HO locomotive problem

[racer1735]

I purchased a new Athearn AMD-103 (Amtrak Phase V scheme) for my young son for Christmas. Needless to say, it made his entire day! The engine ran flawlessly for one day, until he turned it on this morning (Dec. 26) and hollered 'Dad, my Amtrak sounds like it has an elephant inside it!'.

When I looked at it, it had a vibration, was making a 'graunching' sound and was running about half the speed it should have been for the given power setting. We took it to the hobby shop and they said they were very familiar with the symptom, and that 'something' inside the body was pressing down against the drive shaft, causing the problems. They adjusted how some of the wires and the DCC strip were placed and pronounced it fixed.

Drove home (40 miles), put it on the track, and same thing. I took it apart and as long as the body is off the fram, it runs perfectly. Put the body on the frame and its okay until you snap it down snug then the symptoms return.

Anyone have any ideas that I can use and not have to make another 40 mile trip to the shop? I'm not too pleased with what I'm seeing in an $80 engine at this point!

 

[GG-1]

I purchased a new Athearn AMD-103 (Amtrak Phase V scheme) for my young son for Christmas. Needless to say, it made his entire day! The engine ran flawlessly for one day, until he turned it on this morning (Dec. 26) and hollered 'Dad, my Amtrak sounds like it has an elephant inside it!'.

Aloha

Athearn reputation for out of the box is why most shops recommend them for kids.

We took it to the hobby shop and they said they were very familiar with the symptom, and that 'something' inside the body was pressing down against the drive shaft, causing the problems. They adjusted how some of the wires and the DCC strip were placed and pronounced it fixed.

this sounds like the typical fix

Drove home (40 miles), put it on the track, and same thing. I took it apart and as long as the body is off the fram, it runs perfectly. Put the body on the frame and its okay until you snap it down snug then the symptoms return.

Now I am surprised they did not run it. Athearn's failure rate is so low that when one does show up with problems that they took such a short cut.

Anyone have any ideas that I can use and not have to make another 40 mile trip to the shop? I'm not too pleased with what I'm seeing in an $80 engine at this point!

Not too familiar with this particular model but suggest you look for loose or shifted weight, window, or lighting light guides.

 

[racer1735]

Not too familiar with this particular model but suggest you look for loose or shifted weight, window, or lighting light guides.

Took it back to the shop today and the owner took a look and listen to it and quickly proclaimed it to have a bad armeture, so they swapped it out for a new locomotive. As far as my son is concerned, the sun is shining again.

 

[AlanB]

Not too familiar with this particular model but suggest you look for loose or shifted weight, window, or lighting light guides.

Took it back to the shop today and the owner took a look and listen to it and quickly proclaimed it to have a bad armeture, so they swapped it out for a new locomotive. As far as my son is concerned, the sun is shining again.

I'm glad to hear that it all worked out for the best.