Hi folks,
I stripped down my alfine 8 at the weekend and gave it a bath in some ATF and a bit of a scrub. I dropped a bit more ATF in the shell and reassembled. All was well till i went for a test drive and after shifting up the block and starting back down i lost all drive (it had actually defaulted back to 1st gear, so i was spinning out)
So, on closer inspection i can replicate the issue in workshop conditions. Essentially what seems to be happening is that the lock ring used to hold the gear assembly on is being "undone" by the action of the shifting i.e when shifting up the gears the housing appears to catch the lock ring, and the action of going back up the gears seems to be loosening it to the point where the assembly just jumps right off the hub. its incredibly frustrating!
nothing has changed on that side of the hub i.e. cable length, tension etc is all the same. The dots still line up in 4th, but it seems when you shift up into the higher gears it seems to grab the lockring, and shifting down again undoes the lockring. Its only plastic and its not very tight, but i've never had this issue with it before and the reality is its only been off once before to fix a puncture. New lockring required perhaps?
Spacer or washer missing?
that was my first thought, but i was pretty methodical with laying it all out (i have previous of going in gung ho and ending up with a load of "leftovers")
i'll try to find some google images that will help illustrate the issue.
having said that all the pics of the alfine have the blue spacer on the drive side, and i can't remember which way round i had mine. more checking required 🙁
Doesnt sound right, by lockring do you mean the cassette joint with the yellow/red dots?
The shifter mech is coming loose? Is that what is happening? - the bit they call the casseete joint? IIRC this can happen if you put the locking ring part on 180 degrees out
This bit ( for an 11 but its similar)
[img] 
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i did this at the weekend and my lockring was re fitted 180 degrees round - refitted and its fine
Hi,
sorry, lack of terminology for the alfine. yeah, the cassette joint shown in TJ's pic is held on by a plastic lockring, shown in this pic[img] 
[/img]
and its basically unlocking itself when the cassette joint is doing its shifting.
8 speed internal hubs should be reassembled using a specific Nexus / Alfine grease. Not using this will not do your hub any good at all. Not sure if it will cause the problems you describe but it will cause problems. Fluids are for use in the 11 speed which has a different type of internal.
Lockring 180 degrees out - check it - it is not quite symetrical and the longer tab catches and it falls off if its the wrong way. IIRC mine did this and this was the answer
pryally may be onto something - bike was upside down 😳
i'll check tonight so if you never hear from me again i fixed it and then rode into the river to drown my shame...
MisterP i'd seen two schools of thought on this with the ATF, you reckon its worthwhile?