Help! MTH Protosound 1 engine locked in "neutral" - can't get it out!

you need to reset the engine to get it running

I would also check for other things first. How long does the engine's sounds run if you kill the power?

Do both flywheels turn all the way around a few times easily?

As Joe stated check some other things first, such as the battery by powering up to get the idle sounds then quickly turn the power off.  Do the sounds continue for 3 to 5 seconds or just quit?  If sound stops in less than the 3 to 5 seconds then you know the battery is too week to use.  You can "temporarily" substitute a fully charged 9v alkaline to see if that gets the engine to get out of neutral.  If that gets it done then replace long term w/ a 8.4v ni-cad or nimh (NOT LithiumIon) or a 9v BCR.  If after a new battery you are still stuck in neutral w/ sounds only then it is likely that you need to reset the protosound-1 chip and/or replace the PS-1 chip if it is scrambled.  The 50-1023 reset kit can be found online and the instructions are easy to follow.  Depending upon the unit, PS-1 chips can be purchased direct from MTH or found from others online.

Wow, it must be protosound-1 month; there have been a number of recent PS-1 posts.

To get out of neutral you have power at the track, hold the horn/whistle button down and remove power from the track and then let go of the horn button.  It should made a sound and then you restore track power and it'll go.

But as you said it makes reving noises when you change power, I don't think it's in neutral, I would make sure the motors and wheels are turning freely.

sinclair posted:

To get out of neutral you have power at the track, hold the horn/whistle button down and remove power from the track and then let go of the horn button.  It should made a sound and then you restore track power and it'll go.

But as you said it makes reving noises when you change power, I don't think it's in neutral, I would make sure the motors and wheels are turning freely.

I had an early PS-1 sd70-MAC that was stuck in neutral and the engine sounds would change w/ the amount of power applied.  That engine eventually needed a new PS1 chip; the MTH ps-1 reset kit didn't work because the original chip was scrambled.  If the chip is not scrambled and your battery is OK, sometimes if lucky you can ease or coax the loco out of neutral by very, very slowly increasing the power to turn on, then very slowly power down until you think the e-unit adjusts then slowly power up again.  You might need to "fiddle" a little bit.

Rick Bednar posted:

I have an MTH  Santa Fe F unit with Protosound 1 - it hasn't been run....

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and the engine has a BCR in it - 

 He said it has a BCR. They don't last forever though!