Forgive me but I'm trying to get a reasonable understanding on how casting reels work. I have a Daiwa Luna that truly smokes out line. I have an Abu Garcia C4 that I'm not really happy with but part of the problem may be comparing an $80 reel with a $240 one.

A major difference that I see between the two reels is when I depress the rear clutch lever on the Daiwa, the front line guide stays in the same position during the entire cast. On the C4, the front line guide moves back and forth staying in concert with the line coming off the spool. This seems like a nice feature but since that line guide is gear driven from the spinning spool, that would seem to cause drag on the spool and act as a brake to slow it down. And with the outer line coils wanting to outrace the inner diameter, this would be a likely candidate for my birdnests. So can I negate this problem somewhat by not filling the spool all the way with line?

And I found out that if I let the line fall through the line guide on the C4, it gets out of sync in relation to where the guide is and where the line is wrapped onto the spool, so once it gets spooled with line, I have to keep something tied onto the tag so it doesn't fall through the line guide. And because the spool the spins so much easier on my Daiwa, I don't think it matters - but are both of these reels considered levelwinds? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

They are both levelwind reels, the feature you are describing on the C4 is called a "non-disengaging" levelwind. It is a desirable feature, IMO. It gets rid of those sharp angles when the line is being despooled during a cast - this helps with backlashes, too.

Tim;
The $240 dollar reel should out perform and $80.00 dollar reel. That’s what your paying for, but the problem your having with back lashes is most likely not a reel problem. Like the answers to your last post it’s about reel adjustment and your need to train your thumb to control the spool speed and stopping points. Different reels will require different adjustments and pressures from your thumb to operate properly.
Forget fishing with these for a while, buy or make a casting plug go out in your yard and cast different distances and at different targets (bushes, tree fence, dogs,) or what ever until you have better control of what you’re doing.
Trying to learn while fishing can be frustrating.

A level wind that travels with the line can be an advantage on heavier weights, or heavier lures.
Also try backing the controls down on the C4 and using your thumb more, should get you more distance.

Line & lure weights comes into play too with bird nests. A light lure can't fly as far and as fast as the spool is unloading, gravity takes hold of light lures quick. IMO both are good reels

Also I belive the C4 has bushings with ball ballbering. To incress casting I wouls polish the spool shaft, the bushings, clean the the bearings and also polish the indside of the penion gear. When you reoil use the ightest oils you can find.
Good Wraps Bob

bob do you have any pictures of a before and after polishing?

Bob;
I have polished many of reels over the year’s- gears, shafts, bushings, but never the inside of the pinion gears. I have two questions.

1. What do you suggest using to polish the inside of the pinion gear? Not the polish but device?

2. Don't most pinion gears totally disengage during the cast? If so why polish them?

Sorry No PICS. Steve by polishing the inside of the Pinion gear you reduce friction. I put the Q tip in a drill I wrap fine steel wool around the Q tip and put ultra fine jewelers rouge on the seel wool an polish at a high speed. I also polish the spool shims
Good Wraps Bob

Bob;
Thanks for the tip will give it a try next time I'm tuning a reel

Hiya Tim,,, I have a sorta dissection demeaner with such things. Personally, even tho I have a few levelwinds, I just don't care for them. Just more stuff to go wrong, more to maintain, and an extra barrier to getting my fingers in there. Laying the line by hand has never been a problem for me, but my exposure to conventional reels began with saltwater reels like Squiders.

I certainly understand folks using levelwinds tho. So try the dissection route to find if you really have a problem and where it is. You've multiple things to play with. Take the pawl off, take the gear off, and so forth. The levelwind is an extra mechanism, and so it adds friction and steals from efficiency when engaged. How much it steals where can be felt out by disabling it at different points in the mechanism. Polish and lube when you've found a likely drag point seems the path.

In general, don't take it for granted that a more expensive reel is perfect. Pretty common that I find half greased bearings, or spool bearings filled with grease rather than oil,,, and in high end reels. Some of the lubes seem to have limited shelf life as well. If the reel could have been made more than a year ago, sitting in a box, then it is very suspect. Even if it just came out of the maker yesterday, however, you have no guarantee that the bearings were freshly lubed, precisely lubed, or what the heck they lubed them with.
And remember that if you go with thinner oils looking for speed that you should increase your maintenance schedule because they wash out more easily and have a less protective film. If it doesn't spin in casting tho, I opt for grease for the higher protection.

My routine is every reel gets cleaned and lubed out of the box, and then once a year after that. That first tear down is also when I do any polishing or shimming that I think looks warranted. If I can feel play by hand, for example, I look for any existing shims and then note if shimming on one side of the other of the mechanism causes better alignment and shim accordingly by adding a shim or replacing an existing shim. For example, if the handle has some in and out play, shimming from the inside vs outside will make a difference in gear alignment.

Also, sounds odd, but I've used toothpaste for many years to 'bed in' metal gears if they didn't feel smooth or sound quiet in meshing. No one blueprints gears in the box that I know of, and sometimes the resulting mismatch of parts is enough that toothpaste run thru the gears makes a very noticable improvement. I've seen people do the same for the pawl on levelwind mechanisms too, to smooth out the mechanical interface and work the parts to each other.

And once you get it all mechanically as sound, smooth, and lubed as you can, I still suspect you will find the non-disengaging level is more hit-or-miss in casts. Tuning can not change design. Going thru reel tune-up will improve any reel tho.

Tim... missed this thought: " So can I negate this problem somewhat by not filling the spool all the way with line? "
Good thought. Yeah, it can help. More distance from the levelwind aperature to the spool will lower the angle it comes off the spool edges. A smaller line fill diameter will, however, increase your drag and lower your ratio.
You might try a smoother, smaller diameter line as well. Making it easier for the line to sideslip over other line on the spool when it comes off.

Lapping gears with tooth paste or tooth powder is a very old technique that will work for brass gears if the tooth paste or tooth powder has diatomaceous earth in it but most tooth pastes and powders today do not have diatomaceous earth added. I have done this many times in the past and it does not work well with steel gears.

Emory that's why I use jewlers rouge , the rouge well do both types of gears
Good Wraps Bob

I actually found toothpastet to work fine with the Newell reel I picked up recently. Stainless gears in it, and they quieted down.
Diatomaceous earth is little exoskeletons of silica. Silica seems to still be the abrasive in toothpaste, even if sourced differently.
Jeweler's rouge is certainly just what the doctor ordered. If you have it onhand, that's the stuff to go with. But with caution perhaps, as it really is made to cut metal efficiently.