Trouble with new Legacy M1a

Did the reprogram help?

Marty- is that the reset button on the cab-2?

Nope, change the TMCC ID with the PGM/RUN switch in PGM mode, that is the "reset" for new Legacy locomotives.

OK, tried the reset- now none of the markers respond to the "engine marker" on/off buttons on the cab-2, they remain on, except for the pilot markers. Tried it twice and don't get any change.

I found an example of what I expected to see at start-up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTtloB-OI5Q

You can see that, when the headlight is turned on, the markers on the pilot also illuminate. On my loco these don't. There are wires leading to the markers, but nothing happens when the lights are turned on.

Did you call or write Lionel? 

I had that problem on a Lionel 38056 M1A where the lower marker lights did not work.

Found that Lionel had wired the led connection on the plug that came from the board backwards which caused the led’s not to light.

I traced the wires from the lower lights back to the board and unplugged it. Then I tested the markers with a 3V battery to see if the led’s worked. Then checked the pins on the board to make sure they had power. Found + and – were backwards from the plug to the led’s. Cut the wires coming from the plug and reversed the connection and have had lower marker lights ever since.

Friends with the same engine never knew those markers were supposed to light, easy fix.

Thanks for the input Nelson. I had not thought of going that far yet.

I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron, but don't want to chance voiding the warranty.

Is the board you're referring to in the tender, or loco itself? I may take a look.

I've not called, or e-mailed Lionel yet, but will do that today.

Thanks all!

Just wondering if that engine has a connector for the markers separately.

Found this in the latest M1a parts...

and wonder if these are the marker leds...

Thinking loose plug or something wonderful like that.

I've noticed that it's pretty hard to void the warranty if you don't cause it to be harder for them to fix it if you cannot.

Maybe just looking at the colors where the markers plug in will give you a clue...wonder if the colors were followed by the manufacturing and they were wrong as far as plugging them in switched. BTW, any of these connectors can be re wired if you lift the small plastic tab just in front of a barb on the female pin and gently pull the pin out of the plastic connector housing.

Thanks cjack. How hard is it to access these wires and connectors we're talking about? I've rebuilt lots of prewar motors, but never cracked open one of these new electronic monsters!

I don't have that one, some are a pain and some easy. I usually look at the parts to get a clue on how they are constructed.

Here's the link...

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...=6-81245&match=0

In general, everything comes apart with all the guts attached to the chassis, and the boiler shell has only a couple of wire connectors coming from the lights and antenna. I didn't check to look if the pilot markers stay with the chassis...maybe. 

Well, gonna be dropping the loco off at a repair center this evening. I'm just not ready to tear into it. I'll let you all know what I find out.

Thanks again for all the great input!

 I spent some time with the repair tech this evening and we seem to have an answer. After much testing and quite a bit of disassembly, it appears that the pilot marker light LEDs (both) are bad. He's going to try to order the short harness with those lights, and finish up the repair.

 Not exactly what I'd hoped from my first "all the bells and whistles" purchase from Lionel. In the meantime, while I wait for the repair to be finished, I have a bunch of Marx prewar tinplate that I know will run perfectly every time I hit the throttle, and that I can fix if the rare breakdown occurs. No matter what, it's all fun! ;-) 

I worked on one of those engines two weeks ago.  Stick with it as that is one good running locomotive.

Well, got the M1a back from the service station today and all is well. Apparently both of the pilot marker LEDs were bad. They were replaced and the problem is solved. The guy also noticed that some of the wire splices associated with these LEDs were inconsistent. Brown wires being spliced with black and vice versa. Those were fixed as well. This was done under warranty and took less time than I expected. I was a little disappointed that a loco that costs so much would have this type of issue, but I'm glad that the solution was at my local Lionel service station! Thanks again for all the input guys.