GG1 2332 problem

Are you talking about a original GG1 or a post 70's one? where was that picture of you & your wife taken?

I wouldn't even mess with it. Send it back to the seller for a refund.  You mess with it, and the seller might not take it back. 

Try some of the guys here. A number of them repair postwar trains.

You hear the buzz of the E-Unit, you hear the click of the arm dropping when the power is cut but the 2332 just sits - could be that the E-Unit fingers aren't making solid contact.  The drum will cycle, but the fingers may be bent back just enough to not be wiping the contact areas on the drum to complete the circuit.  

If you are talking about the Postwar 2332, you can check out Olsen's Toy Train Parts website.  Scroll to bottom of the main page, and there is a banner across the bottom.  At the far right is "Library".  Click on that, and the first thing after entering the Library, is Postwar Locomotives.  Scroll down til you see the 2332, and it will bring up all the pages that came from Service Manuals.  From what I just checked, in my K-line manual, the motor is almost identical to the 671 motor.  If that is your case, that it is Postwar, then it is pretty straight forward to get it running.

You can test the motor by itself very easily, with a few test cords.  Disconnect the wires coming from the E unit, temporarily, but mark which one goes to the Brush Plate contacts.  There should be three contacts on the upper part of the Brush Plate.  Take one jumper cord and strap the center contact and the right side contact.  Take your transformer leads and hook one side to ground of the motor, and then put the other lead to the open contact on the left.  Turn the power on, and it should run in one direction.  To check the other direction, strap center to left, and transformer lead to the right contact, and it should run the opposite direction.

I would also check the brushes and the armature surface, to make sure it is clean.  In order to take the brush plate off, you will most likely have to unsolder the wires anyway.  Clean the brush plate surface, brushes, and brush inserts with alcohol.  Use a Scotchbrite pad, or 400 grit crocus cloth, and shine up the copper segments of the armature.  Also clean the grooves between the copper segments with a toothpick, and reassemble it.  It should run with no problem.  Granted it is the Postwar version.

If you get the motor to run, with my explanation, then the problem most likely is the E unit, as the culprit.  Take it out of the frame, and inspect the drum assembly, and clean up the copper surfaces.  Try a Q-tip with alcohol, and check the fingers on the 4 finger board, and make sure no fingers are broken, or bent away from the copper drum contacts.  They really aren't hard to fix.

If it has the old E unit, I would take a real close look at it or have someone who does repairs do it. Depends on how nice the engine is and how much you have invested. A lot of problems seem to center on the E unit.

eddie g posted:

I wouldn't even mess with it. Send it back to the seller for a refund.  You mess with it, and the seller might not take it back. 

The first post noted that wires had been replaced - looks like the engine is in its new home.  Replacing the E-Unit fingers is doable, but the first half dozen replacements are nerve racking.  You have to be able to unsolder wires, carefully spread the E-Unit apart (there's an inexpensive E-Unit spreader tool that works well for that pesky task), get the drum inbetween the pair of finger boards, carefully push th the sides together so the pegs on the drum and the tabs on the fingers all stay lined up on both sides, and then solder the wires carefully back in the correct places.  Scary - yep, but work carefully and it's possible to repair an E-Unit.  

Why do you even try to repair it? Just send it back for a refund.

       I love people that post something here, then never come back on. 

It's only been 22 hours. he may have a job and a life. The amount of hand-waving, nay-saying, scary advice, and inappropriate/off-topic remarks might also be a factor in the OP's being hesitant to come back in.

The real answer is that we play with trains that use electricity. One needs to know how electricity works, in the most basic way, and one needs to acquire tools and the knowledge to use them, in order to do simple repairs. A meter, some test leads, and a logical approach will help him succeed.