MTH PS3 engine not powering on

It is hard to say what it could be, in steam make sure that the tether is tight.. but even then there is a chance it could have an issue

If you can get it to a certified tech, we can test the boards to see if there is a problem with the boards and can go from there.

You can check the pickup rollers and see that they are not damaged and in good order.. 

are you using a dcs remote or directly from transformer..

It's a steam engine.

The pickup rollers look good.

Using the DCS Remote Commander with simple push button controller.

Do you have a regular transformer?  Does your tender have pickup rollers? If so just power the tender by itself.  Does it start up in conventional?  Can you work the whistle, bell, and fire coupler with bell/whist combo?

As Bill say, ensure tender draw bar is firmly pushed in.  I have seen wires push out of the connector, or you may have a loose connector in the tender.   G

If you have a conventional transformer, connect it and try to start it conventional.  PS3 will take a few seconds to power up , it is not instant so turn it on and wait.  Rule out a malfunction with the commander.  If the cars light then there is power getting to the rails, but the signal is coming from the base unit. 

It may sound silly but check the batteries in the remote..

Tender does not have pickup rollers.

No power at all - none of the sounds or coupler work.  When it does power on, all sounds and functions work normally.

Draw bar is firmly connected.

New to DCS.  Can engine work without tender?  Can engine work on regular transformer?

no , ps3 steam has two boards. One is in the tender and the other in the boiler.

from your post , did you try to power it on with the transformer. 

Also,look under the tender, see if there is a small switch labeled DCS/DCC  make sure it is in the DCS position.

if none of this works you will probably need to take it to a MTH tech, if there is not one near you, there are a few one this forum

Having read a number of posts about PS3 engine trouble I have a suggestion.

Do this when it's quiet but on the track is best.

Remove the drawbar and re-seat it, it should click into place, some of them are very hard to get fully seated. If it does not seat fully and lock in place, the problems pop up.

Either it won't work like yours or runs a short distance and dies.