Seeking some help with remote controlled Thomas

Is this a LionChief or LionChief Plus set?  If former, it will only run via the remote.  Are batteries OK in the remote?  Can you remove body and check for loose wires or fried board?  Nothing binding the wheels, is there?  Maybe loose antenna?  Sad to say, only way to find problem is process of elimination.

The remote is not the issue, I believe it is a LionChief.  Remote has new batteries, and the locomotive unit makes(or made until it quit on me) idling noise regardless of remote status when on a powered track.  No binding in the wheels.  Opening it up when I get home today to poke around, was hoping for any direction I can get on where/what to look for.  I am reasonably competent with repairs but my knowledge with model locomotive repairs is currently at a learn on the fly status.  

how old is it?

might need to be sent back to lionel for replacement.

When a LC loco is totally dead, unless there is a loose wire or missing pickup, it's probably a dead board (motor controller, receiver, etc.) and needs servicing by someone who can replace the board.  Lionel will sell you a replacement if you send them the original (check their website), or at least that's what I've been led to believe. 

If it were me at this point, particularly if it's under warranty, I'd send it back to Lionel.  Probably will take a few weeks at least.  In the meantime, if you really, really are in a hurry, you can buy a replacement Thomas (comes with remote) or, more usefully, another similar LC loco for about $100 or so.  Almost as much as a set, so you may just want to get another set (not Thomas, but LC equipped).  Then when your Thomas is repaired, you two can play together with your additional track and two locos and two remotes.  Good luck.

I've had several Lionel RTR locomotives (Of which Thomas is.) come new with loose wires, and that got worse the longer I had them.  Mostly loose wire or spring finger to the center rail pickup.  Get a DMM and check continuity to make sure power is getting to the board.  James was one I had to do this with myself.

I have a number of Lion Chief engines all the Thomas and friends engines included. Some have had issues. I tracked some issues to loose parts on the control board in the engine, loose parts not fully soldered. A family got a set for Christmas and it was dead as well. I keep 2 of each engine for running for hours on the show layouts. The Thomas engines have run for hours and hours at displays many a year and when you get a good one they are fairly reliable. I would just return it to where ever  you got it from for a replacement. Would be nice if Lionel had a bit better quality control having seen several Lionel Lion Chief engines not working when new mine and others.

Be careful that your child  or friends do not turn the dial to far it is easy to snap off and you will have replace the speed dial electronics or remote.

For  Lion Chief sets you can use a adjustable transformer to set the power lower so the engines will not fly off the track at high speed.

There's some shell screws between the wheels and two in the front. Check the cable connectors to the board. There had to be a little trauma from little man.

Check the wires to the collectors(rollers) and the axle wipers for the common.

if the terminal track lights with the power pack, then the power pack is ok. Well, I should say working.

If it's dead you can try a call to Lionel for warranty. They don't repair them. You can get a new board if it needs repairing or find a used engine. It's almost cost effective to get a whole set.

I hope it's one of the above wiring issues. My Godzilla grandson beat it up pretty good. I have replaced boiler covers, eye moving parts, couplers twice and I keep extra buffers on hand.(they just pull out/push in) and a loose connector once.

Thomas is still a very useful engine.  I am glad we are getting past the Godzilla stage.

Thanks for all the thoughts and advice.  Finally got to it, no wires looked crimped, the only disconnected part was the "chuff" switch that never worked.

Anyway, completely disassembled, tried just the motor to see if that worked, motor did spin when powered.  Reconnected the board, no sound, no nothing.  I guess that means the board is toast.

The little blue engine was a gift over a year ago, so warranty is out of the question.  I will try calling Lionel on Monday to see if I can secure a replacemental board.

Thanks again everybody.

I didn't even get the idling sounds anymore, just a whole lot of nothing.  I might pick up another lion chief set just to keep the kiddo happy.

Sorry if it's bad form to resurrect a post after too long.  A call to Lionel and I spoke with Brittany who was quite responsive to the issue(possibly a hint at common issues, but I did not want to be a jerk about it).  She advised they did not have replacement boards in stock and Lionel techs would have to program one to the loco if that was the issue, but send it in anyway.  If it was irreparable but not my fault they advised they would replace.  It was also implied that board replacement would be free though I was quite clear I was happy to pay for the parts or repair.

Anyway, the loco was sent back to Lionel, arrived there on Wednesday.  Just now UPS knocks on the door and its a box from Lionel.

The ticket says Thomas was repaired, but the lack of black rings on the wheels, the plastic still on the underside of the cab roof and the engine reading copywright 2012 instead of 2013 told me it was a new loco.  Common sense tells me it is probably cheaper to replace the loco than have a tech spend an hour or two with it and replace a broken board, ~ $70 for Lionel to break even on a full set with cars and track versus probably a $30 board to them and a tech that costs them at least $30/hr.

Long story short, playtime is back on, and as mentioned in other threads the chuff sound on Thomas is kinda annoying, but it is fully functional which it never was before.  So kudos to Lionel for providing good customer service.