Travelman1: The horn on the FM should work with the ZW's whistle/horn button. One note is that the ZW whistle/horn button gives a two stage DC current on the track for the older whistle/horn relays. At first there is a "SURGE" (higher DC) voltage and as you move the switch lever further, you change to a "HOLDING"( lower DC) voltage for the relays. This "HOLDING" voltage is lower than the "SURGE" voltage and sometimes the electronic circuit boards do not see the lower voltage; so you will get a horn blast and then it will drop off. If the horn does work all through the cycle of the switch movement then "BONUS POINTS". if not, then you need to only move the switch lever partially to where the horn sounds and hold it there. You may experience locomotive slowdown at that point, but it should resume to regular speed after the whistle/horn lever switch is released. Additionally, as the rectifier discs age or are shocked by de-railment spikes, they can put out less DC than when new (the original copper-oxide discs where not very efficient and were easily damaged). There are newer Aluminum-oxides discs that work better than the copper ones, which by the way, are getting harder to find. One can always go more modern with a solid state rectifier that work well in just about all cases, old and new.
As regards the oiling of the upper armature at the brushplate, while LIONEL states to drop a couple of drops of oil down the opening at the top of the brushplate to lub the upper end of the armature shaft, I prefer to use the white lithium grease in a sparse coating on the shaft. This means you must unscrew the brushplate and lift it off to do this. A small amount smeared on the shaft end and a small dolop into the hole in the brushplate should do fine. Don't forget to lub the lower end of the armature shaft on either side of the motor casting. There are thrust washers and a ballbearing race on each end that need the lub too. Hope this helps. Dennis M.
