@RickO posted:The only reason I suggest trying the oil is because theres no guarantee that a replacement from Lionel won't fail in the same manner. I've had replacements get noisy and fail just the same as the original.
I also have had an out of the box problematic fan motor that was oiled, and has run without issue for a decade.
IMO. Its a crapshoot as to whether you'll get a reliable replacement since all the fan motors come from the same source.
Rick—thanks for the reply. I actually got a hold of Lionel yesterday by phone (after trying for a few days with no luck). They said they will issue me a RA# within 2 weeks as they are that behind. I have actually tried the putting a drop of oil on the fan motor shaft method on one of my Lionchief steam engines and it solved the squeaky/noisy sound coming from the smoke fan that developed in pretty short order with that unit. I could be wrong, but I don’t think the Lionchief engines have that safety circuit that shuts down the smoke fan if there is a short or an over current situation. My theory is that when these fans get noisy then there is usually more drag on the shaft which draws more current and on the newer Legacy steamers with the safety circuit that shuts down the fan motor (I could be off the mark though). At any rate, since my unit is still under warranty I am going to send it back to Lionel and let them fix it as it might be something else like a board (more $) so I don’t want to void the warranty by trying to fix it myself. Now, come next year when it is out of warranty, then I will definitely do the “oil drop on the motor shaft/bushing technique” if the fan gets noisy. I’ll keep you posted! May be a month or longer for me to get it back from Lionel at this rate so I’m not holding my breath!
Thanks to you and others for the terrific advice and insight.
