The front motor appears to running faster than the rear one and spinning its wheels as if there is a problem with the speed control. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Chas
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Try a factory reset on the engine. gets the software back in order.
Thank you for the reply. I'm not using the DCS system but I do have the MTH Z-4000 transformer and I will look up the PS 3.0 sequence for the factory reset in my FP-45 instruction manual.
Thanks,
Chas
Check for mechanical binding on your motors, any thing stuck in the gearing? G
Do the wheels on the front truck have traction tires?
Is the rear truck wheels actually turning, or is the front powered truck dragging the rear truck? My guess unless you finding something jammed in the gears, like a traction tire the motor sounds like it is going bad, even if the loco is brand new.
Chas,
...PS 3.0 sequence for the factory reset in my FP-45 instruction manual.
Regardless of what you might have heard or read, the Z4000, does not have a Factory Reset function for DCS engines.
The reset described for PS2 and PS3 engines in the transformer and engine documentation is actually a Feature Reset. I would be very surprised if a Feature Reset resolved your engine's issues.
If it's new, I wouldn't play around with it. If nothing is obvious, invoke the warranty.
I tried the one whistle and 5 bells for factory reset in the FP-45 instruction manual and it did not work to resolve my problem. It appears the back truck wheels are not turning. I'll also have to try to turn the sound down to find out if the smoke unit fan is working. I am only getting smoke faintly wafting out after adding the initial 18 drops and letting the wick soak. I am packing this one up and taking to an authorized MTH repair station for warranty service.
The engine seems to work fine when I turn it around and pull the 10 car consist and non powered unit. Is it possible something else may be causing a traction problem on the front truck such as the wrong wheels or wrong traction tires being installed at the factory or may this be in inherent problem with the weight distribution on front truck on all of the MTH FP-45's?
Note that the speed control sensing is only on one motor. The other motor just gets the same voltage as the one with the tach reader. If there is a difference in the weight on the wheels, say uneven track lifts the wheels with the tach sensor motor, the other motor may just stall with the whole load. You can lift the truck with the speed sensor on it off the track, the other motor will develop almost no torque, even with significant throttle application.
Thank you for your knowledgeable replies John. Would you agree that when the engine pulls good in reverse with no problem that there is an issue with weight distribution on the front truck(wheels spin) when pulling the train in a forward direction?
Hi Chas,
Since the engine runs properly in one direction and not the other that pretty well eliminates both gearing and weight distribution issues. Most likely this is an issue with the front motor. When the engine moves one direction the motor tries to pull itself down towards the truck block. When the engines runs the other direction the motor tries to push away from the truck block. If you're lucky, the screw that holds the motor and truck block together could be a loose. Set the engine upside down and check the phillips head screw near the pivot center (it's a #2 phillips screw recessed into the truck block). If the screw isn't the issue the motor probably has a bad bearing. If you purchased the engine from your authorized service center they can replace the motor free of charge.
Originally Posted by Dave Hikel:
Hi Chas,
Since the engine runs properly in one direction and not the other that pretty well eliminates both gearing and weight distribution issues. Most likely this is an issue with the front motor. When the engine moves one direction the motor tries to pull itself down towards the truck block. When the engines runs the other direction the motor tries to push away from the truck block. If you're lucky, the screw that holds the motor and truck block together could be a loose. Set the engine upside down and check the phillips head screw near the pivot center (it's a #2 phillips screw recessed into the truck block). If the screw isn't the issue the motor probably has a bad bearing. If you purchased the engine from your authorized service center they can replace the motor free of charge.
BINGO DAVE! 
Thank so very much for replying to this thread and solving my problem. The screw was about six turns loose and the rear truck was about one turn loose right out of the box. I'll check all my locos for the dreaded loose truck block screw from now on. Could there be any damage to the engaging worm gear or truck gear as there was some rattling noise coming from the front truck when it was loose?
One down and one to go. The smoke unit doesn't seem to be working up to par like my Genesis engines do. Smoke fluid seems to be blowing up and over the screen/ stack on the top of the locomotive with very little visible smoke volume. I did add 16 drops when I set up the loco and let it soak for 15 minutes and I have only added about another 15 drops total blowing air down the stack each time.
Regards,
Chas
Cool! Glad to hear it was a simple fix.
I suspect your smoke unit is over filled. Thirty drops is a bit much to add in short order, and if you're seeing fluid splattering out the stack that pretty well clinches it. If the unit is smoking at least a little you can let it run. The fluid will slowly boil away. At some point the smoke output will likely improve as more air is able to move through the unit. If the output doesn't improve within a 1/2 hour of continuous operation DO NOT add more fluid and report back.
As to the other question, I doubt there's any damage to the gears from the motor being loose, unless you've run it for an extended period that way.
