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American Flyer repair question.....

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  • Member since
    April 2010
  • 27 posts
Posted by Russ D on Sunday, September 21, 2014 7:22 AM

Thanks for heads up I will take it apart again and see if anything is out of sorts.I may have done something in reassembly as it was running sluggish prior to cleaning but forward and reverse were normal...........

  • Member since
    October 2011
  • 969 posts
Posted by TrainLarry on Saturday, September 20, 2014 7:30 PM

As Bob says, check for too much play in the armature up and down. It should have only slight play, but not stiff or very loose. Another cause could be worn gears, or worn axle bushings, which AF diesels were famous for. See here for a short writeup on the problem.

Larry

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Austin, TX
  • 10,096 posts
Posted by lionelsoni on Saturday, September 20, 2014 5:32 PM

A worm has or should have thrust bearings to keep it from moving more than a tiny bit along its axis as it pushes or pulls the teeth of the worm wheel.  When a worm drive behaves differently between forward and reverse, it is likely that one of the bearings is the problem, either because it is stiffer than it should be or because it allows the worm to move enough that something, like the motor armature, is rubbing against something else.

Are you sure that you didn't damage or lose a thrust bearing, or create enough end play in the worm that something else is rubbing in forward?

Bob Nelson

  • Member since
    April 2010
  • 27 posts
American Flyer repair question.....
Posted by Russ D on Saturday, September 20, 2014 5:06 PM

Just rebuilt a Santa Fe Alco 360 and both motors are running great.The problem I am having is that the directional speed has been reversed.The overall speed is now faster in reverse than forward.Not sure what could of happened as I didn't rewire the reverse unit I basically cleaned the motors and worm drive.Any thoughts on how to return it back to a faster forward speed.

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