I have posted this in another thread, but decided to make one for it's own. I don't know a lot about repairing Lionel trains, but I think the armature may need a drop of oil. I here metal grinding metal constantly while running it.
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lionmaster,
A dry armature needing oil will make a squilling noice. I am affraid a grinding noise is a serious problem in the spur gears.
The 2037 is a common engine. I still have may 2037 from 1960. If you have a good repair person in your area you might could have it looked at. The 2037 would not be an expensive engine to replace.
Hope this helps.
RG
Have you lubed the side rods and places where the wheels go through any holes? Try that before going into the armature and brush area.
If the engine gets hot or loses power then the armature and brushes need a good cleaning. The brushes can be re-used with a good cleaning, also the brushes can be filed down with sandpaper if not totally smooth all the way across the surface area, as the brushes are made of lead.
Don't forget to clean all the wheel surfaces too.
Lee Fritz
Your engine is probably in need of lubrication.
Certainly there are a lot of people of this board who will try to help you, myself included.
I strongly suggest you read the material that Lionel published to its service station network.
The information has been put online by Olsens.
(Don't worry about the more difficult repairs, you are very unlikely to need to do them, but it is still good to read about them.)
Here is a general link: Lionel Service Material
I suggest you start by reading the general locomotive service information.
Then read the material on your 2037
Lionmaster,
a little maintenance should get her running good as new.
This is a great engine to work on for newbies. Don't worry, most postwar engines are pretty darn easy to maintain.
Start with that screw on the top of the engine, go slow, take your time.
When you get down to the motor, there will be a armature plate with two screws, after taking those two screws out, you'll have two spring loaded brushes under the plate. If the brushes are worn down to near nothing, you'll have to replace them, chances are a simple wipe the bottom ends of them with a rag should clean any gunk off. The top of the armature probably will be dirty, I use a Q tip to clean it, but any piece of cloth is fine. Use just a touch of track cleaner to dampen the Q tip or rag. Put the plate back on, put a drop of oil ( just a drop, no more) where the comutator hole is in the top of the plate. After reassembling everything, put a small dab of grease on the gears (not too much), rotate the wheels by hand to get the grease all around the gears. Finish up with a slight dab of oil on the side rods and wheel axles and your good to go for another 20 years.
Let us know how you did.
Sorry for not replying. I was on vacation in Branson, MO. I will have to look at it this weekend.
