Hi,
I have a 2360 GG1 running on Fastrack and without any cars it seems to be ok and goes pretty fast. I'm trying to get it to pull 3 Madison passenger cars. The engine barely pulls them with all the voltage applied. Its very sluggish, almost to the point of standing still and sometimes it just shuts off like it shorted out. I took the shell off to verify that wires weren't touching the frame or the shell causing it to stop and didn't find anything. Has anyone out there had this happen before?
Thank you all!
Your transformer is too small.
Rob
I wish that was the case but I'm using a 275 ZW.
Is this locomotive a postwar Lionel 2360 GG-1, or a modern era item?
Add one car at a time and see what happens.
A lot of possibilities here. I'm going to assume you are running a PostWar GG1 and not a modern reissue.
Here is my list of possibilities to try:
Do you have another engine? If so use that engine to power the cars if it runs fine that eliminates the cars, track, and ZW as the suspects. Usually this kind of problem is a motor issue. Since the 2360 has dual motors if only one of them is not working properly it loads down the entire engine.
Have you lubed the loco with motor oil? Use 5/20 or 10/30. Locos will pull a lot of power if they are not lubed. You are going to have to take the motors off the powered trucks to get at the gears and bearings inside the trucks.
If you continue running it without proper lube, you are going to destroy the loco. Don't use grease, Lionel Lube, WD-40, 3 in 1 oil, light machine oil to lube it. These all dry out or get gummy. Motor oil lasts forever.
Its postwar.
My postwar 2322 FM pulls the cars with no problem. I guess I'm gonna start stripping motors down.
Ok thanks I will use motor oil when I take the motors apart.
Well here is what I found. The Motors were full of reddish brown grease. I took them apart cleaned and lubed them. The engine runs good forward but thats about it. It struggles to go in reverse, even without cars. One thing I did notice is that with the E-unit switched to just the forward position it runs a lot better. Although to start I have to give it full voltage and it creeps along then it will start to go fast. When I have the E-unit set to change direction the engine is very slow and can barely pull.
I would eliminate one motor at a time since it is unlikely that both motors are dragging it down. Just remove the screws from one motor at a time allowing one truck to freewheel and see how it does. Then do the same with the other motor. Could have a shorted armature or field coil in one of the motors this would cause excessive current draw and surely slow everything down. That loco should pull 10 cars with no trouble. If it is tripping the breaker in the transformer there has got to be a very high current draw somewhere in the loco and one of the motors would be a prime suspect.
It sounds like you may have an E-unit problem also. Try disconnecting the e-unit wires to the motors and wiring the motors directly to the pickup rollers. See how the motors run that way. Reverse the wiring to the brushes on both motors to reverse motor direction and try again. It does not sound like the motors are shorting, just not getting proper voltage. You may need to overhaul the e-unit.
Larry
This reminds me of a problem I had with my 2360 when I first got it: One of the idler-gear shafts was pressed too far into the motor-truck casting, so that the gear became crooked and liked to jam when the motor ran, but only in one direction. I was able to pull the shaft out to the proper position without damaging it; but I had to replace the idler gear, which had worn too large a center hole from running crooked.
Bob Nelson
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