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Repair advice on a Lionel 0-8-0 (#565)

TV Thomas ViaductOGR Forum Member

I noticed yesterday that my son's 0-8-0 Lionel was running a bit rough. He's of course been running that switcher like a highball around an O-36 oval since he received it.

I pulled it and checked the drivers, wheels and contacts. I noticed that one rear driving wheel (the one with the traction tire) is loose on the axle, and given the great amount of slop between the drivers and the driver bolt into the wheel, it appears to be slightly "out of time" with the rest of the wheels on the driver. This looks like it is contributing to slippage and causing the loco to shake quite a bit at high speeds. At this point, only the driver/driver bolt is retaining the wheel on the axle. Removing that wheel's driver bolt, as the manual indicates to replace the traction tire, allows the wheel to be completely removed from the axle (it slides right off).

I'm going to give a shot at Lionel warranty repair since this is a relatively new engine, but was wondering if there was a low-hassle fix for this?

I'm surprised the axle isn't staked (or at least e-clipped) at the end to prevent the wheel from coming off. The other wheels appear to be press fit retained or something like that. The shimming jobs between the wheels and drivers seem pretty mediocre too, though as I understand it, some lateral axle movement is necessary to negotiate tight turns.

Any suggestions are welcome (besides telling the engineer to pour on the sand-haha).

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N nickaixOGR Forum Member

Hmm, I think where you are saying "driver", most of us would say "rod". Usually "driver" is used to refer to the wheel.

 

So, given what I think you are asking, I think the first thing I would try is just to put some Locktite on the axle and put the wheel back on. With any luck it will hold. Make sure you have it quartered (i.e., the wheel is not ahead of or behind the other wheels on that side of the engine with respect to its rotation).

TV Thomas ViaductOGR Forum Member

Yes, driving rod I guess would be the word for "rod", and "drivers" would be correct instead of "wheels".

Assuming I can't get the warranty service to press fit the driver to the axle, I'll degrease the axle, and then go up the loctite strength ladder until it stays put.

 

As a follow up, are there any online guides to properly aligning the wheels for given locos, besides trying to keep the holes as close to the same angle as possible? I'm wondering how critical the measurement is...

N NortonOGR Forum Member

Thomas there is a lot of slop on the starter set driving rods. I am amazed how well the work with all that slop but they seem to run OK. On most scale engines there is little play on the rods so driver quartering is much more critical, less so on these. You could send it to Lionel and they would likely replace the complete rear wheel assembly rather than just put the wheel back on but that seems to be more hassle than its worth. I have seen these engines sell as low as 50 bucks on the forum

ADCX RobADCX RobOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
Originally Posted by Thomas Viaduct:

As a follow up, are there any online guides to properly aligning the wheels for given locos, besides trying to keep the holes as close to the same angle as possible? I'm wondering how critical the measurement is...

With few exceptions, Lionel models have the right side wheels exactly 90° ahead of the left side wheels in forward motion.

 

If you time the left and right wheels on that axle to each other(90°), they will follow in time with the other 3 axles. 

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