# Servicing old style Look Pedals



## HBR (Dec 1, 2007)

I have these old Look Pedals (see photo below) that are my everyday pedals, they have served me well and I don’t want to or need to upgrade them. The bearings still run smoothly but feel slightly dry?
I want to re-grease the bearings but cant work out how to remove the axle and bearings. I can undo the black end cap and this allows the axle to slide out towards the outboard end about 5-8mm but then stops. Undoing the nut on the end of the axle appears to make no difference. I suspect the whole axle should come out the outboard end of the pedal body as the inside diameter of the pedal body is slightly larger than the largest diameter of the axle anywhere along its length. The crankarm end of the pedal body has what looks like a washer at the opening which prevents the axle coming out that end. 

Any ideas, thoughts or even a link to some servicing instructions would be appreciated.

By the way, does anyone know which model these are and in which year they were released. Despite looking orange in the photo, they are actually red and have the word “Carbon” printed on the back of the clamp.


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

I've never serviced any of my looks, but I can tell you those are fairly old, like early 90s. I had some of those on a 92-93 ciocc and have a red pair in the parts bin. the later models d/c'ed that black end cap


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

I didn't know that they made PP76 in orange. (1988-89)
Once you get the outer nut off, you should be able to pull the body off of the axle. (with difficulty)
If it's stuck, you can always grease the outer ball bearings, and forget about the inner needle bearings.


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## Dinosaur (Jan 29, 2004)

I think Look sells a tool for removing the nut that holds the axle/bearing assembly, however on pedals that old, lot's of luck...on some of the newer Delta pedal models that nut is plastic so you have to use a special tool or you can break it...the Zinn Book Of Road Bike Maintenance has a blown up diagram of how to disassemble a Delta pedal. The Park website only lists an overhaul for SPD pedals.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

*I have some that old*

not sure if they're the same model. Mine disassemble from the other (inboard) end, by removing a splined nut, with a special tool.








The tool seems to be hard to find now (biketoolsetc.com, my favorite tool source, says they're out of stock). Maybe a little googling will turn one up.

Or maybe your pedals are different. Is there something on the inboard side that looks like a splined nut?

If they're spinning okay and look clean, but you're concerned that they're lacking some grease, you could always try to pump some grease in there without disassembling, maybe first flushing by dripping some oil in and letting it drain thoroughly. I've used that method successfully with various pedals.


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

JCavilia said:


> not sure if they're the same model. Mine disassemble from the other (inboard) end, by removing a splined nut, with a special tool.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I just looked at my red ones, and there is nothing that fits that tool on the inside/inboard/crank side... but to the op, should the axle come out the INboard side, not the outboard??


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## Dinosaur (Jan 29, 2004)

*Inboard*



FatTireFred said:


> I just looked at my red ones, and there is nothing that fits that tool on the inside/inboard/crank side... but to the op, should the axle come out the INboard side, not the outboard??


The Zinn book shows everything coming out via the inboard side...but this is a real old pedal, it might not be even serviceable..


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

PP76's don't work like that. Once you remove the outer nut (that is hidden by the cap), the body can be pulled off of the axle. (in theory) 
PP76's were built like the original white PP56. The PP96 was the first Look pedal with a "blind side" axle, that needed a special removal tool.


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## Singlespeed10 (Mar 25, 2008)

I have a pair of really old Look Carbon pedals that looks just the same. I made a simple tool to remove plastic cap - a piece of wood and two small nails that fit in the holes in the plastic cap - it doesn't require much torque to remove the cap. Under cap is a nut which is removed with the appropriate-sized socket. Once removed, the pedal and the bearings slides off the spindle. It's pretty simple. 

I think that the photo of the plastic tool is for a Shimano pedal.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

Singlespeed10 said:


> I think that the photo of the plastic tool is for a Shimano pedal.


No, it's definitely for Look, but starting with slightly later models, as Grumpy helpfully clarified.


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## HBR (Dec 1, 2007)

Thanks everyone for your contributions, the pedals dont have the inboard bearing retainer / splined nut.The photo doesn't show this very clearly. From what has been posted It looks like I need to remove the nut under the black plastic cap and slide the pedal body off the axle. I tried this before I posted my original thread. However it didn't budge and I assumed there must be another way to remove the bearings. Given the age of the pedals, they may need a bit of "persuasion".


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## SteveMcDermott (May 24, 2014)

I have old style Look pedals, I think they are PP35 or PP36 and are Delta, not Keo. I purchased them around 1992.







The first step to servicing the bearings is to remove plastic thingy on the outside of the pedal. Standard pliers are the tool to use. This reveals the outer bearing and axle as you can see in the photo. If you are very lucky, you will be able to pull the threaded part or the axle hard and the it will be released. But you are only reading this because you have a problem! Fix the pedal in a vice and wallop the end you can see in the photo with a screw driver and hammer. You need to overcome the the friction/corrosion between the bearing that you see in the photo and the axle.







My outer bearing was in a very bad state. I was suprised after just one year. I think the problem is the lack of seal between the plastic cover and the pedal itself. There has been water ingress, maybe I am missing a rubber washer.....Flushing with white spirit, lubing, then flushing again and I have a good pedal again!
One last point: I spent a while trying to figure out why there was so much movement between the pedal and the axle. Put the plastic cap back in, this is essential!
Regards


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