Need help with pre-war Lionel with faulty motor

[Seawolfe]

Greetings,

I have a pre-war lionel 2-4-2 engine (#229) that doesn't run.  I can apply power to the motor but it just hums at me.  If I could get the motor apart, I think I could repair it.  But everything is riveted together and I'm half afraid that if I drill the rivets out that I won't get it back together.  Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Dave

[Fordiesel69]

Is it wired right?  The will run crappy but at least run a little if they are repairable.  If it hums you have winding problems, open or shorted. 

 Is the commutator broken and jammed?

[phillyreading]

Dave,

Look by the steam chest and on the bottom side( you may need a powerful light source) as pre war engines were not rivotted together that I have ever seen. Sometimes the side rods have to come off first but I have never seen rivots on pre war engines to hold it together. Maybe the front and rear wheel sets have to come off first then you will see some small flat-head screws that are usually dark in color.

Lee F.

[Seawolfe]

 This is what my motor looks like except that it doesn't say Lionel Jr.  It says Lionel 'O' gauge motor.

 I think I found the problem(s).  I took out the E-unit and found a plastic(?) piece with copper ends that just fell out.  it is pretty beat up.  I am assuming that is is the reversing gear.  The copper is good, but the plastic piece looks like hell.

There are also four contact tines with two mates in the middle that look pretty beat up.  I am assuming that the copper ends, of this piece that fell out, make contact with the outer two contact tines.

If that is the whole problem then I should be able to get this up and working once I get replacement brushes and brush springs as my kiddos managed to get up on my work bench and make them disappear.

 If it doesn't fix it, be sure that I will be back asking for help again.

 Thanks

[servoguy]

 Your E relay definitely needs a new drum and maybe new contact fingers, particularly if your kids ate the contact fingers.

Bruce Baker

[servoguy]

 IMHO, WD-40 is the cleaner and lubricant of choice for E relays.  The damage you describe probably is caused by a high resistance contact on the drum causing heating and swelling of the plastic.  WD-40 is not only a good contact cleaner but it will dissolve corrosion.  It also leaves a light oil film which lubricates the contacts and the mechanism.  My approach to E relays is to just spray them with a little WD-40 and then they always seem to work OK. 

Bruce Baker

[Seawolfe]

 Thanks for that tip.  The kids didn't eat the fingers.  They 'ate' one of the bushing and spring pairs used over the commutator sections.  If it was the kids even.  It's always possible that I knocked them about and lost them.  Hopefully I'll be able to get replacements and a new drum from the local Lionel expert.

[phillyreading]

It might be best to buy a whole E unit rather than repair the old E unit. I have had problems with E units before and repairing them isn't easy. The little roller wheel that fell out needs to be replaced, as this piece is actually what helps send the electric the right way to reverse  or not.

Lionel has used a few differant E units over the years, depending on if it is a diesel or steam engine, so finding a part to fix it may not be easy, that is why I say to replace the E unit with a similar looking one if it fell apart.

Lee F.

[Fordiesel69]

While on the subject of E units, make certain to buy a NOS or used lionel genuine drum and not a repro.