MTH Priemire PS3 engine stopped dead and will not recover

Did you measure the current being drawn to see if it's consuming any power?  One of the issues with these is the cheesy 2-rail/3-rail switch, that can be flaky and simply not allow any power to the electronics.  A few people have had me wire that troublesome switch out to eliminate any issues.  That's the first thing I'd consider if you are sure everything is properly seated.  Another trouble spot is the locomotive drawbar connector, that pulls out of the drawbar, and of course, kills the action.

Hi John, as always thank you for your quick and educated response. I'll give all that you said, a try. If I can't get this thing going, would you be interested in checking it out? I'm not sure about all the mailing costs involved, with such a heavy item, so I'll have to figure that in. That said, just let me know how to work with your business, and in the mean time I'll look into ups, fedex, etc. Happy New Year, Lou

They come with a 1 year warranty from the day of purchase if you purchased it from an MTH dealer. You should contact MTH and speak to one of the top people there, either Rich Foster or Andy Edelman. I have spoken to both over the years and they both have been helpful in helping me deal with locomotives that had a problem. I own about 70 MTH locomotives and last time I ran each one they all were operating fine. 

I'm a little past warranty, by about 6 months. When I first had the engine worked on by an authorized MTH technician, it was all covered by the warranty.  But now I'm on my own. However, to your point, I've had great communication with the people at MTH. They've been extremely helpful and informative in the past.  Also, great service when it comes to ordering parts. I only wish this breakdown happened sooner.

Thanks much for your comments. Best, Lou

Check the harness that plugs into the drawbar on engine side.  If this has a 2R/3R switch check it.  If drawbar fully connected and no response chances are something gave on the board.  I can do the work too, if John is booked.  But the plug to drawbar may be your issue.  G

My top suspect is always that stinkin' 2R/3R switch, next is the drawbar. You can also look around and see if any obvious wire disconnects have taken place, it can happen.  Other than that, you're starting to break out the test equipment.  If those check out, I'm with George, it's looking more like the board.  FWIW, I certainly trust George, so if he's closer, he's a good choice as well.

Much to my delight, the MTH dealer, where I purchased the challenger, is still working with a terrific MTH qualified technician. The dealer is somewhat close to me, so I might not have to put this heavy engine in the mail. I hate having it jostled around anymore than is necessary. If my health allows it, I'll take a drive to drop this engine off. It turns out that the engine is 2 years old, not nearly brand new, as I thought. (time is catching up on me)

You guys have been terrific in sharing information on how to track down and eliminate any problems with my engine. I did the final testing, as John recommended, so I know that only a qualified tech should be working on this project.  I hope it's not an expensive board issue, but I'll cross that road in time. Should anyone be interested in the outcome, I'll let you know the final verdict, with a post on this string.

Thank you, and best regards, Lou

I am having a problem with about 5 engines and I can not understand them. what is happening is the train will stop any place on my layout and only 1 motor is running. i just bought a new engine with less than 5 minutes of running time. could this be a TIU or something else. I am note a electrical inclined person in other words a real dummy. Should I try to change TIU's  or AIU's. any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Carl Machen

EA&J Rail road posted:

I am having a problem with about 5 engines and I can not understand them. what is happening is the train will stop any place on my layout and only 1 motor is running. i just bought a new engine with less than 5 minutes of running time. could this be a TIU or something else. I am note a electrical inclined person in other words a real dummy. Should I try to change TIU's  or AIU's. any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Carl Machen

 

The TIU cannot stop one motor of a dual motored unit.  Engine number? 

As BobbyD said, it’s not the TIU.  It is likely that you have a loose/bad connection to the motor or, perhaps, a bad motor.  Since it is new, I would send it back under warranty for repair.

How do you know only one motor is running?

I had a motor stop running once; it was a tiny piece of ground foam in the spur gears. 5 engines doing it is another story.

I just found out what my problem is. I had a small piece of balest stuck in between the teeth of the gears. I am now starting to reglue all of my track ballest. I would like to know if anybody lives in or around Baltimore  Maryland that would like to give me a hand with my layout.

This is why I lube external gears VERY sparsely, too much lube just grabs loose ballast and jams the works.

With dual-motored engines, it is possible that a vertical change in track elevation will cause the truck with the tach-tape motor to lose traction, in which case the loco will stop, with that motor spinning and the other not turning. 

RJR posted:

With dual-motored engines, it is possible that a vertical change in track elevation will cause the truck with the tach-tape motor to lose traction, in which case the loco will stop, with that motor spinning and the other not turning. 

I've also seen this on engines where one truck has an excessive amount of oil or smoke fluid on it and the other truck is dry.

In regard to my original post on this thread, the problem with my MTH premier challenger was solved my a terrific MTH tech. As per John's and other's thoughts, the problem was with the engine end of the drawbar connector. One of the wires inside the engine was too short, and although not quite visible to the eye, eventually disengaged enough from the harness plug that the engine could no longer receive a track signal. It was a really inexpensive fix to what I feared was a major problem. Again, thanks to all of you for the great advice and concern with my issue. In my case, MTH is fortunate to have such a great support community. I also know that there is terrific support for other manufactures, in all scales. Best regards to all

I would also like to add, in regard to my drawbar issues, that I purchased an MTH drawbar collar and attached it to the tender post. It seems to work better than heat shrink tubing. Has anyone had the same results with this MTH fix?

John suggested that this fix might work, on another posting.