Please help me get this motor running!

How loose is the switch lever on the e-unit? If its loose it can cause no run situation after running for a while.

I also assume the wheels turn freely by hand, nothing hung up?

There is a e-unit repair video on youtube and it shows how to tighten the lever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3cHF_a6CNM

franktain

Thanks Frank, the lever is a little loose.  I will check out that video. Everything else turns freely by hand.   I'm just concerned because I'm afraid I shorted out the motor when I hard wired it.  I don't know what I'm doing and I may have touched the wire to the brush plate.  Am i completely screwed if that happened

It sounds like you have a bad connection in the E Unit.  I would check the contacts in the E Unit to ensure they are all contacting the drum.  Also check the drum to be sure its clean.  If there is a lot of dirt build up on it, it can cause bad connections.  I doubt you shorted out the motor and caused damaged.  It takes a lot to melt one of the windings.  I have a 2037 as well and its darn near bullet proof.  I have included the wiring schematic for the engine.  If you have a meter you can check the connections to find out where the bad connection is.

bump. 

E-unit drums:

The fingers you can see ride on the copper drum contacts.

Thanks Rob.

If you've determined that the E-unit drum contacts are dirty and not making contact, you can try spray can contact cleaner on it. You may want to lift the E-unit out of the frame for better access.

Observe the e-unit drum when you cycle power.  Every power cycle should cause the drum to rotate 1/8th turn.  Sometimes one of the fingers on the drum has enough wear, or is broken, causing the drum to stay in one position and the engine will be stuck in either forward, reverse, or neutral.  Additionally, sometimes the plunger fails to drop down all the way, either due to magnetism or gook in the chamber, and the plunger will fail to engage the teeth on the drum and, therefore, the drum will not turn.

Good Luck...

Earl

You've been a great help with these photos, Ace.  Thanks! 

Thanks Earl,  I plan on cleaning it out tonight and I hope that solves the problem.  When I cycle power it does not turn 1/8, it only moves a bit.  Maybe there is gunk built up in there and it will be an easy fix.

I've been through these E-unit puzzles on a 2026 and a 2037. After I got it sorted out they are great runners!

So I removed the e-unit (without disassembling) and cleaned everything that I saw. There was a bit of grime and oil residue on the gear and finger plate. The plastic ratchet and the drum were easily cleaned with a little scotch brite stuck to a qtip. The plunger was falling freely and seemed to be in good working order. I put everything back together and put it on the track and NOW IT WON'T RUN IN REVERSE OR FORWARD!!! (it was only running in reverse previously). HELP!!!

My question to you: The fingers touching the drum are all cleaned and touching the drum with no problems. BUT, the two fingers under the drum are not touching it at all. Are they supposed to be? I may have bent them away from the drum while cleaning with the scotch brite. Hopefully someone will tell me that those two fingers on the bottom should be touching and I can reassemble and it will work fine. I didn't have time to take it apart again last night because it was already 2am and I had work at 7am (haha). I'll tinker again this evening.


Thanks again for everyone's input and help. It really makes a hobby better when you have a forum to come to for support!

ALL the fingers are supposed to make contact with the drum.

Thats what I thought.  Now I need to figure out how to get those bottom fingers bent up so they make contact.