Lionel N&W Warhorse 6-18049 No Chuff No Whistle No Bell

@VWC posted:

Just bought a 2nd N&W 18049 and the only sounds I get are in neutral and going in reverse. No sounds in forward. Tried the tender with my other 18049 and everything works. Can anyone point me in the right direction as to the possible cause and fix? Thank you

Interesting - the chuff switch is in the engine. The railsounds board doesn't know the difference between forward and reverse. The surpising thing is it does not occur with another tender. I wonder if it's possible when the tender wiring harness is being pulled foward it disconnects - A broken wire? intermittant ?

Thanks for your reply.

When you say the chuff switch is in the engine, are you referring to the micro switch under the smoke unit? If not, the only other switch I see is under the Loco and it controls the E-unit.

I tried a different 18049 Loco and all worked well so the issue I believe is somewhere in the Loco. The tether from the Loco was missing a pin so I made one (is that a problem?) I also noticed that when I connect the tether there are no sounds until I connect the drawbar to the tender. I get a slight spark and the sounds start. Is the drawbar the ground? I thought the tether supplied whatever connection was required.

I will test this tender with my other Loco again to make sure all works well.

Thank you again

Vince

@VWC posted:

Thanks for your reply.

When you say the chuff switch is in the engine, are you referring to the micro switch under the smoke unit? If not, the only other switch I see is under the Loco and it controls the E-unit.

I tried a different 18049 Loco and all worked well so the issue I believe is somewhere in the Loco. The tether from the Loco was missing a pin so I made one (is that a problem?) I also noticed that when I connect the tether there are no sounds until I connect the drawbar to the tender. I get a slight spark and the sounds start. Is the drawbar the ground? I thought the tether supplied whatever connection was required.

I will test this tender with my other Loco again to make sure all works well.

Thank you again

Vince

The switch that activates the chuff is in the engine portion - There is a wiring diagram for this on the lionel site. Go, to service manuals- enter 6- etc etc - You will find wiring for bothe engine and tender. it appears though all pins are wired on the engine side of the harness. There appears to be two wires not used on the tender side.

Thanks. Found exploded parts diagram and instruction manual but no service manual showing wiring diagram. If you can send a link that would be helpful.

The J engine has 1 pin on the tether and the tender has 5 pins so they connect as a 6 pin tether.
I had a friend who had the same issue in the engine with a broken pin. I wired a one pin tether across to the tender.
2 wires are not used in the tender as 1 is for the electrocoupler which is not included unless you add it. I don’t recall what the other unused wire does.

Thank you

I wouldn't know how to wire 1 pin from engine to tender.

I'm aware of the tether pin arrangement from my other "J" so I made a pin out of a piece of wire that fits perfectly thinking that would suffice.

Lionel shows the micro switch and harness still available.

Since I'm in Jackson, could you take a look at it for me and if need be I can order these parts?

Vince

Vince,

These should help:

You can find them, and several other pages of exploded mechanical detail in Lionel service Supplement 35, which you can download from lionelsupport.com.  Here's the link:

   610-8040-001 N & W J CLASS WARHORSE LOCOMOTIVE -- WIRING SCHEMATIC | Lionel Support

Mike

Thank you so much!

OK I decided to try the tender with 2 different 18049 Engines. When I connected it to my older 18049 which I purchased some years ago, the railsounds work fine except no bell which I can live with. When connected to the newly purchased 18049 Engine I get only steam sounds in neutral which disappear in forward but remain constant in reverse.  The big noticeable difference is as follows. With the tether connected but not the drawbar I get no sounds out of the tender on the newly purchased 18049 but railsounds work fine on the older one. When I connect the drawbar on the newly purchased engine I get a spark and the neutral railsounds work. The issue is in the engine but where? The harness? Board?

I’d pull the shell off the new engine and look for any bare wires. Your issue is in the new engine. If the new tender works with the old engine it’s in the new engine. You’ve got a pinched wire or something in the new engine. If you find that the harness is damaged when you remove the shell, l’ve got extra harnesses. Good Luck👍🏻

Thank you Kevin, Shell has been off and I see no bare or pinched wires but I will look again. I might try a new harness if all else fails. How much?

The tender railsounds boatd is powered off the LRCu in the engine.  Would check the three wires from the Lcru to the harness pins.
You might be looking at a bad lcru

Thank you. I suspected that from the beginning but have no experience with these. Wiring looks OK. Now to decide whether to return Loco and eat shipping both ways or invest in a new LCRU hoping that fixes the problem????

Vince,

Where in Jackson NJ are you located? I live in 4 seasons at south knolls. I can look at your engine as I have same warhorse set.
Ted

Thank you Ted, I'm at the other 4 Seasons on Harmony Rd but have already decided to ship the Loco back to the seller for a refund. I have another but had 2 tenders and wanted to complete the 2nd. Guess that was a mistake. Appreciate the offer. Vince