Thanks, Lou. I'll give your graphite solution a try.
John
If you have pickup rollers, are they dry? Could they be squeeking up against their supports when side loaded in a turn? A little graphite from a pencil helped my 520 boxcab when it squeeked. Graphite because it's conductive and an excellent lubricant.
Lou
I was not trying to suggest that you remove the tires. I was just trying to give you an idea as to where the noise may be coming from.
Hopefully someone else will chime in with another idea.
J White
Thanks, guys. I've tried all your suggestions except for trying to remove the traction tires, of which there are two on the right side of the power truck. I have noticed that the squeak is less noticeable when the engine is pulling several cars than when it runs by itself. Otherwise, though, it's still there. I hesitate to remove the tires since they're such a pain to get back on if that doesn't help.
Apples & Oranges.
I don't use Lubriplate or any white grease and I wouldn't recommend it. I use a special secret synthetic extreme pressure grease with a vapor pressure so low that it is classified and unpublished. It does not dry out, the material does not decompose at ambient temperatures according to the MSDS.
What train gears are you running at 100° Celsius? That's another whole problem if you need that kind of protection for models.
Motor Oil, especially Mobil 1 like I use, does work very well on gears. It's just harder to keep on the gears and off rails & wheels than my grease.
Rob
Rob, I published some data on the vapor pressure of Lubriplate grease (a white lithium grease) and motor oil The vapor pressure of the grease is much higher than motor oil, more than 100 times higher. This means it is going to dry out fairly quickly compared to motor oil. At 212 deg F, the motor oil has a vapor pressure less than 0.01 mm Hg (mercury). This is very low. By comparison, water has a vapor pressure of 760 mm of Hg at 212 deg F. My experience shows that motor oil will work very well on gears. I cannot recommending using grease for anything.
Does it do it when it is on the track with no train in tow? Perhaps the wheels are slipping due to the extra drag of the flanges rubbing on the rails in the curve. This effect is multiplied when more cars are in the curve. It could also be that your wheels are slightly out of gauge (too far apart) causing them to bind a bit in the curves. One (or more) of the wheels might have a traction tire (a fat rubber band wrapped around the wheel) that could make noise if it were to slip.
Hope this helps,
Oil the front axles at the outsides of the wheels, oil the roller axles(very tiny bit - work it in by hand), oil the idler gear axles and the drive wheel bushings... all very sparingly. Also, the top of the armature needs a drop of oil, as well as the bottom where it sits in the bearing plate. The worm and worm wheel get a small dab of grease. Use synthetics for longevity and wear characteristics, for running and long term storage.
I just bought a Lionel 8861 Santa Fe diesel from the MPC era. It runs fine in both directions, except that when making turns in either direction it emits an annoying squeak. I've lubed all the usual spots and have run the motor without the train being on the track, in which case there is no squeak. I've also turned both wheel sets freely right and left by hand and get no noise. I've also placed a little grease on top of the chassis where the wheel sets turn, but that doesn't help either. No noise on the straightaways, but always on the turns. Any suggestions?
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