billym99

Looking for advice on a problem I'm having with an Shimano Ultegra ST-6000 shifter. I've been noticing that my right shifter is having issues when shifting to smaller cogs (small black lever), simply not clicking to the next indexed position. I removed the shift cable today to spray some wd-40 into the the "guts" of the shifting system as I've read this could potentially cure this issue. After doing this and pressing the small black/big lever several times to work the wd-40 through the parts I noticed that the shifter would no longer index a position when pressing the black lever and the big lever was stuck (not stuck but it was in it's most wound position). After fiddling around with it I noticed that the silver pulley that winds/releases shift cable would only move in the "release" direction (counter-clockwise) if it had tension against it (a la an installed shift cable) while pushing the small black lever. I removed the shift cable from my other shifter and noticed that even with no tension against the pulley the small lever still caused the pulley to correctly move in the release direction and index positions. My question is whether this shifter is dead or can be repaired (and if it is potentially a costly repair)? I'm somewhat mechanical but not enough to work on the small parts that make up the shifting platform.

Apologies for the crude terminology. Please let me know if you need further crude explanations of this issue.

Andrew R Stewart 

Just about the only service that is easy and non life (of the shifter) threatening is to really solvent soak, compressed air blow out and relube. Spraying WD40, or any other spray lube, doesn't remove the gummy deposits that hinder shifter function. The WD40 spray might short term soften some deposits but they are still there.

Some early STI series suffered from a broken internal spring that affected lever functions. The symptom is when the release lever is moved the primary blade move with it. Holding the primary (the big one that also works the brakes) in place while moving the release lever makes things work right. So as long as you're willing to do that many fingered dance when shifting the lever is worth the time to properly flush and lube. Otherwise I would move on. Andy

tFUnK

I think I have the exact same problem with the same shifters. Small lever was sticking a bit so I took some WD-40 to it and it worked for a bit but then now it's stuck like how the OP described. Mine is sitting in a box somewhere now. May try to soak it in solvent one day but I've already replaced the group with SRAM in the meanwhile.

billym99

I'll follow up later today, I've been soaking since last night, hopefully it does the trick.

sch

Pull the cable out to check for frayed strands, another common cause of brifter malfunction as the cable wrap is pretty tight around a small radius
within the brifter.

Andrew R Stewart 

The OP mentioned they are soaking the shifter as we write. To do so generally suggests the cables have been pulled. Thus cable condition is usually found out before soaking. If not then the OP is not very detail oriented and has time to waste. (This said not to disparage the OP but to teach proper process and logic paths in service). Andy

veganbikes

One thing you can also try is heating up the inside of the shift lever to loosen old grease. I am not saying this is a 100% safe and fool proof solution but I tested it with an older DA shifter and used a lighter and put it towards some old grease and it worked and I just wiped down the shifter afterwards. I tried to be very careful not to hit any plastic and it didn't deform anything and the shifter performed excellently after that. Soaking can work but sometimes just getting the grease and oil flowing again can help.

Again be aware this can be dangerous and can cause issue so be careful. I happened to have a shifter that I thought was dead so whatever I did wasn't a big issue. I also didn't spray it with anything that would add flammability and did it in an area where I could easily put out any small fire should one occur.