The front power truck on my SF 2353 intermittently locks up, especially when pulling a heavy load. The condition is getting worse to the point that the motor has to be dismounted, manually turn axle gears, and re-assemble. No visible signs of wear on the bearings and gears, which are well lubricated. Anybody have this experience? Remedy?
Thanks, Al
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Is it the old Lionel conventional postwar ABA Diesel, if so i have the same engine and yes i have had the rear truck engine stall, My problem is the motor itself, i have to polish the commutator and take out the brushes and clean all the electrical parts, especially polish the commutator so it looks like a mirror, then reassemble and it runs perfect again. the ac motor builds up carbon between the commutator slots and the surface gets dirty and blackened, after cleaning everything as stated and reassemble it runs perfect again. the front motor i never seem to have a problem,this is a duel motor with magnetic traction and runs great after being cleaned and lubed. good luck with yours!
Alan
You need to isolate the problem to either the motor or truck.
Swap the motors front to rear and see if the problem follows the motor, or stays with the truck.
If it is the motor, check the motor bearings, and also check to make sure the motor armature is not rubbing on the field windings.
If the problem stays with the truck, then you need to start looking closer at gears and both the worm shaft and axle bearings.
Larry
It's not quite clear on whether you fully disassembled the truck ( everything short of pulling wheels ). If manually turning the axles frees things up, I'm guessing there's crap inside the dual drive differential that periodically gets jammed. A thorough cleaning and relubrication might be in order.
Bruce
One of the problems with worm drives is that they apply axial loads to the bearings due to the gear teeth being at an angle. If the gears in the truck are locking up I would check to see if the wheel sets are moving excessively sideways or it the double worm shaft is moving longitudinaly excessively. The wheels should be stopped in their sideways movement by the bearing and the wheels should not be rubbing against the truck frame. The worm wheel should be centered in the truck frame and not be rubbing against it. The double worm shaft should not be moving so far that the worm wheels are not working near the center of the worm. I believe Lionel recommended shimming the worm shaft with the trust washers 671M-23 to keep it centered if there was excess movement. I would recommend against pulling the wheels off the axles unless you have determined that the axle bearings are so worn that they require replacement.
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