart tonight, cleaned up the grime and oiled the bearings. Amazingly it stopped making the noises that made me think it was on its last legs. I haven't taken it out and casted it yet but it sure pitches down the hallway with greater ease now. Maybe its worth soaking the bearings now to get junk out of them to gain more returns!

Soak the bearings for sure. One drop of bearing oil and you will be good to go.

Maintenance on bearings do wonders. Also, put a couple of drops of oil on a Q-Tip and run it around the brake case (brass or stainless ring inside the left side plate). Keeping it lubricated will prevent noise, premature wear on the brake weights, and tarnish if it's a brass ring.

The bearing soaking is amazing, even does wonders on brand new reels.

I always clean my reels every year. Some guys ask me why? And I say do you put oil in your boat or car and they say yep well I do the same to my reels I pay good money for them why wreck them. Even the new reels sometimes need a cleaning to get rid of the accuess grease sometimes them come with and soaking the bearings as mentioned.

What do you soak the bearings in?

lighter fluid or simple green works best for me

After you soak those bearings in any cleaner or solvent, make sure you blow out the excess and allow those bearings adequate time to dry out BEFORE you re-apply new oil and re-assemble!

Is that simple green full strength or diluted?

And how long do you soak them for?

I use lighter fluid.

Place about 1/2 oz in an empty spice jar or empty baby food jar.

Swirl bearing around in lighter fluid vigorously for a few minutes, then remove bearings and shake them dry in an old cotton t-shirt.

Then, blow the bearings with some compressed air to help accelerate the drying process of the residual lighter fluid.

Let the bearings sit out for a 1/2 hr or so, and they should be ready to oil and re-assemble back into your reel(s)!