627 vertical Armature play

627 uses the 627-101 motor truck.  It is nearly the same as the 600-101 truck, except it has the pilot and steps on the truck, not on the frame. At the bottom of the motor shaft there should be a 600-110 bearing ball and on top of the commutator there should be a nylon thrust washer 600-129.  The bearing balls are usually highly polished and with a little light it can usually be seen in the bottom of the hole.   The diameter of the ball is 5/64” or 0.0781”. If this is the magnitude of the free play, the ball is probably missing.  Do not over look the thrust washer on the commutator. It prevents the commutator from hitting the brush plate.  If the ball is still there, but you believe there is excess axial clearance, an additional 600-129 thrust washer can be added. Be sure that the brushes are of adequate length, as adding a washer in this position makes brush length a more significant issue.

It looks like somebody put a grease similar to red and tacky in the lower armature bearing hole. That's why I'm having trouble seeing if the ball is in there. Can't find anything small enough to clean it out.  Ill find something to try to wick it out. 

@Train Nut I use a VERY small screwdriver with a VERY thin shaft to poke the bearing out from the bottom. They frequently get slightly stuck with older grease and gunk in there. If you're seeing fresh red n tacky, it should come out quite easily, although you may have to dig around in the grease to find it A small paperclip may work, if you can find one made from very thin wire. As I recall, most are too thick to fit in the hole.

Somewhere along the way, Lionel transitioned away from the bottom bearing plate and bearing ball - I'm not sure if the 627 was too early to be part of that change.  Instead, they created a sleeve bearing just below the armature itself, mounted in the bottom plate in the motor frame. Notwithstanding this change, for a period of time they kept the black bearing plate mounted to the very bottom of the motor frame, some say as a dust cover. The difference is that where the tiny hole used to be in the bearing plate with the word "Oil" next to it, that no longer exists.

George

@David Johnston posted:

627 uses the 627-101 motor truck.  It is nearly the same as the 600-101 truck, except it has the pilot and steps on the truck, not on the frame. At the bottom of the motor shaft there should be a 600-110 bearing ball and on top of the commutator there should be a nylon thrust washer 600-129.  The bearing balls are usually highly polished and with a little light it can usually be seen in the bottom of the hole.   The diameter of the ball is 5/64” or 0.0781”. If this is the magnitude of the free play, the ball is probably missing.  Do not over look the thrust washer on the commutator. It prevents the commutator from hitting the brush plate.  If the ball is still there, but you believe there is excess axial clearance, an additional 600-129 thrust washer can be added. Be sure that the brushes are of adequate length, as adding a washer in this position makes brush length a more significant issue.

@GeoPeg posted:

@Train Nut I use a VERY small screwdriver with a VERY thin shaft to poke the bearing out from the bottom. They frequently get slightly stuck with older grease and gunk in there. If you're seeing fresh red n tacky, it should come out quite easily, although you may have to dig around in the grease to find it A small paperclip may work, if you can find one made from very thin wire. As I recall, most are too thick to fit in the hole.

Somewhere along the way, Lionel transitioned away from the bottom bearing plate and bearing ball - I'm not sure if the 627 was too early to be part of that change.  Instead, they created a sleeve bearing just below the armature itself, mounted in the bottom plate in the motor frame. Notwithstanding this change, for a period of time they kept the black bearing plate mounted to the very bottom of the motor frame, some say as a dust cover. The difference is that where the tiny hole used to be in the bearing plate with the word "Oil" next to it, that no longer exists.

George

Thanks for the info guys.

I'll be looking at it later this week. 

I'm thinking that the ball bearing is there because I did try to poke through the oil hole with a stiff piece of thin wire and it won't go through at all. Thinking I'm going to have to find something a little stiffer and get it out of there so I can clean out the hole.

It does have the two thrust washers installed. One small and one big. Thinking I'm going to have to add one extra one or possibly two to take up some of the slop.