Originally Posted by
louky
I am removing it because it's extremely stiff and gummy when trying to freewheel. The chain is piling up when going backwards and the wheel is turning the pedals bigtime on the stand when on the stand. I was going to try to clean it with wd-40 while assembled by spraying and turning til it frees up and then lubing. I guess I could do this on the wheel but it will be messy.
It shouldn't take much squirt and spin to get it running freely. Try to keep solvent away from the hub bearings. A few drops of oil once it's freed up will keep it running smoothly. In the worst case you can disassemble the freewheel to either service or remove it - just tap the face plate clockwise with a punch, remove carefully. Put a rag over the freewheel and invert the wheel while holding the freewheel in place, try not to fling balls all over the floor while lifting the wheel off the outer body. You can now clean, grease (just enough to hold the balls in place) and reassemble, or use a vice or pipe wrench to destructively remove the inner body from the hub.
I used to use the better Suntour freewheels that had adjustable bearings (and four extractor notches) they were worth the effort of rebuilding. Cheaper models maybe not so much, although if they have the right size shims they can be adjusted to run nicely.