Lionel 41 worm gear repair

The wheels will have to be quartered upon reassembly.

So as a total rookie in this venture…what does that mean?

These units are generally much louder and slower to begin with even when in good shape. Check that the 50-102 ball bearing is in place between the armature and brush plate. Its lack of presence may have caused the improper gear mesh.

If you want to replace the 41-12 worm gear, it would be nice to have a decent wheel puller and arbor press & die set to perform all the operations. Upon reinstallation of the wheel, it will need to be precisely quartered with regards to the other wheel on the axle so that the side rods don't bind.

Some other notes and tidbits:

This thread also discusses certain aspects: https://ogrforum.com/...gaged-with-ring-gear

I got one of these locomotives around 1956. It ran fine for a while. Then I got the 110 trestle set. The worm wheel did not last pulling 3 cars up the trestle grade. My father took it to a Lionel Service Station, Berkeley Hardware (SS #3) to get it repaired. The one thing that I have always remembered on this was the new worm wheel they installed was silver plated. The silver is there to act as a lubricant. I have never heard anything else about Lionel silver plating gears, but I am pretty sure it would have been a Lionel part. I always wondered is this was a test program. That worm wheel was replaced again in the 1980s.  

@James B posted:

So as a total rookie in this venture…what does that mean?

Let a pro do it?

Bmoran4 that link helped. That nylon bushing is loose and not set into the frame on mine. It’s around the armature shaft. The ball bearing is in place, I made sure of that. I wonder if that bushing being reset will stop the grinding. Updates later after attempting the tap in!

Well it was that nylon bushing that was out of place. It had come loose and was on the armature rather than being snapped into the frame. I tapped it back in and it worked great from there. Check it out!

Glad I was able to point you to the information you needed to get up and running successfully - and to do so with out the surgery you were expecting! Thanks for following up and sharing a wonderful video!

I’m very glad I didn’t have to take it in to the repair shop. Hopefully the bushing stays in place. It snapped in, I’m almost surprised at how it comes loose. But it was running well and it seems to be ok. All the help and advice was appreciated.