Isolate the 'E' unit from the motor. Remove all the wires from the 'E' unit to the motor. Wire up the motor according to the center-left diagram on this page: ''Wiring Diagram of Locomorives With No Reversing Mechanism''.
Turn on the power and the motor should run. Switch the wires to the brushes and the motor should run in the opposite direction. The motor needs to pass these 2 tests. If it does, the 'E' unit needs servicing.
If you determine that your 'E' unit is not functioning properly, watch part 1 and part 2 of this video tutorial on repairing Lionel 'E' units.
Larry
Just guessing, but I'd suspect the E-unit's shot. It's been known to happen, and the symptoms you describe sound exactly like what happened to one of mine, a 224. It was obvious when mine died, a shower of sparks came out of it!
One thing you can try. Remove the shell of the locomotive and spray the E-unit with some electrical contact cleaner. Let it dry and try it on the tracks. Possibly the E-unit's just dirty and sticking.
If you've got an electrical meter handy you can meter the E-unit to see if there's juice coming out of it, I don't think juice coming in is the issue. No juice out, there's the problem.
An emergency fix for the locomotive would be to remove the E-unit entirely and hard-wire the pick-up to the motor. You'll only have forward motion (you may have to experiment with wire location) but that's better than nothing.
It's what I did with the 224. First try I wired it it ran in reverse. Second try was OK.
Another thing that could be causing the problem is the motor armature may have enlarged the fibre plate it rotates in. I've seen that too, the motor seems to be trying to turn but nothing happens. A wobbly armature won't rotate properly and drive the gears. Again, you'd have to remove the shell and eyeball the motor. If that fibre plate's worn there's no fix except to replace it.
I can't think of anything else.
I have a postwar Lionel 249 that I honestly thought I was taking good care of until yesterday, turned it on, it made a few laps then started to sputter and then stopped completely. The wheels and gear all move freely, no binding or grinding, no metal shavings anywhere. When I turn the power on off and on, I can hear the tone on the motor change like it wants to go in reverse but it's not. Off and then on again, tone changes again. You can hear the unit ramp up when you increase the power but it's just not moving. Anyone have any suggestions on what could be the cause or what I can do to fix it?
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