I've been experiencing the infernal squeaky pedal problem in my Firehawk FX like many of you have. I did some reading and decided to go ahead and lubricate the expression pedal mechanism myself and share pics of the process. I hope this will be helpful to you guys. It was easy to accomplish and worked very well. FWIW, I am not mechanically inclined, so when I say it was easy, you can rest assured that a half-blind monkey could have done it... as long as he was a careful monkey with an extremely good trainer. No bananas were harmed during this process.
Materials/Tools
Philips head screwdriver, feeler gauges, silicone spray, paper towels, magnetic parts bowl see picture-Lubrication Tools
Process
1. Unplug the Firehawk and turn it upside down. If you like, set it on a towel. I just put mine on the countertop.
2. Remove the 6 outer screws holding the rubber feet to the bottom. Put them into the parts bowl. see picture-Firehawk Bottom
N.B. It is unnecessary to remove the two centrally located screws as they are mounting screws for 2 structural supports that can just stay attached to the bottom. It is also unnecessary to remove the two screws next to the exp. pedal adjustment bolt on the side of the Firehawk. Full disclosure, I did remove all the aforementioned screws since I didn't know what they were hanging onto at the time. see pictures-Firehawk Inside Bottom Cover, Expression Pedal Adjustment Hole
3. Slide the bottom cover slightly left so that the exp. pedal adjustment hole clears the end of the Allen bolt. Then carefully lift the bottom cover and remove it.
4. Using the Allen wrench that came with your Firehawk, loosen the exp. pedal axle bolt so that you can get the feeler gauges in between the bushings and washers. I think I only loosened mine about a turn-and-a-half. see picture-Lubrication Tools
5. Away from the Firehawk, spray a bit of silicone lubricant onto both sides of a feeler gauge. I recommend holding the gauge right above the paper towel so that it absorbs any overspray. I read that it is very bad to get lubricant on the circuit boards; that's why I'm recommending to apply the lubricant away from the Firehawk.
6. Use the feeler gauge to apply lubricant to the washers and plastic bushings taking time to spin them a bit to ensure the lubricant has adequate coverage. (That may be unnecessary, but that's what I did.) see picture-Expression Pedal Mechanism
7. Re-tighten the Allen adjustment bolt.
8. Install bottom cover ensuring that the adjustment bolt hole goes over the bolt, then slide it to the right into place so that the 6 mounting holes match up to their screw holes.
9. Reinstall the 6 rubber feet with their screws.
10. Turn the Firehawk rightside up and check the travel of the expression pedal. Adjust to taste.
11. Go have a banana. Good monkey.
