Athearn Genesis gear slippage--NOT the driver gear. Please help.

[Mister Mikado]

Sure could use some help--I ran my Genesis Mike today up to full throttle to test the lead and trail trucks, and I heard a spinning whine. The loco faltered, and only runs (barely) at slow speed. When I speed the engine up the fast whine comes back and there's no acceleration. Before everyone says cracked axle/slipping driver gear, read on.

I put the loco in a cradle, unscrewed the access plates and lifted up the third driver. The gear is rock solid on its axle, so I don't think the axle cracked. I propped up the driver and ran the motor while watching the inner gears. They were turning fine but when I held the inner gears with a toothpick the motor took off and made the same whine. So maybe it's the motor shaft gear. Of all the blasted luck.

I've done a lot of research on this Mike and never came across this problem, only the split driver axle issue. Anybody else experience this?

Thanks to all,

Rob

[gmcrail]

Rob, sounds like what happened to me recently with a Genesis Pacific when I loaded it down with a heavy train.  Since I have the replacement brass geared driver set, I knew it wasn't a cracked gear (been there, done that)>  I figured out that it was the universal link between the motor and the worm.  Haven't fixed it yet, given the very intimidating procedure required to get at the motor and drive train, but it's in the queue, for when I'm feeling really froggy...

 

[rogertra]

Ah, sadly it sounds like the old Genesis 2-8-2 and 4-6-2 cracked gear syndrome which, Athearn won't seem to do anything about, at least in two of my three cases. In all fairness, they did send a complete set of drivers for the first 2-8-2 to fail but said they could do nothing for the other 2-8-2 or the 4-6-2 as they had no more spare parts and none we being made. I never used the 2-8-2 driver set instead I managed to fix my two 2-8-2 and one of my 4-6-2s by very carefully and thoroughly cleaning all the lubricant away from the gear and axle and then, very, very carefully applying a fillet of gap filling ACC using the sharpened point of a toothpick. That was several years ago and so far, no further problems. Once tuned up, weighted and balanced, they are good runners and worth the effort. Best of luck.

[cudaken]

 Rob, I think you are right and the worm gear is slipping. I had this happen on a BLI Class J. While it did not make any extra noise's it could not pull more than 2 cars. With i being only 2 days old I took it back to my LHS and got another one.

 I touch of super glue might to the trick

                      Cuda Ken

[Hamltnblue]

Sometimes there is a clip or bracket that holds the worm gear in place. Make sure it didn't come loose.

[selector]

Many gear towers have a clip that is held by small tabs. It may be under a small light board or something, but it can be removed once you get the boiler off.  Under there is the metal worm gear.  If you power the engine and apply a bit of slowing retentive friction to the drive wheels , does the worm still spin?   That should tell you an abundance of information. 

The problem could be anywhere between the output shaft of the motor and the axle bearings for the drivers.  Probably any one of about four things.

[HO60s]

I had the same problem with my 2-8-2 several years ago.  I sent it to Athearn, they repaired it and sent it back.(no charge)  I don't know what they fixed but it ran ok following the repair.  I recently sold it as I have a BLI with sound that is a much nicer loco.

Gale

[Mister Mikado]

Update--thanks guys for all your help. I took the boiler off--a piece of cake this time--separated the weight halves and lo and behold, discovered the coupler between the worm gear and the flywheel had CRACKED! Can you believe that? There is a cracked gear/axle/coupler/(fill in the blank) EPIDEMIC going on in the model railroad industry and like the kid says in the TV sock commercial I'm SICK OF IT.

At any rate, should I glue it with CA or epoxy? It's a metal shaft going into a plastic coupler hole. The crack is hairline but completely through. The glue should bond all surfaces and hold the coupler closed, right?

Rob

[richg1998]

More info below about the Athearn Mikado. You will have to join the forum but it is painless.

http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=718

Rich

[Hamltnblue]

I would just order a replacement

[newhavenguy]

Gary, how did youfix the motor universal issue?  Did you glue it or replace the motor worm gear assembly? I have a friends Genesis Mike that suddenly sounds like it is slipping in both directions and doesn't go very fast.  You can hear the motor rotoating faster than it is going.  Bill Shanaman

[Overmod]

My understanding is that this issue has come up a number of times during the over 11 years this thread has been in necro status.  The consensus as I remember it is that you can use gap-filling cyanoacylate to fix a cracked universal sleeve: let a drop 'wick' into the cracked area, then rotate the shaft a bit inside the sleeve to spread the glue line, and let it set thoroughly.  This will work whether the shaft was a bit too fat or a bit too small for tight fit.  Obviously don't let the glue get into bearings or universals where it shouldn't go...

The problem with using epoxy is that there has to be a gap between pieces for the adhesive to reach full strength.  in most cases a shaft fit is not 'open' enough, and when it is, the universal sleeve will not be centered on the shaft and the resulting wobble will cause annoying vibration.

Replacing the sleeve, or the universal/dogbone arrangement, with "something else" is also a possibility.  Modern materials apparently make the old silicone-rubber-tube drive between metal shafts both easy and long-lived to arrange.