Lionel 6-38013 Lionmaster Challenger not running well

The problem isn't mechanical.  With the behavior shown in your video, it has to be an issue with the electronics, perhaps something to do with the speed sensor.  There are others on the Forum who have firsthand familiarity with all of those circuit boards.  Hopefully they'll chime in and tell you where to start!

Well, it's could be the Odyssey sensor/magnet ring, the wiring to the DCDS motor driver, or the motor driver.  My usual approach is to test the motor driver, and visually inspect the magnet ring and sensor board on the motor.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Well, it's could be the Odyssey sensor/magnet ring, the wiring to the DCDS motor driver, or the motor driver.  My usual approach is to test the motor driver, and visually inspect the magnet ring and sensor board on the motor.

How would one test the motor driver, and what would I look for on the magnet ring? (which I assume is the black ring on the rear motor, with the sensor on the board below it)

Well, I test the motor driver on my test rig.  The magnet is indeed the black ring, if it's in place and the sensor looks undamaged under it, check the clearance between the two.  It should be on the order of a millimeter or two.

Have you tried unlocking the speed control?

The wiring looks good, I made sure the plugs were in all the way, hopefully I correctly read the wiring diagram I found to trace the correct wires. The distance between the ring and the sensor looks ok, though I don't have my calipers with me to check. Still runs like in the video, unless you give it a bunch of power at once, then it'll run better. My friend said that it's ok if we have to send it to the only shop in the area that works on Lionel stuff, but before I do that, any other ideas?

You didn't answer my question.

Following the instructions in the manual for turning it off with the transformer doesn't work, and I don't have a TMCC or Legacy system available

For conventional:

  ..Turn controller to max power

  ..Wait 1 second, then hold and press whistle button or lever

  .. Holding whistle button, slowly turn down power to about 1/4.

  ..Pause very briefly then continue to turn power off, then release whistle button

  ..Cycle power back on and you should have full speed control range.

Tried that a couple times with a borrowed CW-80 that may be acting up, I'm bringing my rebuilt KW over to his house tomorrow, and I have a GW-180 on order for his overhead loop. If that doesn't do it, I have to go down to the city with the Lionel repair shop to pick up a freshly-built gear housing for my 1971 Challenger (the car, not the train ), so I'll drop it off then have it mailed back up here

Update: I plugged in the ground for the lights, set the body back on the frame, and tried my KW, and it acts a lot better, only doing the weird cogging at very low voltages, with more of it in reverse compared to forwards. I guess that the CW-80 I used earlier may be partially to blame? I might keep adjusting the sensor, since it looked a bit farther than a millimetre away from the ring.

You need to use a gauge to see what the spacing is, it's very difficult to accurately eyeball millimeter spacing.

Don't think my friend has any of those, only ones I have back home are the wires for spark plug gaps

I use a 1mm spacer made from the proper thickness Styrene sheet for spacing optical and Odyssey sensors.