PowerTap SL freehub body "sticking"... any ideas?

[RoyalDutchShell]

Hello, I hope this isn't a dumbass question. I've tried searching for an answer on these forums but not had any luck.

I brought my PT SL to the local bike shop recently to have them replace the bearings (with a printout of the cyclingforums thread on how to do it!) because I don't have the tools, budget or time to do it myself or send to Sauris. I thought it shouldn't be a big deal and it's not under warranty anymore anyways. It worked fine before, but the wheel bearings were starting to feel rough after 20000+ km. The Freehub body is 1 year old (due to those notching issues lots of people have)

Ever since, the freehub doesn't freewheel very well. I've sprayed it with oil, tried (halfassed) taking the freehub body off to look at the axle spacing (but not really been able to figure out if the spacer was in there or not... even with the PT manual's diagram. Maybe this means it's not there?), but everything seems okay.

Sooo: I'm obviously not that techy, but wanted to ask for a few opinions here- could it be that the shop messed up the spacers (it fits in my dropouts and works with my gearing fine)? Could the seals be really tight? Maybe the bearings weren't hammered in far enough, so they're pushing against the freehub inside? Any other troubleshooting ideas I could narrow it down to?

I'm using Shimano Ultegra. I really don't want to go back to the shop because I don't trust their service (or pricing) after a few different visits...
Maybe the easiest answer is "send it back to Sauris and pay the 300!!!"...

 

[swampy1970]

If the shop messed up the last time and got the spacing wrong, it'd be obvious. I don't recall there being any special tools to get the freehub off. I have a 2.4 SL and getting inside to look at the pawls took nothing more than regular bike tools. Most of my ratchet pawls were faulty (springs dead) and the bearing inside it was completely shot. When you reassemble it, make sure you tighten the end nuts on the axle properly as per spec with a torque wrench.

 

[RoyalDutchShell]

Thanks for the response, Swampy!

It occured to me that my description of "sticking" wasn't that great: basically when you pick up the bike and spin the back wheel forwards, the freewheel starts turning instead of freewheeling (so that the pedals start turning). If I'm coasting and then start to pedal again, I can almost crash because of all the chain slack. I think the ratchet pals looked okay and seem to work/catch fine. I'm going to try taking it apart again- I didn't really tighten the end nuts that much. Hope this doesn't end in tears...

I didn't notice any issues when I got it from the shop, but it's just gradually become worse over 2 months (1000km).

 

[RoyalDutchShell]

So further investigation revealed that the 2 sets of bearings in the freehub body are totally shot. It feels like they're ratchets!

But how on earth do you get them out to replace them? The outer bearing is pressed in, but you must need a special tool to suck it out. For the inner one, is it possible to dismantle the freehub body further to get to it? Does this mean I need a new freehub body, or should it be possible just to switch out these two bearings? (the instructions for changing bearings I've seen only dealt with the 2 in the wheel hub...).

 

[swampy1970]

When I got my bearings changed out they did actually send a new freehub body instead of just the bearing that go underneath. Apparently it's standard procedure. In addition to the freehub bearings I also got the rest of the bearings done at the same time.