Black Molex Connector for ACMC board

Easier to see on a clear connector shell but an example video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFR9Wnslruk

another https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XINKtqmBAfE

Another video showing a more official tool

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL0Zmu1IsiE

The tool I have for the Molex Microfit 3.0 connector is the Molex 0011030043.  I think the Microfit Jr is a slightly different connector than the black ones that Lionel uses.

Thank you gents, finally got the job done. I HAD to move at least one connector wire since it was needed for the armature. The rest of the moves were just for proper color coding.

Sometimes I amaze myself at the tedious tasks I will take on just to either save a buck, see if I can do it, or both. After watching the video on making your own pin extractor "tools" and another hour beating on paper clips to obtain the needed thinness, I took one last blow and one of the new homemade pins went flying somewhere deep into the carpet. Still there...

My new pin plus the one I had already completed were hardly masterpieces, but after spending about an hour trying to make them work, like magic, one connector finally came out! That was OK since I was talking to a friend on the phone while poking, probing, pushing, shoving and grumbling.

That's it for me! I'll solder and heat shrink appropriate color wires (per function) for the remaining wires coming out of the Molex plug just to make future trips inside this engine easier and a little less chance of a mistake.

And I did order the pin extractor tool made by Molex, from Digikey - for my next encounter

Thanks ya'll!

George

George, if its any consolation, the official Molex tool is not much better. No guarantees it will remove the pin any better than your homemade tool.

Pete

I've found that with the Molex tool, you have to insert it in one side and then twist it back and forth a few times, then repeat in the other side.  That usually allows you to get the pins out. Note that I'm talking about the Molex 0011030043 tool with the single pin.

Once you have the pins out, carefully pull the little tab back out with an X-acto blade so that it latches properly when it's inserted into the connector again.  After you've done a few of these, you get the feel of how much wiggling it takes to remove the pin.

I have no idea how well the Molex 001130044 tool works with these connectors, with the split pins you obviously couldn't twist back and forth much.  The video Vernon posted shows it being used with a different connector than the Molex Microfit 3.0 style connectors.