Command equipped diesel engine will not run in conventional mode

I had a similar experience with a NOS sealed set a few years ago - would barely move in conventional mode and I didn't have TMCC at the time.  Checked the run/pgm switch.  Sent it to the local repair guy and told him that it wouldn't run - he called me back to ask what was wrong, as it ran perfectly under TMCC.  He had never encountered it before.  He had to replace a board - cost about $200.

I'd suggest finding someone in your area who has TMCC and trying it on their system.  You'll at least be able to know if everything else works before you proceed. 

I'd start by doing some maintenance on the motors, the Pulmore motors can pull a lot of current if they're in need of lube and some commutator and brush maintenance.  The 1033 may not be up to the job without an assist from cleaning up the motors.  Also, if these have been sitting for years, you might want to clean the grease out of the trucks and renew it.

@cbd258812 - Yeah, based on personal experience totally agree with what @gunrunnerjohn says about the grease hardening.  Just ask @harmonyards because he constantly comes across this.

Hey guys. Thank you for your quick responses and suggestions.  The motors and trucks are clean of grease. To further diagnose the pullmore motors I switched both motors one at a time into another diesel engine with a identical pullmore motor. They both ran smoothly. Based on that I'd say the motors are likely not the issue.

Using a multimeter I don't measure any voltage coming from the driver board (blue & green wires) when the transformer is on full. I can also confirm that there is voltage getting to the motor driver board. What triggers the motor driver board to apply voltage to the motors when in conventional mode?

I have unfortunately confirmed that TMCC does not work on the powered engine (using cab remote/base). Does anyone agree that this points to the R2LC08 radio board being bad? Any other suggestions?

The TMCC did work great on the non-powered engine contolling lights, sound and couplers.

Thanks for your help!

Try reseating the boards.

It's easy to swap the R2LC with a working engine, reprogram it for the new engine, and see if it works.

Thanks @Mark V. Spadaro  I have tried reseating all the boards several times. Didn't make any difference.

Thanks @gunrunnerjohn  I unfortunately don't have another engine with the same board to swap out. Do you suggest I purchase another board if one can be found?

You have no other TMCC engines?  You mentioned 6-14501 & 6-14502, each of those has the R2LC, just swap the boards as a test.

@gunrunnerjohn Yes both engines have the R2LC board but the non powered engine for some reason uses the 07 version. Therefore why I replied that I don't have another engine with the same board. My apologies but I should have clarified that they aren't actually the same version.

Powered unit uses 08, non powered unit uses 07. I know the Lionel documentation reflects differently. I  thought that I read that you could use a later version to replace a lower version but you might not get good results going the other way. Am I incorrect? Is it ok to test with a lower  version? I guess I assumed that might skew my testing. Otherwise I don't have another TMCC engine with the same 08 version board (or greater). Looking forward to your advice and thanks again for the help!

The -07 will be fine for testing.  The only thing that is different from the -07 and -08 is the polarity of the lighting outputs.  So, if these have LED lighting, it won't work right, but it won't hurt anything else, and it will work for the testing we're talking about.

FYI, those both came from the factory with the R2LC-C08 board

Thanks @gunrunnerjohn. I am now wondering if someone has not already messed with the boards if it should have had -08 in both units.

Here are the results. Using the known working R2LC board the command control now seems to respond using Cab1. Headlight now works and would switch off/on based on direction. Also the throtttle is now responding but it will only go in reverse. It will switch to forward (based on headlight) but nothing happens under full throttle. So it seems this engine likely has a bad radio board as well as a bad motor driver board. Not the best news but at least I have some confidence what needs to be replaced. I can't say enough how much I appreciate the help/advice.

Now the next journey is to find some non-existent replacement boards.

In your first post, you indicated you received these engines from your father. Were they bought new by him? Did he say they weren’t working correctly? Why would you think “I am now wondering if someone has not already messed with the boards if it should have had -08 in both units.” if you know their provenance?

I have the AC motor driver boards for that unit as well as the R2LC boards.  Drop me an email.

Just following up with the solution in case anyone else has the same symptoms.

My issue ended up being both the TMCC radio board as well as the motor driver boards were bad. After replacing both boards my engine is now operating as it should in both conventional mode and under TMCC. Thanks again @gunrunnerjohn for your help!