My traditional MTH 263e blue comet was running fine yesterday. However, today it sems to be stuck in neutral. The E-unit buzzes and it clicks when I hit the directional button...I opened the enginge to take a look and the plunger is working...its grabbing the teeth on the barrel and moving it. Any thoughts on what I should do next?
Thanks,
Sunrise
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I have no experience with MTH engines, but if it is anything like a Lionel e-unit, make sure the fingers are making good electrical contact with the drum
The MTH drums leave a lot to be desired. I believe the indexing of the teeth to the contacts is off, plus they typically have a lot of casting flash. I threw away about 50 of them due to poor quality. Check all wires and then remove the e-unit and manually advance the drum by pulling up the pawl. Note where the drum stops on the center two vertical fingers and the bottom two fingers. One finger from each has to be on a contact on the drum. If it is a little off, it won't make a connection and the loco will not move. Usually increasing the "loop" in the finger will shorten it enough so it makes contact with the drum. Don't put the e-unit back in unless you are sure the fingers are contacting the drum.
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