Checking Newly Unpackaged Diesels

TrainGuyMcGee posted: 

I read the entire instruction manual and all it said to do was lube and grease the axles and gears etc. which I'm assuming are the visible ones on the undercarriage.

 

You are correct.

Unless the instructions explicitly call for periodic entry into otherwise hidden areas of the engine, you should not concern yourself with maintenance thereof.

That said, however, if your engine ends up in long term storage and/or inoperation (we're talking years, here), you might benefit from having it checked out by an authorized repair center/technician for it's 're-awakening'.  That's in part because some lubricants....especially greases...have been known to change their lubricity quality over time and could become hard or glue-like.

You might take some time to do some surfing on-line for 'how-to' videos on this subject.  There's a few out there....some of which are courtesy of the manufacturer.   Which reminds me to ponder: Why don't manufacturers supplement their maintenance verbage with an app icon to take you to just such information on your whiz-bang electronics????   Heck, years ago I recall one manufacturer who included a disc which covered such topics, among others.

I'm sure others will comment......stay tuned.

KD

Nope, that's a new legacy loco. Lube and oil. Find the manual smoke on/off switch and turn it off if you are not going to smoke out the train room. leaving it on with no smoke fluid will burn the wick.

TrainGuyMcGee posted:

So I read on some other threads that apparently, you are supposed to "check" you new locomotives when you first get them for grease etc...  I believe everyone was talking about steamers but wanted to confirm.  I'm asking because a couple weeks back, I received my first locomotive.  It's the Lionel SD60e (Veterans) and looks and runs great.  I read the entire instruction manual and all it said to do was lube and grease the axles and gears etc. which I'm assuming are the visible ones on the undercarriage.

Is there a gear box that I need to check for lube?  Or anything else for that matter?  I'm new at this so any help/advice is greatly appreciated. 

I'm not familiar with the advanced terminology such as worm gears etc.. but is there something else on my diesel I should check on the inside?  I haven't even taken the shell off of it yet but will if I need to check out some areas.  I'd hate to burn something up on my pride and joy. 

If it runs well you likely are fine and need not worry. On occasion one will hear people say that they received a new locomotive and found that the internal gearbox wasn't greased at the factory as it should have been. I think that's the origin of the "check everything" advice (including presumably the internal gearbox). I think that's born of the human tendency to over generalize from one's own distinct experience as opposed to being necessarily good advice.

On a diesel checking that gearbox often (and probably usually) means dropping the truck to access the worm gear. (That's just the gear on the end of the motor shaft that turns a gear on a drive axle). And reinstalling the truck often (and probably usually) means removing the shell in order to ensure the gears mesh when reinstalling the truck. I've removed and reinstalled my share of shells for maintenance and to upgrade engines to fixed pilots, and even now I still don't like to do it. There's always a risk if stripping threads, cracking mounting posts, pinching wires or damaging details. I suppose it's in the category of do it no more than you need to.

I'm not that familiar with current Lionel truck design. I thought some years ago a "twist-off" truck was introduced to make it easier to perform this maintenance. If so, then maybe it is easy to check. Otherwise, you are going through the steps I outlined above on an engine that is running fine to investigate the off-chance that something that should have been done at the factory wasn't done. Without any evidence of an actual problem, the sensible approach to me is to assume one is the usual case (the factory did what it was supposed to) and not the unusual one (factory error) and leave well enough alone.

Sometimes one can see a residual blob of grease where the motor mount meets the truck. I see it on MTH engines all the time. If you see something like that, you can rest assured the grease was put in there at the factory. Of course you may not see any grease, but that means only there was no spillover.

It should have been greased at the factory, it probably was, if it is running well, you have no reason to think that it wasn't (other than the off-chance of error) and it is under warranty for a year. You can probably go ahead and enjoy it without worry.

Best,

RM

Cool.  Thanks for the help guys.  I only asked because it's a brand new engine and at full throttle, it runs slower than my PW 602 switcher.  I'm guessing that's probably because the older switcher has an old school Pullman motor.

As mentioned, it probably has the Liondrive twist-off trucks, so you just turn the truck 90 degrees and it will come loose.  However, there is a little link piece that's loose in the truck, don't lose that or the motor will not engage the truck!    Also, there is a connector on top that you have to slide loose once you drop the truck.

The full throttle speed likely has nothing to do with lubrication, you're comparing apples and oranges.