joe, i am certainly not an expert but i alo have three stradics, all
bought used. two are 4000fh and the other is a 2000fg. one of the
4000fh's was and is in excellent operating order(smooth as silk!). the
other 4000fh was a victim of neglect, requiring a strong exertion to
make the reel work. took it apart carefully(i made a list of what i
took of in sequence after i had the 2000fg in baggies ready to give
away). i took the binding 4000fg apart and cleaned it out. put it all
back together with proper oil and grease in enough of the right places
so it too works fine- not as smooth as the other 400fh but very
passable. the 2000fg was always noisy and would bind up somewhat. i
did take it apart and finally got it back together after making a
remove and replace list for the reels in chronological order. bearings
are probably a victim of neglect- i don't think it will see much use.
it seems the worm bushings(part#7940 and #6524 for 4000fh) are the
culprits for problems with these reels. some guys have drilled these
out just a little bit making a big difference in freeplay . hope this
help a bit.