Whistle Steam NOT Blowing, while Stack Chuffs and Puffs A-Plenty - How to Resolve?

What I do to start is to take a small plastic tube and insert it in the whistle steam hole.  Give it a good "blow" and then see if you get any action.

Also, when you operate the whistle, do you feel air coming out the whistle steam hole?

Hi GRJ,

Did not feel any air coming out of the whistle steam hole.

Only one place to put smoke fluid in - at the stack in front.

Will try the plastic tube, maybe using the ‘eye dropper’ without the rubber part one normally squeezes.

One article in OGR said don’t ‘blow’ too hard so fluid is not pushed off whatever it is sitting on (I have never looked inside).

Will try tomorrow!

Thanks, Ken

With sounds off, can you hear the whistle fan come on when you activate?

The previous owner may have attempted to fill the whistle at the whistle site and not down the stack.  Try turning the engine upside down, moving it around in an attempt to clear the plastic tube that runs from the stack to the whistle.

Aside from this, you will have to go inside.

Ken,

With these dual smoke units there is an issue getting fluid to the "other" side so to speak.  There is a divider between the two smoke chambers.  And as you mentioned, you have to add smoke fluid to the main smoke chamber and the fluid has to wick its way to the other side through a slot in the bottom of the divider.

As John mentioned, please confirm the whistle steam fan motor is working.  I do this by feeling for air flow and by listening for the whistle fan motor running (turn off all the sounds). This will ensure the fan is working and the passage way is clear.  After you confirm the whistle fan motor works, with air flow, try to smell or feel if the air stream is warm.  This will tell you if the heating unit is also working. I realize you tried this, but did not feel and air flow.  I'd give it one more try.

If all this checks out, and no joy, I'd open up the engine and then the smoke unit. Inspect and clean the smoke unit batting. What I have found on some Lionel smoke units is the batting between the two chambers is not connected under the divider.  So you have to really saturate the main smoke unit so free liquid will flow to the other side under the divider.  When I replace the batting, I ensure there is batting connecting side to side, under the divider (in the slot under the divider) this allows the fluid to wick as needed.  Not so much as to plug the slot, but to allow the wicking action.  I then add smoke fluid to each side.  If I don't, it seems to take for ever for the fluid to reach the other side.

I guess the other other option is to try to add smoke fluid to the whistle steam (not recommended by Lionel). You have to be careful as the fluid might not flow easily into the smoke chamber (and may leak onto things that you really don't what smoke fluid on.  And you have the chance to plug the "vent" line so to speak.  I've used a small pipe cleaner to make sure there was a clear path in some of these.  I do like John's suggestion of a small tube inserted into the whistle steam outlet, with a puff of air.

Hope this helps.

One thing you don't want to do is disturb the factory wicking under the divider.  A known issue when you re-wick the dual smoke fluid is you have great difficulty with the chuffing showing up on the whistle side and vice-versa.  Even Lionel will admit this can be a problem.  I found some felt that is about the thickness of what they use in the original dual smoke, it works pretty well for suppressing the cross-talk.

FWIW, it takes WAY MORE fluid to prime a dry smoke unit than you might imagine.  Also, the dual smoke units take some time for the fluid to wick over to the whistle side.

Here's a video made by a forum member that talks about the real quantity of smoke fluid needed for a new smoke unit.

And another video for follow-up.