Legacy SW8 Issues

You may be out of luck as far as returning it to Concord as my understanding is that there is only a one year warranty and they are not doing any non-warranty repairs. What is the model number ?

With the Legacy base unplugged, will it run in conventional mode ?

Is the cab light flashing ?

@KarlDL posted:

The front axle is independent of its driving gear.

Hi Karl, are you referring to poor engagement of the spur gears on the side of the truck?  If so, excess side-to-side play is a known issue with these SWs and actually a lot of other recent Lionel diesels.

You might be able to improve the engagement by putting a washer, nylon bread clip, etc., between the wheel and the truck block on the opposite side.  However, we shouldn't have to fix problems like this on nearly new locos!  Instead of a "handyman" repair, I would be very tempted to order two or three new truck assemblies from Lionel parts.  Keep the best two for installation and SEND BACK the ones that are out of spec!  There's just no excuse for this!!

@Richie C. posted:

You may be out of luck as far as returning it to Concord as my understanding is that there is only a one year warranty and they are not doing any non-warranty repairs. What is the model number ?

With the Legacy base unplugged, will it run in conventional mode ?

Is the cab light flashing ?

Manual is not entirely clear, but it implies a 3-year warranty.

Layout won't do conventional, so I'll try that on the workbench.

Cab light is flashing, hence concern as to motor stall.

@KarlDL posted:

Manual is not entirely clear, but it implies a 3-year warranty.

Lionels warranty is 1 year from the date of purchase as long as it was purchased within 3 years of the date of manufacture/ delivery

The originating problem has been found and resolved.  A traction tire on the rear truck had come off and jammed at the top of the truck frame.  It was not visible from the bottom of the locomotive.  The motor and drive linkage would move a little bit in each direction, until the force exerted by stretched rubber got to be excessive.  Taking off the truck side frame, removing the offending tire, and reassembling solved the drive train binding problem.  With the motor powered directly from a bench DC power supply, the wheels turned as they should, current was low, and everything looked fine.

Of course, that did not solve the problem.  The loco continues to exhibit the "stalled motor" fault.  Resetting it does no good.  As soon as the throttle wheel is rotated, a "pop" is heard and it goes into the flashing-light motor fault indication.  Same behavior in conventional.  Same behavior with the motor disconnected.  I suspect that the motor driver daughter board is bad.  Its part number is 691-LCM5-A00, which (of course) does not pull up any part on the Lionel support site.  So it appears that the entire Legacy electronics assembly needs replacing.

A replacement LCP2 board costs $200, so it looks like I'll have no working SW8 until after the September parts sale.  Not fun.

When I read posts like this, I'm reminded of the nursery school song "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly."  Add a gimmick.  Then add another gimmick to guard against catastrophic failure of the first gimmick.  Now you know one of the many reasons I don't like rubber tires.

You have my sympathy.  Personally, before I spent another $200 on that loco I would convert it to ERR (motor control only, no sound), or even conventional operation with a Dallee electronic e-unit.  Sometimes I wonder whether Lionel peaked in 1940(!)  With O gauge trains, there used to be an expectation of endurance, longevity.  When did we lose that?

@Ted S posted:

Personally, before I spent another $200 on that loco I would convert it to ERR (motor control only, no sound), or even conventional operation with a Dallee electronic e-unit. 

The replacement Legacy board will be $100 during the September sale, quite a bit less than the ERR Cruise Commander alone (and not including ERRSounds).  And getting those boards into the available space would be a tight fit.  Actually, during the sale, one can acquire a replacement and spare  Legacy board for less than the cost of the ERR package.

As for the traction tires, I'll probably replace all of them with MTH tires, if they fit.