How to repair sticky Ultegra shifter I have Ultegra 3x9 shifters and derailleurs that were installed just a couple months ago.  I purchased them on eBay and although they were new, they had been sitting in inventory for a couple years so not "new" in that sense.  New cabling was used when they were installed.

Today my rear shifter suddenly stopped working for no apparent reason.  When I attempt to shift up to a smaller cog, the entire brake lever moves with the trigger, so they basically cancel each other out.  I inspected the cables and derailleur and everything seems fine.  Shifting still works perfectly if I hold the brake lever so it doesn't move with the trigger, and downshifting to larger cogs works fine also.  This tells me it's probably the shifter itself, not cabling or derailleur.

Googling around I find many posts advising the use of WD-40 to free up a sticky shifter.  The idea is that the grease Shimano uses hardens with age and WD-40 will clean it out.  

Two questions:


Is this likely the problem?
If so, how do I re-lubricate the shifter after the WD-40?  To do it properly would require at least partially disassembling the shifter, which from what I've read and having seen the schematics, is something I really don't want to do.
Well, I tried soaking it with WD40 and then re-lubing it with spray lithium grease.  No improvement whatsoever.  So I took it to the LBS, which declared it DOA.  They say they've seen this before with Shimano shifters.  Some internal part gets even slightly bent and the shifter fails completely.  And they're not really serviceable, so that means replace it.

This was a one-month old high-end shifter.  It was never damaged or misused.  Next bike will sport SRAM or Campy components.  They use half as many parts, work just as well, and can be field serviced.

So thanks for the answers.  

UPDATE: Contrary to what I'd been told about eBay purchases, Shimano honored the warranty and replaced the shifter.  I spoke to a customer service rep about it first because I was told I needed an RMA to return it, but that's not true either.  Simply fill out the warranty form available on their web site and ship the item to them with the completed form.