Lionel warranty / Noisy engine

[twaldie]

Hello everyone,

Hope everyone has their Super Bowl snack purchasing done, and can sit and relax until the game starts!  I have three questions for the experts out there....

Is Lionels warranty still good for items that were purchased new even if they sat in a store for 11 years?  I recently purchased an engine that was made in 1996, but still had the shrink plastic on the box.  Is it covered?  This leads to question 2.......

For whatever reason, there was no warranty registration card in the box.  Do these have to be sent in for the warranty to be activated?  In case the answer to question 1 is no and 2 is yes, here is question 3........

The item is a Mine Transport engine.  Do these normally sound like coffee grinders?  Well, maybe not that bad, but there is some grinding noise, which is especially pronounced at low speeds.  Everything was lubricated, running it for a while did not make it any better.  Any ideas as to a cause.

Thanks,

Tim 

[Anonymous]

I am having the same noise problem with a brand-new out of box Lionel PWC #52 Fire Car. It was so noisy I was thinking of returning it for fear the noise would lead to problems down the road. MTH includes a mail-in warranty card with their products, Lionel does not. However, if you need to send it in for repair, they will probably cover it for one year from purchase date and ask to see a copy of the reciept. I think they are pretty liberal with that "one year" and yes, I believe that older manufactured stuff still falls under the warranty period if they still have the parts. There are exceptions (ie Backshop) where they disown their own garbage. The newer ZW transformers with handle issues probably fall under that too. It seems a lot of the shops that sell Lionel are also Authorized Repair Centers, and most will take care of items that were bought in their store beyond the warranty period. If you have concerns about your noisy engine, you may want to speak to the place you bought it. That's the dilemma with mail order. You can get some great prices on the web, but try bringing that thing back when there is a problem. Good luck! 

[pbjwilson]

The small motorized units are noisy. Everyone has become accustomed to super quiet can motors. I have recently purchased some MPC era engines. I kinda like the growl of the pulmor motors. Rough at low speeds but smooth out nice at running speed. But then I run a newer engine with the can motors and think those are awesome too. They're all good!

[twaldie]

Thanks for the replies. One other thing I noticed is that this engine draws about 2.5 amps.  My GP-9s with pullmors only draw 2 amps.  Seems like a lot of current for a small engine!

Tim