Marx 666 needs an exorcist

Hey Mike, I'll say a prayer for you!   I don't know Marx half as well as I do Lionel.  Is it possible that your 4-wheel motor chassis came from something other than a 1666?  Something with a plastic body, or clearance for the brushplate cast into the shell?

My next thought has to do with how the shell is mounted.  Is it sitting lower than it should be, either because someone modified it, or some spacer(s) are missing?  I haven't worked on one of these personally, just thinking aloud.  Good luck!

Here's a video of a complete rebuild of a Marx 666 motor (it's a smoker, but I suspect it'd be close enough) that may give you some idea what may be amiss:

Bob has done a lot of motor work for me, both Marx and other brands, so I sent him a query about your dilemma but haven't heard back yet. If all else fails, I highly recommend him for rebuild services. Good luck!

Got a response:

"Well, obviously the screws holding the brush plate to the motor are touching the shell, causing a dead short. But, unfortunately, this guy has the 'problem' area covered with tape, which makes it impossible to give any type of diagnosis. I would actually need to have both the motor and shell in my possession to see if it could be either the motor, shell, or both causing the problem.I really don't like to do long distance diagnoses, as there could be underlying problems unseen in pictures or descriptions."

So, no direct solution, but if you can peel off the tape and take some more detailed pics, I'll be glad to pass them on in case it's something obvious, or you can just contact Bob directly to arrange service. FWIW, I've found him to be very reasonable in terms of charges and prompt service, and he's been able to resurrected some really odd-ball basket cases I've sent him.

@Steve Tyler posted:

Got a response:

"Well, obviously the screws holding the brush plate to the motor are touching the shell, causing a dead short. But, unfortunately, this guy has the 'problem' area covered with tape, which makes it impossible to give any type of diagnosis. I would actually need to have both the motor and shell in my possession to see if it could be either the motor, shell, or both causing the problem.I really don't like to do long distance diagnoses, as there could be underlying problems unseen in pictures or descriptions."

So, no direct solution, but if you can peel off the tape and take some more detailed pics, I'll be glad to pass them on in case it's something obvious, or you can just contact Bob directly to arrange service. FWIW, I've found him to be very reasonable in terms of charges and prompt service, and he's been able to resurrected some really odd-ball basket cases I've sent him.

Thanks Steve

I dont know how this happened - but apparently there are two separate threads with the same title, that dont mirror each other. How weird.

https://ogrforum.com/...c/183874921126244768

https://ogrforum.com/...c/183874921122484116