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Picked up a Lionel 229 diesel switcher on ebay in "parts only" condition. I did manage to get it running quite well, and separately tested the horn, which runs on an on board "C" cell battery. When hooked up to the train, however, it doesn't work. It's powered by a KW transformer with the whistle button, but when I press it, I get nothing. I connect the points on the horn relay, and it works, but the relay won't work by itself. Not sure if the coil magnet is any good or not. Is there any way I can test this relay to make sure it's working? Also there was a lot of broken wires on this unit, and all I had to go by was a grainy wiring diagram I downloaded. I know there's some really sharp electronics guys out there, and I could certainly use your help.

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Here is the wiring diagram for the loco.

To test the relay, take a good 'C' or 'D' cell and hook it across the coil wires with some jumper leads. The coil should pull in.

After you repair the wiring, put the loco on a track with a battery installed. With the power off, connect another battery to the center and one outside rail. The horn relay should pull in and the horn should blow. Now power up the loco pulling a few cars. Pull the whistle handle on the KW, and the horn should blow. If it does not, the whistle rectifier may need to be replaced inside the KW.

 

Larry

Larry, checked the diagram you sent me, and everything looks correct. However, I have two other diagrams, and each one seems to vary a little. What confuses me is the hookups to the E unit. Mine has three terminals, yet on these diagrams they show four (?)  I'm a retired toolmaker, so the mechanics on these things are a breeze. Electronics, not so much.

A few things to check:

Is the battery bracket isolated (insulated) from the loco frame? It must be.

On the relay, are the two wires from the relay coil soldered to the correct positions at the front of the relay?

Check your wiring to make sure that there is no crossover between the circuit that operates the motor and the circuit for the horn. The only part of the horn, battery bracket and relay circuit that interacts with the loco is where the horn is grounded to the loco frame.

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