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Lionel SD70 ACE smoke unit trouble

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  • Member since
    March 2009
  • From: Iowa
  • 8 posts
Lionel SD70 ACE smoke unit trouble
Posted by Berk 8624 on Saturday, July 23, 2011 8:55 AM

I need some help!  I purchased a new Lionel Heritage SD70 ACE 6-28377.  I ordered it last October and it finaly arrived this past June.  When I ran it the smoke unit seemed to work great.  However after the first 15-20 minutes of run time the smoke unit faded.  I tried more fluid but no out put. I took it back and the dealer had also recieved one. We test ran both and it did the same.  The dealer sent  them both in to Lionel.  We got them back a few weeks later and tested them in the store. Thye both seemed to work well.  I took it home and it failed again.  I took it back again and they sent me home with the repaired unit they had. It worked for about 2 hours of run time but began fading. Again I tried more fluid but it made little difference.  Every time the smoke unit seems to be warm and I can hear the fan run.  If I look real hard I can see some smoke but not like it did right out of the box. THe repair report from Lionel said they cut the smoe unit gasket? Could the engine be leaking fluid out?

Any thoughts?

Steve
  • Member since
    July 2006
  • 1,340 posts
Posted by Seayakbill on Saturday, July 23, 2011 11:19 AM

You may want to pull the shell off and give it a visual inspection while running.

Bill T.

  • Member since
    November 2003
  • From: Sandy Eggo
  • 5,608 posts
Posted by dougdagrump on Saturday, July 23, 2011 2:40 PM

I would have Lionel look at it again. If you open the shell it is possible that the warranty will be void for anything else that my go bad.

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  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Watkinsville, GA
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Posted by Roger Bielen on Sunday, July 24, 2011 7:24 AM

Due to problems with new Lionel engines we've started doing our own QC testing at the store when we receive deliveries.  This past week we had 2 bad engines out of 11.  One, smoke did not work, the second did nothing but have the headlight flicker when cranking the throttle.  We sent them back to the distributor.

Roger B.
  • Member since
    March 2009
  • From: Iowa
  • 8 posts
Posted by Berk 8624 on Sunday, July 24, 2011 9:24 AM

Thanks for the info!  I think I will take it back in to the dealer and have them ship it back to lionel again for repair.  I would like to take a look at it myself because I dought it's too difficult to figure out. 

There are a couple of other issues I didn't mention one was resolved by Lionel the frst time it was returned. The sound kept cutting out. runninig along and sound would drop then after a while maybe an hour it would come back on and work for a while.  Lionel said they repaired some wires and replaced the sound volume pot.  This was the case for both engines the dealer received. The other problem was when pulling more then six cars it will derail on an 048 curve even though it's rated for a 036 radius. I think thats one I will have to live with!

On a possitive note I love the engine over all! great sound and detail it fantastic. When  the smoke unit works it does produce alot of smoke. Low speed operation it great too! So I hope Lionel gets the problem resolved soon!

If you are doing you own QC the problems may not show up for a half hour to an hour of run time. 

Thanks!

Steve

Steve
  • Member since
    November 2010
  • 993 posts
Posted by gunrunnerjohn on Sunday, July 24, 2011 3:08 PM

Berk 8624

The other problem was when pulling more then six cars it will derail on an 048 curve even though it's rated for a 036 radius. I think thats one I will have to live with.

I sure wouldn't live with this!

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