Help needed for Lionel 2023 ALCO UP that will not reverse

If you switch the wires on the motor brushes, and it now reverses and does not run in forward, then the problem is the eunit...Maybe a bad contack on the drum...

Marty

Thanks Marty for the response and suggestion.  I will try reversing the motor leads and let you know what happens.

Charlie

I reversed the motor leads and the motor ran in the opposite direction but when E unit cycled it would not run in reverse.  So it is not the motor.  I then put the leads in the original positions. 

I worked over the E unit by cleaning with Deoxit, a powerful contact cleaner for electronics, and tried to adjust the tension of the finger contacts.  Still no reverse but at least I still have forward and two neutrals.

Charlie

I think Marty has identified the problem.

One or more of your e-unit fingers are not making contact.

Just because the e-unit fingers appear to be making good contact does not mean that they are. I had the same problem with an F-3; new e-unit finger contacts fixed it, even though the old ones looked OK.

You really can't tell just by looking at the Eunit contacts that they are any good....One of them good easily have a burnt or worn out finger and that would give you the problem you describe...You are going to have to have the Eunit serviced to be 100% fixed...

Marty

Taking an e-unit apart (and putting it back together) for cleaning and tuning isn't as hard as rumor has it. Remove the drum and bend all the fingers so that they make good contact with it. Clean gently with an eraser before bending. Clean the drum contacts with a green scrubbing pad. Reassemble and everything should work fine.