Lionel 6-11114 L-2a Mohawk sounds drop out on curves

Well, it kinda sounds like you answered your own question......if your curves are that tight, and the two drawbars are doing kooky things, the infrared transmitter and receiver are gonna lose sight of one another......I’m guessing all is good on straight track? .......not a whole lot I think you can do but break out your curve stretcher and make them 54’s...........☺️.......Pat

Pat, thanks, I had considered that.  With that in mind, the chuff drops just as locomotive enters curve while tender is still on straight track; the geometry is such that locomotive and tender would be at a greater angle when in an O-54.   As the wireless drawbar is new to me, I am curious if there are any common issues.  

The permanent layout will have O-72 minimum... 

Gotta make sure those two cubes are constantly facing one another, and the locomotive draw bar ain’t trying to rise up out of the tender’s slot, otherwise they lose sight of one another....sometimes manipulating the drawbars so they stay in constant sight of one another is needed.....but I really think this is your tight curves giving you this fit, especially since you say if you stick your finger on it, it works again....you’d have to watch the relations of the two IR cubes and see if they’re going cross-eyed....literally..........Pat

I have the sister Mohawk to yours 11105.

These are great locos. Finish and build quality is superior to the newer legacy versions. Not to mention, these may outlast the legacy models as the tmcc versions are Pittman powered and lack the fragile secondary reduction gear in the gearbox .

Can you see the Loco end of the drawbar rising up out of the slot?

It's also possible the drawbar may have gotten bent up slightly and may need some adjusting.

Lionel actually added a locking mechanism that keeps the drawbar secured down on the first Gen legacy steamers that came out after the last tmcc models to prevent these issues.

 Having said that.I have an inner o48 loop that I tried my Mohawk on but it looked terrible so it's restricted to my outer O60 loop. It's one of my most reliable runners.

Enjoy your mohawk!

Try a rubber grommet on the drawbar tongue to keep it firmly seated, see if that helps with the sound dropout.

The locomotive drawbar riding up appears to be the culprit.  I gave the tongue a little extra bend to cause it to stay seated under tension, which improved the condition greatly.  Now to find the box of O-rings (should do same thing as a grommet) in the garage to do what John has suggested.

I will update on the experiment...