[Kiarash]

Hi Pentax peeps, I'm giving up on my on-line search and presenting my question to you all: Pentax 67II advancing lever / winding lever getting stuck randomly.

I am aware that many have had this problem and have asked the same exact question but all routes I've seen so far lead to a dead end.

I bought my Pentax 67II about 10 years ago, around 6 years ago I had it repaired at Steve's in LA ( I live in Toronto ) ...it costed my $750 USD and according to Steve the whole advancing mechanism was replaced by a new one from Japan.
About 1.5 years ago the lever got stuck again...then it started working...then it got stuck again...I was frustrated...so I took it back to Steve's while I was on a job in LA and left it with him...soon after the pandemic hit.

After 6 to 8 months I got my camera back , paid 450USD ( yes I'm either very rich or plain romantic and got my camera in mail...the receipt said : "sand cleaning" ...and they gave me 90 days warranty.
I threw a roll of film and right away it got stuck....then I took the roll out and tried another one...and it worked fine....a couple of rolls later and there seemed to be no issue.

About a couple of weeks ago ( which is maybe 2 months post warranty ) the problem came back and this time as I tried to advance the film , the winder would move but not all the way to the end and not smoothly; it felt as if you're driving it over sand or something. Took the batteries out a bunch , left the camera to sit and tried again...I even tried banging the right side of the camera as some users mention the magnet releases this way....the winding mechanism works but once I put a roll of film , it gets stuck half way through.

Anywho....I'm really frustrated...tried this forum and bunch of other places...the best thing I found was this description for how to fix it from 2013 by puggles1973:

Hello All
I have just got to the bottom of my problem. Thanks mysteryonion for guiding me to that post. Yes, it was that solenoid (located under the LCD panel). First of all you have to remove the wind lever. To do that, you have to lift the cap up with a knife (be very careful not to damage the cap or lever). Then remove 3 screws. There is a fourth one which you mustn't touch, you figure that one out. The lever then comes off. Next remove 2 screws on the front and back of the plastic top cover AND one more (much longer chrome plated one) which is accessible from inside the battery compartment. (If you haven't got a precision long reach mini screw driver set, you will have to get one, there is no option, mine's a Rolson). The top will then come off. Undo the LCD panel (2 screws), then the bracket on which it sits on (2 screws). The tiny solenoid should be just visible attached to the outside of the prism housing. The guy in the original post used iso-propanol, but I decided to use SERVISOL because it cleans and lubricates in one operation. Then release the "stuck" solenoid by touching it very gently with a toothpick and make sure it is freed up. You will notice a distinct click. You can be quite liberal with the servisol, but wipe any excess with cotton buds. Then reassemble, and away you go.


I have found videos of people fixing similar problems on a 6x7 or even 67 but there's no video for 67II....I even tried searching for Japanese videos by translating the word "Repair" into Japanese and typed that in with Pentax 67II next to it.

I really can't afford to send this back for another few hundred dollars ...I'm willing to pay anyone who knows how to fix this to make me a video so I can solve this problem myself, I also appreciate any feedback , comment, clue, help from you all...I don't know of a reliable tech here in Toronto....I contacted Eric Hendirckson before taking this back to Steve's for the second time and he told me he's not touching this model.

With the pandemic and all, I have lost most prospects of finding work and the idea of throwing all this money into this camera sounds crazier than ever.

Has anyone fixed this issue for themselves? Looks like puggles1973 has but he posted last in 2013...I'm losing hope but this community is still my glimmer of hope.
Cheers!

[kkasper]

Hi Kiarash,

do you still need help? I just performed this repair a couple weeks ago and I took a /bunch/ of photos to make a tutorial.
Unfortunately not a video but I believe the pictures to be sufficient. I'll have to upload them somewhere if you want to take a look.

The repair isn't actually that difficult, you just need a bit of patience and not be reckless about it.

[Kiarash]

Hi! Yes I still do need help...I contacted Steve's and he agreed to look at the camera again but there's a chance of him not being able to repair it...so I would appreciate you sending me the pictures..

[kkasper]

Okay, I'm waiting on Flickr to migrate my account to their new service. Once that's done I'll put the photos and instructions up there and share the link here.

[kkasper]

Hi! Yes I still do need help...I contacted Steve's and he agreed to look at the camera again but there's a chance of him not being able to repair it...so I would appreciate you sending me the pictures..

Here's a link to the pictorial. I've not used flickr before, but each photo has a title and description if you scroll down a little on the page. This is where I've put text instructions. I recommend you read through it once completely before you start.
It's a simple repair, should take you no more than fifteen-thirty minutes. Let me know if you need any help!

Pentax 67ii Wind Lever Repair | Flickr

Sorry my camera is extremely dusty! Was working on a time budget.

[Kiarash]

Kevin, this is amazing! I can't thank you enough...even though I haven't made the attempt to follow your instructions, I'm still very thankful of you stepping forward to help me...I'll follow you there on flickr!