Lionel GP-30 problems

Hi Steve,

I had a TMCC SD80DMAC, which is quite a bit longer than the GP30, but it developed the same symptom.  At first it stuttered in reverse but would operate fine in forward.  Then it started to stutter going forward also.  I ended up removing the motors from the trucks and found a small nylon gear that wasn't seated correctly.  Unfortunately (I don't remember why) I never put the engine back together again!  I tend to think something is binding somewhere in the drivetrain rather than an eletronics issue, but I'm not by any means a technician!

Best of luck with it!

Stack

Try turning off the oddyssey switch, if it runs smoothly it could be a cracked magnetic ring on the flywheel that is used for the oddyssey cruise control.

If your comfortable with your own repairs, and the ring is indeed cracked, Lionel sells replacement rings.

http://www.lionel.com/Customer...1ed06850626f4f344c33

Thanks Ricko and Stack for you help.  Tried both, but had the same results.  Grabbed the manual looking for trouble shooting info, and ran across the speed control page, so gave it a try.  Wow, things you can do when you read the instructions.  Followed them, and the thing now works in both directions. Thanks again guys.  These forums are worth their weight in gold.  Steve

Thanks for letting us all know what the problem was Steve. Before reading the manual for your locomotive, I must admit that I too was unaware of that Odyssey feature when running conventionally. Thank you for increasing my trouble-shooting knowledge.