Engine Gear Noise

[Anonymous]

Have you looked at the gears to see if there are any burrs on the edge of the gears. I had a diesel that made a lot of noise right out of the box. I took the covers off the gear box & found very tiny plastic burrs on the edge of the gear.
I took a small fine mesh file & removed the burrs & that fixed the problem.
Over the years that has only happened twice & the other problems were the lack of grease. I also found a slight burr on the outside of the main drive wheels
on a steam engine once that caused noise & a wobble in the drive train.

[cacole]

How old is this locomotive? If it has been on a dealer's shelves for a couple of years the lubrication applied at the factory may have dried out. A split gear has also been a common problem with this locomotive and as of a couple of months ago Athearn didn't have any replacement parts on hand. I would try lubricating the gears and see if that helps as you break it in. If the noise persists, you may have a cracked gear.

[Anonymous]

It hasn't been broken in. I had it on my test track some weeks ago to see how it worked. I then packed it up and put it away until I got my pike in running order. That has been done and I've ordered a decoder which will be here next week.

The literature says it was lubed at the factory. Maybe I'll just run it for a while when the decoder is installed and see what happens.

Thanks for the advice.

[bogp40]

Jimbo,
Has the gear noise always been there? Has a break-in been done? Or is this a problem that just started to happen? I have not had any trouble with mine, but it has had very little use. Others have found problems with the axle drive gear cracking, I'm not sure if this is a common problem but this may be the culprit with your's.
Bob K.

[mcouvillion]

Jimbo,

You might want to look at the gears and determine if they are a little out of alignment. I expect the gears you are referring to are between the worm gear on the motor shaft and the drive gear to the axle. If the alignment is off a little, it could make noise. The gear train may be dry, too. Lubrication should help quiet it down. I prefer Dexron II automatic transmission fluid for all my model railroad lubrication needs. Just a little goes a long way. Lubricate the pivot points / slides of the valve gear while you are at it. Run it in on the workbench, upside down, varying the speed and direction until you are satisfied with its performance.

Mark C.

[Anonymous]

I have an Athern Genesis 4-6-2 which runs VERY well with good low speed control etc. However, there is a significant amount of noise from the gear mechanism.

Does anybody have any ideas on a cure? I haven't tried anything yet since I'm afraid of mucking up the works.

Thanks,

Jimbo