Problems with MTH Premier Mohawk or DCS

Sounds like it might be a "wireless drawbar" issue. Make sure it is making good contact, i.e. pressed in good & tight, or replace the drawbar.

Did you clean the track? My Alco S2 did this on a section of track that had something spilled on it that affected the middle rail. It would run it this section and stop and shut down. Move it out of this section and would restart. This would explain the arcing. Also the DCS signal comes from the middle rail.

You'd better be careful. That sparking means something is wrong. Did you get a look at how many amps it drew when that happened?

 I would not run it anymore. It either needs to go to someone, or get a good look over by you. You might fry the boards if you continue, if they aren't already damaged.

Track is whistle clean.  

 

Drawbar is securely in the housing. But I will disconnect and reconnect to be doubly sure.

 

The sparking only happened for a few seconds right before it crapped out.  I immediately shut down power and removed locomotive from the rails. 

 

 

Engineer Joe's advice is very sound!  If the engine started sparking without provocation I would suspect a short somewhere in the drive block.  Possibly one of the pickup wires.  Look for anything worn or pinched.  If you're comfortable with opening the engine up, look around inside where the pickup wires come through the chassis for any worn or frayed spots.  I certainly would not continue to try to force it to run without doing some detective work first. 

I'd check the wires to the pickup rollers.

.....

Dennis

Wheels need to be clean on engine, but the advice about checking roller wires and also motor lead wires is sound.  If used a lot you might also have a motor going bad, but the sparking at the wheels usually means a wire short some where.  Either Red AC or DC from one of the board outputs such as motor leads, lighting, etc....  G

So, after re-cleaning all wheels, the rail and the pick-up rollers and ensuring the not-so-wireless drawbar is perfectly attached this is what I found: 

-Hitting #3 (start up) works and the engine, at idle, will function in terms of "at idle" things like sound controls.

- As soon as I put the locomotive in motion, there is sparking coming from front roller. I immediately shut it down when this happened.

I've never opened a locomotive so not very comfortable with doing so. Besides, I removed all screws from the underside's center section and it would not even budge.  Going to see if MTH has an online diagram showing how to get into this beast. If that fails, really don't want to send it back to MTH for something minor but not exactly sure how to proceed.

Peter

Most die cast engines have either 3 or 4 screws holding the shell to the frame. Two under the cab and either one above the pilot truck or two, one behind cylinder. They usually have the same head size and will be larger than the other screws under the cab that might be holding switches in place.

 

Pete

If you post the model number I can help you with this.  We need to determine which engine you have.  G