Milwaukee ratchet slipping under load: a simple fix!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- Howdy guys and gals. Do you have a Milwaukee M12 Fuel ratchet that turns freely when you pull the trigger, but stalls and vibrates without rotating as soon as you put it on a tight fastener? If so, this video will help you break down your ratchet, clean it up and get it working properly again. Thanks for watching!
![How To Fix Milwaukee M12 FUEL Ratchets [Cordless Ratchet Repair]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/R2f96gKe1XQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![How To Fix Milwaukee M12 FUEL Ratchets [Cordless Ratchet Repair]](/img/tr.png)
Having this issue today with my milwaukee 2560 and referring back to this video just helped me fix it.thanks
Thanks for the knowledge. Milwaukee wanted over $100 to repair my ratchet that was only 4 years old. They completely disassembled it and sent it back to me in a Ziplock bag disassembled! Motor ran fine, anvil would rotate, but slipped under a load. I explained all that when I sent it in for service. Milwaukee's warranty is only good if you have the original sales receipt. Thanks again - easy fix.
Did this as you instructed, worked like a charm. I could stop the anvil with my hand, now it turns no problem.
Glad to hear it! Thanks for watching!
I just got my ratchet back from Milwaukee for the second time for the same problem. They have now sent me a new one. Right out of the box doing the same thing. I did buy my ratchet on Amazon, and they honored the warranty. I even had to upload the per proof of purchase. Maybe I just got lucky but now I’m going to clean the grease out of the head. I was suspicious of that but didn’t want to do it until I had Milwaukee try to fix it. Thanks for the video. Good job.
Yeah, I'm thinking that Milwaukee may have lightened up on their warranty policy a little bit in the years since my last interaction with them - I've had a couple people tell me over the last year or so that they're accepting Amazon purchases for warranty work now, which is great! Glad you were able to get it replaced, hopefully cleaning it up a little will get it back to 100% for you. Thanks for watching, much appreciated!
I cleaned and greased mine up gunna try this one thanks man
Got mine back twice from milwaukee for fixing this problem and both times i got it back just as bad as I sent it. Did this and while its not like it was new it helped immensely. Thanks for the heads up!
I've just sent my ratchet back to Milwaukee for repair. Having watched this video I feel silly as I prefer to fix things myself. A brilliant video
You still might want to break it down when you get it back and clean it out. I've heard from several people that Milwaukee absolutely loads the ratchets full of grease when they are serviced. Could be a fluke, but still worth a look once you get it back. Thanks for watching!
I used to be a tool tech and repair power tools. You are spot on with what you say and the amount of grease is exactly right. Good job.
Thank you Derek. I'm just a wrench turner who tweaks his own tools so that they work correctly for my needs, but hearing from someone who's more experienced than I am is very reassuring. I was fairly confident that I got this one right but again, good to have that confirmation from a more experienced source. Thank you for the comment, I sincerely appreciate it!
I would say the most useful video on the channel!!! I ♥spent three days deciding which ratchet to buy for my workshop and this convinced me that I will not buy any Dewalt, Ridgid, Makita or Snap-on .. Simple construction, I hope also quality material and available original parts at a decent price. It would definitely help rubber cover shoe for the ratchet head, but I don't know if the model I have chosen is made. I am considering an M12 FIR or FHIR with a long neck. What do you say ? I service small tractors and garden equipment, sometimes a car. I mainly repair hand-held electric gasoline tools and chainsaws. But I don't need a ratchet for that.😀 Have a nice day and thanks for the video! ☀
My new ....ish (6 month old) 1/2" ratchet is doing exactly what you have just shown me how to fix. Thank you ever so much. I was getting my knickers in a twist because I've hardly used it and was thinking I'd bought a lemon.
Thank you so much for your insight on this. I was so upset my essentially new M12 FUEL ratchet was slipping. I thought it was worn out already (with barely an hour of trigger time over its ~1 year lifetime!) and I feared what that meant for my other Milwaukee tools. I love to tinker with stuff, but I buy my tools so I can tinker efficiently and get the job done - not to tinker with the tools! Maintenance is one thing and I treat my tools carefully, but I am disappointed I have to strip my ratchet down so early. It absolutely has seen grease a oil, which is my own fault, and seems like a design oversight to me, but thanks to your video at least now I know better. I am relieved I don't have to ship this back just to have it break again out of warranty next year. Thank you!
This man just saved me so much frustration, I was about to send mine in for warranty to get my 3rd one but did this and it works great now! Mine have been seeing lots of gear oil and transmission fluid, going to be taking a bit more care now that I know lube is no good for it.
Glad it helped you out! I was having all kinds of issues with mine until I looked up the service manual...I was pretty surprised to see absolutely no lubrication requirements for the yoke/pawl. I thought for sure it had to be a mistake, but as soon as I cleaned all of the built up sludge out of mine it started working perfectly again. Thanks for watching!
I was fretting as my 3/8 extended ratchet is slipping but you’ve put my mind at rest here and I’m going to strip mine as you’ve shown so thank you, great video 👌
Scuzzy....I haven't heard that saying in a very long time. Love it. 👍👍🇺🇸🇺🇸
just watched this and followed what you said and my ratchet is now spot on no slipping unless i hold it tight
saved me from buying a new one 👌🏼
I hope all is well with you JB. I made it twelve minutes in to your video explaining what has been happening when the video suddenly went "private". Good luck and know you have a community out here to share with.
Not sure why that happened John, let me see what's going on. I was messing with another older video due to a copyright claim and might have accidentally changed something. Thanks for the kind words my friend.
Just purchased and received a factory reconditioned 2557 3/8 ratchet. Tool looked new, but upon testing it for the first time, found this vibration issue out of the box when tool was under a slight load. Followed this procedure and found more grease in the anvil and crankcase that a wheel bearing. It was full of grease. After a thorough cleaning and inspection (all parts were new), re-assembled per this procedure and Boom.. All is well.
This video was just what I needed to get my ratchet, many thanks
the purpose of those ball bearings on the anvil is to make friction. its like holding your fingers on a socket while you ratchet so it has enough resistance to click to the next tooth
Thanks for the great video..
Only issue I had was the “stop” pin that you mentioned was pressed in place fell out on mine and got lost . I had to fabricate one..
Milwaukee tends to change their designs on the fly, so it's possible that yours was made slightly differently. Glad you were able to get it sorted out though.
Super helpful my m12 fuel 1/4 had just started doing that last week i was getting worried.
not a lot of views but great video. I like your style. keep rippin
Thanks brother, much appreciated. 🤘
Explain why mine started slipping after it got covered in oil. Good to have it sorted out now.
This is freaking awesome.
I have the old school ratchet with the adorable and quite svelte head vs this fuel THICKNESS and a few years ago bought an entire new pawl assembly to address this same issue as I thought it wore out after near daily use. Once again this non rotational vibration has returned and I am going to clean it all out instead as shown here.
ONE OTHER THING: Just now my LED light would stay on permanently so I cracked my unit wide open, blew everything out with air, sprayed the mini PCB and most importantly the plunger switch itself and now the light shuts off within about 20 seconds of activation.
HAPPY WRENCHING FOLKS!
Excellent video, thanks for showing this.
Worked like a charm, thanks for the video!!!
Grest video, Thank you!!!!
Great video man, thank you!
Thank you 👍
Do the teeth wear out if it's slipping for a long time? I've had this issue for a fair while but only just thought of looking for a fix, I was about ready to send it off for warranty.
If the teeth have worn is it worth replacing the head kit?
Good video, thanks a lot 👍
They certainly can. The heat treatment on the pawl and ratchet are usually pretty good, but depending on how hard it's used they could wear down. It can't hurt to try cleaning it out first though - best case is that the slipping stops and you've got a free fix, worst case is that you need to buy the rebuild kit. Any questions let me know and I'll try to give you a hand. Good luck!
I cleaned mine twice of all oils an grease still does it swapped out 4 mm bearings an still does it i push forward or backwards it works ??? does anything else wear out I give up on it any ideas will help thank you
Without seeing it in person, unfortunately I don't have any other tips. How old is your ratchet? I know that some time in the last year Milwaukee redesigned the internals of these ratchets and made them much less reliable. If you have a newer one, the design itself could be the issue. If it's an older ratchet, its possible that some of the parts are worn beyond spec. You might be able to get a rebuild kit for the head and replace the worn parts, which should hopefully solve the problem.
Thank you buddy!
It works tanks you save me money
I work in Hydraulics, the head became soaked with oil.
A quick strip and minimal relube its back to normal.
Interesting video. Had mine for about a year before it did this. Sent it in for warranty. They said unrepairable and sent me a new one. New one did the exact same thing after using it 3 times. So I sent that one in. Milwaukee said the same thing again and sent another one. Didn't even try to use the new one on anything and it already doesn't have power by holding an extension with my hand. Not sure what the problem is with these, but it's pretty annoying at this part. Just to put in perspective, I was using the ratchet on a 10mm bolt on a brand new vehicles bumper, so not much force needed at all. Not sure if I should take this 3rd one apart and look for excess grease from the factory or not
I would if it were me, especially if this is your third one. It's a good design overall, but they are manufactured overseas by folks not making much money, who probably are far more worried about speed rather than putting a precise amount of lubricant on the gears. I would clean it out, put a very light coating of grease on the pawl, and give it another shot. It will still slip if you really push it (by design), but you'll gain quite a bit more torque without the excess grease.
@All Things Mechanical hmm. Tried it. Didn't make a difference. I did notice that they got rid of the ball bearings you had in your video. There were no springs in it either. Was 2 smaller cylinder shaped metal pieces in lieu of the balls. I'm wondering if that's part of the problem...
@Marco S that's interesting. That sounds a lot like how the older non-fuel ratchets were set up, albeit with a lot more of those cylinders. I still have mine, and it slipped constantly when I was using it. Been in the drawer a long time now because of that. Sucks that Milwaukee seems to revise their designs every couple of years to make them worse. 😕
This explains why my new one did this after accidentally spilling gear lube on it 😂
Happens to all of us, apparently. 🤣
Quick question isnt better to replace the anvil assembly?
Not if there isn't any damage to it. If it's just an over-lubrication issue, this fix is free. There's no need to spend money on parts if it isn't required.
How is the snap on ratchet made differently than this? It actually has a recessed grease zerk in the head and you pump it full of grease until it oozes out.
Great question. I don't own a Snap On ratchet so I can't speak for how they are made; all I know is what the service information from Milwaukee says, and it shows no lubrication points in the head of this model. My guess (and this is total speculation) is that Snap On uses a different type of friction mechanism that exerts more drag on the pawl, which allows it to still function properly when packed full of grease. I'd love to get my hands on one to tear it down and look at the differences, but that's an investment I won't make any time soon since I'm not turning wrenches full time anymore.
Will this be the same procedure for the 1/4” extended reach ratchet?
I don't have any of the 1/4" ratchets so I'm not 100% sure, but knowing what I know about milwaukee's stuff, I would imagine that the setup is very similar, if not identical (although probably scaled down a bit).
How did Milwaukee/home Depot find out that you didn't buy that tool from an authorized retailer?
They asked me for a receipt, I provided my Amazon order info as proof of purchase. Lady on the phone straight up told me that they wouldn't honor the warranty because amazon wasn't an authorized distributor.
Bear in mind this was several years ago. I've heard from multiple people that they may have changed their policy since then.
They asked for a receipt? I don't even have receipts for tools I buy from home Depot lol
@TheTuneAce Home Depot wasn't involved at all here since I bought the tool on Amazon. I was talking directly to the Milwaukee CS rep on the phone.
Would not having the ball bearing on the anvil make it not work?
If you're referring to the bearing on the end of the square drive portion, then no. That is only there to keep sockets attached - without it, your sockets will fall off easily and it'll be a pain to use, but not detrimental to the function of the ratchet. The two smaller bearings/springs inside the mechanism are critical though, without those the plate won't stay in alignment or remain tight up against the housing, and nothing will work correctly. Not for long, anyway.
Page 3 in service manual shows area to grease and type of grease
@fasooly777 Page 3 shows how to remove the entire yoke housing/electronics assembly from the ratchet. It mentions nothing about lubrication. The only mention of lubrication is on page 1, which is the page I show in the video. Not sure which manual you're looking at, but it's not for the M12 Fuel ratchet if page 3 has lubrication info.
I actually did the total opposite and greased mine with some really expensive 🫰 high temp grease 😂
I have found those picks are an excellent tool for checking for blood as I always find myself sticking my fingers with them while using excessive force when working.
Also would I need to reset any codes when taking the tool apart?
#hahaha #sarcasm
Heh, thanks for the chuckle Joe. I'm a grumpy bastard so I'm always in the mood for a good dose of sarcasm. 😁
I've stabbed myself with those picks more times than I'd care to admit...
I bought a new head from Milwaukee and it came packed with grease. It doesn't work. I will try this.
Tried this. Didn't fix issue. Same issue persists
Thing is. Its a good thing if it all gets lubed. Problem is the teeth sizes x the thickness of the grease that fucks it up. With such small teeth's. A really fine oil is best. Cause its fast moving maybe like sewing oil.
Agreed. I run it dry most of the time, but especially during hotter months I'll drop a little synthetic 5w20 in there to keep it running cool. Without that, it tends to get hot and bind up a little if I'm working outside in really hot weather and/or direct sunlight.
i use thinned lithium grease by the 5w30 for not come outside easy and work with minimum friction, slips on a hand but works best on the fasteners.
im guy who puts extra grease in everything lol
Mine is brand new and it has never worked on load 😢
Did this and problem still exists. Crank spins but under load the anvil doesn’t spin. Anyone else run into this issue?
Are you running any grease at all, or is the anvil assembly dry? I ended up putting a small amount of Lubriplate 105 on mine because we had a triple digit heat wave, and working outside with the ratchet in the sun it actually got hot enough that the yoke and ears expanded and started to bind a little. Kind of an extreme case, but even with that tiny bit of grease, mine will slip a little. These things really don't like lube on the gear teeth. If yours is dry and it still slips, the teeth on the anvil and/or yoke might be worn enough to need replacement.
Very useful thanks! Just a reinforcement, the clip must be strong and one might have to move the clip and the top parts until they’re really well sandwiched 😂
No No No NFW, that's not the problem , the problem is the pawl worn-out and will not engage perfectly with the yoke for that direction, the only two way to repair is either to replace it with new kit or just what I always do sharping the pawl , that is it , and by the way I always grease the yoke and pawl , I am a master mechanic that I use these tools every day whole the day.
@61comanche you're certainly entitled to your opinion, but empirical evidence says otherwise. This video has helped hundreds (if not thousands) of people get their ratchets working again. FYI, I've been a machinist for 25 years and I can unequivocally say that the pawl wasn't worn out on my ratchet. It still isn't - my ratchet runs great and I haven't had it apart since I filmed this video. In fairness, a worn pawl can certainly be the case in certain situations, but wasn't the problem here (and likely isn't the problem for most people). Read the comments - if overlubrication isn't the problem, why are people's ratchets slipping as soon as they get them out of box after Milwaukee has "repaired" them under warranty? And then, once they are cleaned and lubricated *properly*, they magically start working again. Crazy stuff, huh?
The service manual excerpt I put on the screen should tell you all you need to know; there is a very specific amount of friction needed for the pawl and yoke to engage correctly on these particular ratchets. Oil and grease getting into places it shouldn't be will mess up that friction coefficient and cause slipping. Simple as that.
Some ratchets need buckets of grease to function. This one does not.
Mine only lasted 3 work days… I don’t think cleaning will solve the problem😭
9:06 removing the crank
You have radio host voice.
Just returned mine cfor a new one.yeah I could have probably got it working again but my ratchet isn't even 2 months old an hasnt see much oil or debris.i shouldn't have to break this 250 dollar ratchet down this early for a repair.
Agreed, it shouldn't be an issue on brand new tools.
Simple fix takes 22 minutes, eff off.
No, the repair process takes less than ten once you're familiar with it. Explaining everything to you and showing the process on camera takes 22 minutes. There is a difference.
Still think that's too long? Look at it this way:
Watching a 22 minute video and learning how to fix something yourself is a lot better than waiting two weeks to get your ratchet back when you send it off to Milwaukee for service.
cool video
So i tried this with my ratchet that started slipping after loosening a single handfull of bolts that were already loose, and no luck… The pawls look fine, no wear, cleaned everything multiple times still slipping… Overpriced junk.
Guess I’ll have to jump through the hoops and try to have it replaced under warranty😩
Lots of variables with these. It's possible you got a lemon (it happens). You can try to buy a rebuild kit for it and do the work yourself, or you can send it back to Milwaukee and let them do it if you don't mind being without the tool for a bit.
@@AllThingsMech I’ll see if I can get a rebuild kit. Warranty wise, I just have to send it to the supplier, but as I’ve had it for a while after the fault appeared, and I’ve been messing with it on my own, a rebuild might be less hassle 😂
At that point, yeah, I'd give it a shot yourself. 😂
I use ereplacementparts.com for most of my stuff, but feel free to source a kit wherever you can find one the cheapest. The rebuild kit part number is 42-06-2557, provided you have the same ratchet as the one I'm using in the video. Make sure you get genuine milwaukee though, the knockoff kits are trash. Ask me how I know, lol.