I have several Lionel 364 Lumber Loaders and am trying to make up some good ones to move along.
I have 3 units with the same motor problem. Motor and gearbox have been disassembled, cleaned and sparingly lubricated; brushes and springs replaced and commutators cleaned up. One has the "Atomic" style motor, the other are the later slotted brush style.
When first energized, the motors growl and run very roughly and erratically for a few minutes, at which point they smooth out, speed up very considerably and work just fine. I have tried fiddling with the brush tension while they are in the "growling" mode but it makes no significant difference. I thought about a short or an intermittent connection in the armature and may check that but it seems strange that three units would do the same thing. I do have a couple loaders that work just fine, so I know what proper operation looks like.
What have I missed?
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