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I recently purchased a LEGACY Polar Railorad K-4 locomotive.  Purchased 2 months ago but only ran it this week (told myself I wasn't allowed to run it until the wife got her new car, but figured I'd get it because it was on sale [I learned that one from her ]).  It seems to run well, though the green marker lights in front don't work (red ones on tender do), and the smoke fan seems very loud.  It puffs smoke but you can clearly hear the fan (I assume that's what it is) over the other engine sounds, much more so than on other engines.  I assume I need to talk w/Lionel about these, or is there something I'm missing?  All of the data from the orange LEGACY chip seemed to load into the CAB-2 ok, though I'm also very new to LEGACY. 

 

Also. there doesn't seem to be a hole for the Whistle Steam effect (and, obviously, no smoke) that it's supposed to have.  Was this a feature that ended up on the cutting room floor for the PE K-4s, or is this an issue w/my particular engine?

 

All thoughts, suggestions, even snide remarks appreciated.  Thanks. 

 

- Neal

 

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Originally Posted by Paparay:
Neal, go to Eric's Trains (in the sponsor list). He made a video on "fixing noisy smoke units". If I remember, all it took was a little oil. Also some Lionel Legacy locs did not have the "whistle steam smoke effect". Don't know if yours is one of them or not.
Ray.

Thanks.  I was hoping it was something like that, though I don't know about the lights.  It seems that for some reason the CAB-2 doesn't seem able to turn the cab, doghouse, or headlights on/off on any of my engines. 

 

I'm thinking that the lack of an obvious hole below the whistle means that it doesn't have whistle steam, though the web site & materials with the engine say that it should.  I guess if I'm opening up the engine to fix the fan I'll see pretty quick....

I don't have this engine but I just serviced one with the exact same smoke unit using Eric's video as a guide although his demonstration is on a Lionel diesel. The video is the right place to start to deal with a noisy fan motor, which you'll have to deal with in any event. However, it sounds like you have a CAB2 issue if you are having similar problems using it with several locomotives. Any Legacy control glitches I have had have gone away quite quickly after checking connections and re-starting the power to the track. I also make sure that the Legacy base is plugged in directly to a wall socket.

 

You might do better to post your problem on the Legacy control system forum where I expect someone will recognize if this is a specific problem.

 

Also it's a good idea to specify the model number of the engine having issueS when asking questions on the forum. Is yours a 6-11330? This was certainly meant to have whistle smoke. Have you checked the manual for this feature and primed the whistle smoke unit? The smoke opening is toward the rear of the boiler and the manual is available on this page: http://www.lionel.com/Products...roductNumber=6-11330

Originally Posted by Chris Lonero:
I have that same engine and it does have whistle steam affect. It has 2 smoke units one for the stack and one for the whistle. Lift the sand dome off where the decorative whistle is and that's where you fill it.

 

Originally Posted by Moonman:

6-11330

 

Nothing in the directions-would the classification lights turn on with rule 17

 

Whistle smoke manual addendum attached. Is it filled with fluid and turned on?

 

 

God forbid I actually read the directions...though I don't recall seeing that addendum sheet w/the paperwork I got.  I suspect this will solve that issue.  Sorry, guys.  thanks.

 

Yes, the engine in question is 6-11330.  I'll try the Rule 17 thing to see if that gets the front markers on.  If not, I'll check & see about my greater lighting issues in the LEGACY forum. If I've gotta send it to Lionel for the lights (esp. if under warranty) I'll not mess w/the smoke unit myself, but if it's not going to screw up the warranty then maybe I'll try lubricating the smoke unit myself.  Thanks again, guys. 

Originally Posted by Fridge56Vet:

Moonman - Thanks. 

 

I've been able to get the icons up ok, but when I either tap or push & hold them they still fail to change the lighting situation on the actual engines.  I'll mess around some more this evening & see if I get anywhere else.

Just a few other diagnostic thoughts:

 

1.  Are you getting the very same lighting problems across other engines when using this CAB2? Which transformer are you using?

 

2.  Have you tried either a "soft" or full reset of the engine's control system? The instructions are at pages 15 and 26 of your manual.

 

3.  If you try that you'll have to set the RUN/PGM switch to the right setting. I have a bad switch on one of my engines and it causes all kinds of quirky behavior unless properly positioned. 

 

4.  I've also found that it's all too easy to accidentally trigger the Rule 17 setting to off although I am not sure that would impact the exact lights you are not seeing come on.

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