ISO: someone who can rebuild Shimano 600 STI brifters
 

Just like the title says, looking for someone who can rebuild a set of Shimano 600 8 speed STI shifter/brake levers. I have a set in decent cosmetic condition, but trying to flush with WD40 and lube doesn’t seem to help. Taking them apart and rebuilding them is beyond my ability. I know some folks on here have done this...looking for someone who can do it for a reasonable price. My LBS will just try to sell me a new set (or new bike).

Trust me, you haven't flushed them enough. Hook up a junk shifter cable to it, clamp the end of the cable in a vise, and work it 100 or 200 times while periodically flushing it.

https://www.bikeforums.net/21152872-post14.html

The 600's are notorious for gumming up like this and equally notorious for taking this amount of effort to get them working again. It's just the way they are.

-Kurt

Hey nikku...wsbob here, a virtually silent member on bikeforums, but I'll second what cuda says about you probably not having flushed out the brifters enough yet. I myself went through that experience, watched a number of youtube vids. Unless the brifters appear seriously trashed, bent, broken, spindled and making some awful noises, they're probably just gummed up with the really good grease that shimano uses, but isn't so good after it starts to dry out as the years pass.

Alternative suggestion to using wd-40 for flushing, which I picked up from youtube vids, is use more of a cleaner...like that awesome orange brand stuff at the dollar store. That stuff cuts muck and grease like crazy. I rinsed well with water, I think. Dry with hair dryer. Follow up with maybe tri-flow.

There are actually two or three vid tutorials for disassembly and reassembly, but the procedure is kind of a nightmare. I wouldn't do it. At the time I was struggling with mine, I went to talk to the bike shop mechanics several times about it. They would tell me, 'those are throwaway shifters'. Didn't make sense to me. Shimano? No way. They make a good product designed to last a long time, but the eventually required clean and re-lube procedure is a major r&d breakdown to leave novice's. After I figured out how to get mine working again, I realized what the mechs were going to do with mine if I went for their story, was spend 15-20 min clean/lubing them up and then using them for themselves.

I have restored gunked up RSX 7 speed brifters to working order. Those are very similar to the 600 brifters. There's a way to disassemble them so you have better access to the mechanism for cleaning.
But you'll have to remove the 600 badge on the front, because there is a bolt underneath that. There's no badge on the RSX units so the bolt is exposed.
I used Brakleen spray to dissolve the grease once I had the units apart. Not exactly good for the environment, but there's a Non-Chlorinated Formula out now. There are other solvents you can use that aren't so brutal

There is a thread here about tear down and cleaning with Petrol
https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-m...ti-levers.html

There also a service offered on eBay for 33 bucks each.

look for "Shimano 105, RX-100, RSX, 600 7 or 8 speed STI lever rebuild service/repair"

Thanks all, I have been able to restore 7 speed RSX brifters by flushing with WD40 and triflow. It didn't take too much WD40, but sounds like these 600s take a lot more effort. I'll keep working at them, and in case I can't get it figured out I really appreciate all the repair recommendations as well!
UPDATE: I worked on the shifters for about an hour last night and was finally able to get them to start clicking, although still a little "sticky". Flushed each one 3 times with WD40 then hit them with triflow spray lube. Going to continue working with them tonight and see if I can't get them fully operational. Thanks again all, hopefully that does the trick.