Mth Mohawk return or repair for third time

I'm not an expert on these electronics but something is definitely wrong.  You could try a reset, or even reloading the engine's sound file.

sounds like it could be a sound file issue. what is the engine item number easier to help if we know what model ?

I'm a ASC tech maybe I can help you ! when you are not running PFA does the whistle and bell work normally!

I definitely would recommend a conventional feature reset n then a conventional restore to factory settings!

Alan

What they do the first time.  I assume this is a pS-3 engine?  Starting to see some issues where the board does generate these defective sounds.  Reload the flash code and the Sound file and see if it resolves it, but if not, you can have another issue.  I currently have a Diesel board that does not seem to want to retain the flash code load, and it will not properly factory reset.  So in the end while it works and has normal sound it can jump into a sound sequence of high pitch whine and random sounds.  A few others have run into this issue.  G

Thanks for the replies.  Its the latest premier version of the Mohawk (PS3) from 2019 catalog.

The first repair was that the engine would not startup in any mode.  Was trickle of sound initially but then nothing.

After that repair, I discovered during PSA activation this sound issue.  Initially it did not happen every time.  Now after this last return it happens each time I run the sequence.  And actually it is consistent in that either segment 1 or 2, cannot remember which one, that the one step in the sequence does not screech.   So very reproducible results as I ran through the PFA 6-7 times.

When I received the fed ex notification and checked online in the service portal, I saw that in the notes there were no issues found and reset completed for safe measures.

I immediately called to make sure that they tested it and they confirmed on the phone there were no issues and noted the PFA.

So now that this would be third time and now shipping back across the states I have lost some patience in sending back and forth.

I initially thought that it was something that I was doing but I do not experience this with any other engine (PS3).

If you have to send it back again, make sure someone at MTH sees your video.  That could be a big help for them in troubleshooting this.

GGG posted:

What they do the first time.  I assume this is a pS-3 engine?  Starting to see some issues where the board does generate these defective sounds.  Reload the flash code and the Sound file and see if it resolves it, but if not, you can have another issue.  I currently have a Diesel board that does not seem to want to retain the flash code load, and it will not properly factory reset.  So in the end while it works and has normal sound it can jump into a sound sequence of high pitch whine and random sounds.  A few others have run into this issue.  G

George,

I have seen this too.  I've also sent a video to Jason. 

Dave  

Did you get an answer from Jason :-).

I would have MTH pay shipping this time around.  They should send label.  But it you can load files, try a flash code reload.  Fastest to do and then retest.  Remember to cycle power twice after reload to allow the engine to loaded.  If that doesn't resolve, reload sound file.  Take some time, but prevents reshipping.  G

I sent an email into service and will follow up with a call today possibly.

I have not heard back but have not had time to follow through myself.

On the receipt the it noted no trouble found - Reflashed board as a precaution and retest

With respect to your note above.

This was my first MTH engine that I bought so was initially unsure if it was something on my end.  I have purchased another premier steam (SP Daylight) and it has been perfect so figured its just an engine that had problems out of the gate.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.  

Same thing happed to me w/r/t the Premier Super Chief  locomotive my children gave to me at Christmas two years ago. Went back to MTH for repair three times and it still doesn't work properly. 

Spoke with mth customer service today and basically they said they tested it already and nothing further they can do.   Told me to take it back to the dealer I bought it from.  So that’s my only next option and will see what happens 

'Nothing further they can do' My question would be why can't they just replace the PS3 board? While I haven't seen this type of problem, I have run across sound sets where it sounds like Alvin the chipmunk was making the station sound announcements!

Wasn’t the answer I was expecting kind of like what does the warranty actually mean.

The video says it all or the sound does

Reached out to where I purchased it from and explained situation and they will help out.  Luckily the dealer lives close to my mom so will take it with me in a couple weeks.

good luck and I hope you get it fixed soon. please let us know what the final  resolve is once it is FIXED!

Alan

Curiously I had a similar experience with a new PS3 Premier C&O E8 A unit ,

1) worked fine out of the box, 2) couple of weeks later started up and had a tremendous horrible ear piercing sound, 3) restarted numerous times, did feature and factory reset same results, 4) removed from tracks, 5) tried again week later worked fine again. I have not tried again recently, hope this is not some board component problem ??? 

Dean 

Well to update from last post.  Just got my Mohawk back from mth for repair.  

What do you think?  

Just shaking my head

Big waste of money, but you could cross-grade to ERR and Railsounds.  Or possibly swap the whole PS3 board stack from a known good loco?  I definitely wouldn't waste anymore time shipping back-and-forth to MTH.

One more random thought... does it still mis-behave if you turn the smoke off by both the remote AND the physical switch?  Sixteen years ago I had an early PS2 loco with a multiplexer (MUX) problem.  The problem went away as soon as I turned off the Smoke feature.

Bought new so under warranty otherwise that would be a good idea.  Was surprised when it did exactly what it did before.  

Did MTH offer an explanation this time? Did they say what the problem was and how they corrected it? Can you get an exchange wherever you bought it from? There has to be another way......This trip would certainly be the last trip for it......cause it’d be a one way trip ........Pat

Take it back to the dealer, it seems you don't have any other option at this point.

According to service invoice 

FAultCodeId= Admin09

CauseID= Oper-04

Resolution/Descriptor= Modification update per mth. 

Notes - Load updated code and test. 

Each time  I’ve run my MTH Premier SP Daylight which I purchased at the same time and that has run perfectly. Just to ensure my setup isn’t the issue. 

Thanks for the replies will post later on final path forward as will call again today 

Regards

Jon

So followed up today to see what is next step.   Shipping it back once more.   Noticed this last time coal is starting to come off the tender so now concerned on what I cant see from previous 4 shipments and now 5th.    So not sure what will be different this time.   Just thought I would post as this is somewhat unique but sounds like one other person has had a similar challenge.

Well, it's either the sound/chain files or the board, hard to imagine anything else.  So, if they're loading the sound file and chain files and it still does that, they need to consider replacing the tender board.

Just in case anyone was interested 

Just got the Mohawk back again from repair today   

It worked the first time but now fails every time

I attached the latest which is no different from before.  

Time to move on from this engine as apparently this is a very isolated case  

one more call tomorrow to MTH

Is it Jason in Michigan doing the repair work?

It’s been to both locations as this was the 4th time.  Who had repaired it not sure but he was aware of it

Regardless I will call once more tomorrow but not for repair. 

So sorry to hear about your troubles. What I don’t understand is why after the second or third try they just don’t replace the boards and start fresh. They obviously get the boards at cost. Wouldn’t be better to eat the cost of a set of boards than lose the customer?

i wish you good luck in getting this very nice locomotive repaired. 

Thanks. It’s a beautiful engine for sure.  Apparently it’s unique with its issues 

1st world problems as my wife tells me. 

I would send an email directly to Jason and let him know your disgusted and want thee boards replaced ,maybe he will push the owner into letting him give you brand new  boards and then return it to you NO CHARGE!

jasonw@mth-railking.com here is his email! 

Alan p.s.

Jason

There is NOTHING unique about the physical / mechanical design of the Mohawk, compared to other Premier steam locos.  The issue is somewhere in the electronics.  Perhaps a peripheral module, such as smoke, speaker, coupler coil, lighting, etc., is somehow affecting the main board.  The problem is intermittent, or there’s more than one problem.  EVERYTHING electronic inside should be changed, to prevent the new circuit from being reinfected.

If this were my loco, I would have converted it to ERR by now.  Sorry you’re going through this Mr. Wyatt!

I'd have dropped a new tender PCB into this a long time ago, I can't imagine this being anything but an oddball issue with the board.  Top suspect is probably either the FLASH or RAM has a bad bit or more that triggers this failure when it's used.

Shipped back yesterday but not for repair 

Probably a good move.  Hard to believe they couldn't fix this after three times!

Yep had enough so waiting for MTH decision on next steps 

Wow- based on GRJ's comment, I wonder if the service department would consider installing a personality file from another 70" drivered PS3 loco?  It never occurred to me that the problem could be the firmware/software, and not hardware.

Well, while the firmware/software is certainly a possible cause, I suspect a hardware failure in this case.  If they reloaded the sound and chain files, it should have fixed that.  However, there is still the loader program that is not field loadable, so I suppose that could have a flaw.

John what I thought you meant, is that the sound / chain file for that specific L4 Mohawk was burned with a defect.  So even with brand-new hardware all around, every time they reload the file and the program accesses the defective code, it causes the bad behavior.  If so, either MTH has to correct the defective code, or the tech has to use a compatible file from a known good 70" drivered loco.  Maybe worth trying?

I didn't hear they ever replaced the tender board, which is the hardware that I suspect is bad.  Since they've shipped a lot of these, and this one seems to have a unique issue, I think it's the hardware and not the software.

Last repair notes if curious attached 

Initially engine didn’t work out of the box so that was repair #1 When I say didn’t work that includes all modes.  Then after that repair came this issue.   So not sure if related 

Initially I thought it may be on my end but I bought this engine and the SP Daylight GS4 together.  That always has worked flawlessly 

So this as previously noted this is a unusual issue according to speaking with those at MTH  

I'm at a total loss if they replaced the tender board, personally, I have a hard time believing it.  Unless all those models had the same flaw, something is clearly wrong!

It would have been interesting to load a different model sound file into the engine and see if the problem was still there.