Anyone here that has or has worked on an Walters Powered American Crane to make it run smoother. Moter is fine, the gearing is very rought, lube helped a bit but not much.
There is no adjustment. Removed trucks and was about 50% better which leads me to belive its the compleat gear train
Eions ago I use to lap the gearing in with tootpaste mixed with bon-ami, which work pretty good.
I dont know if its just mine or the product in general that has problems. Now after installing the decoader, lights and detailing if its was worth it.
Thanks in advance for any info John
Jhn,
Not specific to this model, but have you visually inspected the gears for a piece of flash or other obstruction or defect? If it's always been rough, that is a possibility. If the rough running developed after some use, then probably not the issue.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Sounds like you should start with your tooth paste / bonamy solution.
I did roll all the rears togather and no flash or debrie.
Be advised that these Walthers self-powered cranes can have the infamous cracked gear problems, just like a P2K loco (and others). Take a very close look at the axle gears on this crane and look for a split. My guess is that you'll find one on each axle.
I have no idea what a solution would be other than talking to Walthers as I don't think NWSL makes a replacement for this.
I have the Walthers crane model from the original release in the early 2000's. Never out of the box until this week. Both axle gears were spilt, binding so bad the motor would stall. Walthers reports no parts are available for this crane.
However, NWSL does make a replacement gear for the loco crane. Copied from the email they sent me: