Old F3 Lube rookie questions, et. al

TedW posted:

Again, Rookie questions.  So search wasn't necessarily my friend.  This 11711 ABA F3 just came to my roster and in my opinion the gears look pretty dry.  Search revealed a couple Lionel "you tube" videos of (1) a kid spreading a bead of grease on some gears; and (2) another by Mike Reagan saying (5 min in) that external gears should not be greased due to contamination from carpet fibers, tinsel, etc, etc.  

1.  What do you think I should do here?  I have oiled the axels but done nothing else.

You can and should grease the gears. It doesn't take too much. Grease, not oil. Yes, grease can pick up carpet fibers and tinsel, but so can ungreased gears. Trains shouldn't be operated on carpet without something between the track and the carpet (track with attached roadbed like RealTrax and FastTrack are fine).

1a. How do I clean the rollers?  Something slightly abrasive?

Those rollers are fine and don't need to be cleaned. But a drop of oil at the end of the axle will help them to roll more freely. Make sure they do roll freely. Rollers that skid, arc. Rollers that arc, pit. Roller that are pitted, skid....it's a vicious circle!

2.  With the ABA pulling a 5 pack of aluminum cars, a CW80 will not run them.  All lights and sound work, but will only buck and run a few inches then train stops and green light flashes.  If I put the ZW-L on it will run nicely.  I presume the CW80 is insufficient power??

Sounds like it. Wouldn't surprise me. 

Or, the set IS in need of lube somewhere to allow it to run more smoothly with less power.

Lubing the cars and dummy units, to include their rollers, WILL make a substantial difference in how freely they roll which will cut back on power draw somewhat.

3. Further, with the shell off, I see the vertical motors.  How do I lube the gear underneath the motor.  Do those screws allow the motor to be lifted or removed to do that.

The motor seperates from the truck block via a screw on the bottom, under the roller.

 I presume there is a worm gear to the trucks?

Yes, and some grease on it would be a good idea too. Make sure the old grease isn't hard, if it is, remove it first.

 Will anything fly apart if I do that?

No, but if you do remove the brush plate (the two screws in the back thing on top the motor) the brushes will fall out of their holders. Easy to put back in, but at this point it's doubtful you have any reason to mess with them. 

 Would prefer not to deal with wire removal or I'll screw something up for sure.

4.  This is probably stupid, but how do I know this is actually set 11711 SF ABA?  and the 5 aluminum cars?  Short of something like "this is a 1991 reissue of an original 1953 issue..." stamped on the bottom, how do you tell the age of a set?

Thanks for the help as usual.  TW

Thx Frisco. Heres what I found. Does that look right?  The grease seemed to b ok. Not hard, so I just moved it around to re coat the truck gear and worm on motor. Will grease lightly the external gears. Where?  And, will the grease migrate, or do you need to go all the way around a main to get the whole gear complex?  Thx again for your help. TW

I, personally, would add a little fresh grease just because it seems most of it is stuck on the outer walls of the housing. 

Just add a dab of grease to the teeth of the spur gears.

Frisco, thx again. Ill do that. Ted