My Athearn SD-9 has a bad grinding sound.

[countershot]

My Athearn SD-9 has a bad grinding sound. I have lubed it but the sound is still there can you help? I realy like this locomotive and I would like to keep it going.[banghead]

[Anonymous]

Athearn Blue Box locos are notoriously grinders. Some like it, others don't. You could live with it or repower it. I personally like the "growl" of my athearns.

[Anonymous]

1: Check to see that there is no flash (bits of tabs and stuff leftover from molding) on the driveshafts. If there is, trim it off

2: My GP60 makes that sound when the motor isn't lined up right. Check to make sure both white mounting clips are correctly mounted and that the motor is straight...

[AntonioFP45]

[#welcome][#welcome][#welcome][#welcome]

Welcome Aboard, Countershot.

The tips above are good. Athearns are "infamous" for their growls. Combination of the motor, the body resonating, the worm, and the trucks. What a combo! One solution that a good friend taught me to help quiet down the trucks, which are often the loudest culprits, is the "Pearl Drops" method. It's a bit of work but often yields good results.

There are various versions of how to do this. This is my "quickie version".
Lay your locomotive on top of a terry cloth towel so that parts won't roll away easily. Using your Athearn locomotive diagram as guide CAREFULLY remove the long clip on the top. Next gently pry off the plastic worm housings in the trucks with a flat blade screwdriver. Gently lift out the worm assembly since it will still be attached to the driveshaft. Gently pry off the side frames. Remove the Gear Box Clip on the bottom. Be patient as you pry the gear box clip ears with the screwdriver. Rinse off the gears, which are now visible with alcohol. A small plastic "squeeze" bottle with a pointed tip is most helpful here. (Hair stylists use these a lot.)

Don't be stingy and apply a VERY GENEROUS amount of Pearl Drops toothpaste into the gears, top and bottom. Carefully re-assemble your locomotive though leave off the EMD side frames. Run your locomotive for 1 hour in each direction at a medium speed. The abrasiveness of the toothpaste rubs and polishes the gears as they turn and knocks off any tiny flashing present.

Disassemble again as you did before. Rinse off thoroughly with 70% or 91% alcohol through the squezze bottle. Turn the wheels as you rinse to make sure all traces of the paste are gone. Allow to dry. Apply gear lubricant (Labelle 108 or Synco SuperLube).

Reassemble and she's good to go. She should run quieter now.

I was skeptical about this until my friend showed me an Athearn GP9 he bought back around 1978. He ran if for me and I was shocked at how much quieter it was than my Athearns, including my newer ones! Levels were about the same or slightly better as Proto 2000 units.

Guys, if you have a variation or other tips, please chime in!

Peace!

[mcouvillion]

Countershot,

The flywheels on Athearn motors may appear to be tight on their plastic sleeves but wobble when rotating. You might have one that is loose and vibrates when running. If it contacts the shell, you'll have plenty of noise. Check the flywheels carefully. I'm not sure if the plastic sleeves can be tightened. If you can pull them out of the brass flywheel, and then try to score it where it contacts the inside of the flywheel, effectively making it wider. I would score the plastic sleeve longitudinally 4 or 5 times around its circumference, then push it back in the brass flywheel. It should tighten up. If not, find a replacement flywheel or try ACC. When bonding dissimilar materials that are press fit, I have found that scoring both mating surfaces lightly helps insure that they do not come loose.

All the info on cleaning and lubricating the drive line is great. I personally prefer Dexron II transmission fluid instead of oil because I don't want to have to go back in a few years and re-clean all the gum from the oil out of the gears. I inspect every Athearn engine (actually EVERY engine I own) completely before first use, and I don't ever remember finding any significant flash in the gears. I always check, just never have found any. I think the source of the grinding is elsewhere.

Mark C.

[AntonioFP45]

Mcouvillian,

Dextron II?

That's an interesting method. I haven't heard of that method before. And I have two bottles in my garage!

I'm currently working on one of my Athearn U-boats. I do like to experiment so I'll give the tranny fluid a shot!

Thanks!

[mcouvillion]

AntonioFP45,

Yes, I use only Dexron II. I'm a chemist who resurrected my childhood trains about 25 years ago and had to clean every last wheel journal of every car, the bushings of every motor, and the gears of every power truck. I had lubricated them as a kid with light machine oil. It all turned to gum. As a chemist, I know that refined natural oils have unsaturation that eventually will oxidize. Over time, this produces the gum. Synthetics don't and therefore won't. I use Dexron II because as a kid I also ran Aurora Thunderjet 500 slot cars and used their Special Racing Oil. Never a problem, even when we used way too much. Later, when I found the slot car set after having spent my teen years working on cars, I found the near-empty bottle of Special Racing Oil. I opened it and immediately recognized the smell - transmission fluid! Then I got to thinking about why they would use it. It does not conduct electricity, so it is safe around motors. It has a low viscosity that is relatively constant over a broad temperature range, so whether cold or hot, it's viscosity is about the same. It will not gum up, it is compatible with plastics, metals, and paint. You can wipe it up with a tissue if you get it on the painted surface of your model. If you put too much, it will just sling off, but a film will remain and stay where it is needed. And you can buy a lifetime supply for less than $2.00! What a deal! I have been using Dexron II exclusively as my only wet lubricant for over 20 years and have never had a problem and have NEVER had to go back and clean up a sticky residue. If I feel there is not enough residual fluid on a bearing surface, I'll add a little more. I have purchased the Labelle 108 oil for the needle oiler and immediately dumped the full container of oil in my truck's engine and replaced the fluid with Dexron II. I don't use grease, I don't use three different types of (expensive) liquid oils for special purposes, I only use transmission fluid.

I do use Grease 'Em dry lubricant ocassionally on my couplers, but most of the time I don't even do that.

My stuff runs very well and performs consistently. I don't have any desire or need to change.

Mark C.

[Anonymous]

Check that one of the flywheels isnt rubbing against the frame. Look for the telltale scratches or lines on the flywheel. If this is the problem, find the high side of the motor and push it down into the frame farther. Easy fix!

[AntonioFP45]

Thanks a lot Mark.

I'll definitely try it with the Athearn.

[mcouvillion]

Followup to AntonioFP45,

Did you try the Dexron II?

Why do you comment on having profiles all filled out but don't allow anyone to send you an e-mail? It is filtered by the forum. You don't have to accept if you don't want to. Just curious.

Mark C.

[RRRerun]

On my older Athearn units with the larger drive shafts and full length keys moulded on them, I have cut as much of the keys off as possible. This seeems to help balance the drive shaft and eliminate a lot of viabration at higher RPM's. I also use a heavy bearing grease in the U joints.

[cwclark]

...once a year, i tear each athearn locomotive down to the frame, clean the parts in alcohol, (wheels, worm gears, wheel gears, and all the housings) inspect them, take out the motor springs and clean the motor brushes and the copper motor armature with fine grit sand paper and then polish it with a pencil eraser, put it all back together, and oil everything that moves (except the motor) with wahl's clipper oil...works every time!...Chuck

[METRO]

Athearns have an open framed engine and the sound of that can be quite alarming when operating next to say a Kato where the motor is deep within the model. I've had a couple of my Athearns really start to sound like they were chewing themselves apart in the past (usually switchers) and found that the problem was that the brass tab that connects the light to the main clip had come loose and was rubbing on the driveshaft. A simple repositioning of the tab was all that was needed to fix the problem though.

~Metro