I STARTED THIS POST & NOW I'M GOING to FINISH IT!! "REPAIRED IT" "GREAT LIONEL SERVICE".....LIONEL ES44AC Legacy Diesel "SMOKE FAN MOTOR" Stopped Working!!

Can you confirm if the fan is hitting the gasket. They have been known to swell and stop the motor operation.

Hi Fred,

These may sound like silly questions, but have you checked to see if the smoke is turned down, or even off, on the CAB-2?  Also if the locomotive is stationary, the smoke output is reduced, and when moving, the 'effort' setting influences smoke output quite considerably.

And lastly, have you checked that you have sufficient fluid in the unit, and that there are no bubbles blocking the output? (Blow gently down the stack to clear these.)

 

Oh yes, i forgot to ask if there are any cab light 'blink codes' happening.

 

 

This engine does not have the blinking system .. I own several of these and  the smoke pcb goes bad on them.. But in this case it can be the motor..

Thanks Jojofry. I sometimes forget that some older legacy locomotives don't have the blinking lights of death. 

Real easy to figure out on this engine you remove the shell them pull the smoke unit out make sure the rubber is still between the motor housing and smoke unit bowl . If that's there next test the motor with a 9 volt battery . If that works it's the smoke pcb.

JOJO,

 

Will do!!

 

Fred

Just make sure when you remove the shell it doesn't catch on the rail sound universal board if it does it makes it very hard to remove . Do not force it you could hurt the main board .

You can test the smoke motor by unplugging it from the unit and putting DC on it.  A momentary test can be done with a 9V battery.  I like to test them with a bench supply around 3 volts, if they don't run with that one, I replace them.

 

The big problem is the smoke pcb is not in stock at lionel ..I am about 90% sure its gonna be  the problem .

Wonder if my New Version of the (2012 Catalog - Just Received in March 2013) ES44AC has the same issues?

I have had to return 6 different engines for the whistle smoke stopping according to Lionel all have been a gasket in the housing stopping the fan . Good Luck.

       
       




It has different boards

Well, dropping them off at my LHS tonight and will see what actions they decide to  take.

Now yours has the blinking cab lights ....Is it blinking 3 times? My conrail did and it was the smoke unit motor... Inside theres nothing the same on the diecast es44 and the plastic besides the motors...Lionel went to the new smaller boards and to be honest there better (less wires).. They both run great and besides the smoke related issiues they will run for a long time...

The two PRR ES44ACs I have picked up so far have the following: 1846 has the 3 blinking Cab Lights out of the box and the 8102 has an occasional Blinking 1 Cab Light (Drive Motor Failure) other than that it is a great engine, sound performance etc.

I have another 1846 to pick up and am going to have the LHS check that one before I leave the store.

 

On a good note: the 1848 (Non Powered) does not seem to have any electrical issues!

 

These are my first new Legacy's and really like the look, other than the white roofs/skylights by the engines cab. It is probably correct and matches the Heritage Themes but IMO it just looks weird and detracts from the design and overall great look of the engine.

I am not a rivet counter at this point in my hobby but I really like the quality that Lionel put into the Paint, Trimmings etc. to make the engine look fantastic.

Now just got to get them back up to shape operationally, I will be a happy camper!

Yea you have one with a smoke motor failure and one that has a main board failure . Sorry you had trouble . You will love them when you get them back.

 

 

I've been hesitant to preorder the new ES44AC for worry about the smoke units. What about the Heritage SD70ACe. I think a friend who just bought the Illinois Terminal one had the 3 blinking cab lights and had to send it back.

It's just not comfortable buying new engines and having to send them back. It's tempting to buy a reliable year old engine and save a hundred dollars.

Why i agree with they shouldnt have this issiue they do even mth does .. Its just smart to buy a few motors and fix them your self its cheeper then shipping them back... In freds case i bet its the smoke pcb..

Well...I have fixed almost all my warranty issues, but the latest engines don't always have smoke units available in parts. I guess the parts are somewhat generic...and the boards can be repaired with discrete parts.

My LHS is sending mine back as also has a constant front coupler energized when power is applied in addition to the flashing 3 cab lights.

The front coupler sounds like a board issue, so that would be a good one to send back.

 

 

Sorry Fred I hope they have the pcb for you .. I am starting to see there running out of parts for the diecast es44s 

 

Your welcome Fred . I hope all works out.

Great Lionel Service, AGAIN.  I sent this Engine to them on 4/3....They received it on 4/7......They called today 4/10, said it had been repaired (BAD PCB that Controls Smoke!!!) TOTAL repair was $78.00. WOW, That's What I call SERVICE......With a CAPITOL "S"

 

Good job....Keep it up!!!

 

FREDSTRAINS 

Let us know how you feel when you get it back and test it.

 

John,

 

I will post it as soon as I receive it back and Test it.

 

fred

$78.00 to repair; what would the whole smoke unit new cost? Sounds like a lot of dough but oh, well.....

Labor is expensive, hopefully. Eh?

       
       




The pcb is 42 bucks to buy so 78 bucks is not out of line to do that job. And it really isn't one of the fun jobs to do .

 

WELL...RATS!

I jinxed my self I guess. Just got a new NKP ES44ac from Grzyboski's and the smoke unit does not work right out of the box. I get the 3 cab lights of death.

I'm a bit frustrated.

I'm sure that Lionel will fix it...we're just giving UPS the profit instead of our favorite Lionel.