I bought a brand new M.T.H. Premier ES44AC and their is a noise coming from the trucks. I'll do my best to describe it. When it is in motion I hear a dull, low pitch grinding creaky noise as if two things are making contact with each other that shouldn't be. It's pretty annoying. Anyone know what this is?
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Try to lubricate the pickup rollers, that may be the noise.
You really should post a video so we have some idea of what you are describing.
Brand new engines need to break in and have the gears loosened up a bit. They need grease, and oil the main axles like the manual says before running.
https://mthtrains.com/sites/de...ction/20dl19404i.pdf
"Lubrication You should lubricate the engine to prevent it from squeaking. Use light household oil and follow the lubrication points marked “L” in Fig. 1. Do not over-oil. Use only a drop on each pivot point."
Also, make sure the main truck screws that hold each truck on, are tight (very snug). I got a one gauge engine in that had a loose mounting screw and allowed the motor gear to slip. Made much more noise in one direction than the other.
What Joe said.... but then while you have it upside down, see if any of the wheel sanding hose's on the side of the truck frames are touching the wheels.
After I lube the gears on the truck sides, their pivot points and the pickup roller ends the noise usually subsides or is no longer that noticeable. I use 0W20 synthetic motor oil.
Larry
Its entirely possible that your engine escaped the gear greasing spot on the production line for whatever reason. I would be concerned about metal on metal noises, and if it was mine I would do what it takes to grease them. The external gears on the trucks are easy to get to, and there may be screw on the bottom of the truck to inject some grease into the internal worm gears. 👍
Rod
Thank you everyone for your feedback. I will try your advice and let you guys know what became of it.
Nothing worked. I took the shell off and ran it so I can hear the problem spot better. The sound is coming from the motor??? Might be the bottom of the motor where it meets with the gearing to the truck. This is aggravating. Not a good first MTH experience. I'm going to have to send it out and I wanted to avoid that.
since you've got the shell off, I would also remove the motor from the truck block, and take a look inside- it's likely something very obvious. May need more grease, maybe something isn't quite right. I would not send it off just yet without an inspection up close -
It sounds more and more like the worm on the bottom of the motor where it meets the driven gear in the truck is not greased. I have seen that a couple of times before. As was said above, it should be easy to separate the motor from the truck, likely one screw to remove from the bottom of the truck.
Rod
Ok. I'm going to do it. I was afraid to do that but this needs to be solved. Such a gorgeous ES44AC. Such a shame that I always have problems with new locomotives. I'll keep you guys posted.
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