Lionel 2 Truck Shay 6-11369 Issue with 3 CYLINDER ENGINE ASSEMBLY

Dave,

I had the same problem on my 3 truck shay believe it or not I used a drop of loctite and it has been fine for more then 2 years at this point. I hope this helps.

What I'd try is to clean ALL the grease off the assembly, then use some retaining compound like Loctite 660 to fit that shaft end into the crank where it has separated.  Leave it for 24 hours and see if that solves the issue.  It's very important to clean EVERYTHING completely and after the application and assembly to let it cure thoroughly.  Make sure you have the crank in the proper position in relation to the other pistons as you won't be moving it after the retaining compound sets.

from your description and the photo provided it appears that metal shaft is in tact and the hole is void of any of that metal shaft am I correct?

If so I would try 5 minute plastic epoxy inside the hole to hold shaft to that part of moving crankshaft assembly. I did look at lionels website and no mention of the North Lima Train Works as an option I went to this site but using the part number it was unable to locate your part. so only options left are to contact lionel customer service and see if the 3 truck shay assembly can be used by replacing the ends with the ones your engine uses. if not then the best option left is trying the epoxy trick.

I was lucky when mine broke was a year away from a new legacy shay release and when delivered I contacted lionel and they sold me the 3 cylinder assembly from that release as it was an exact duplicate!

good luck let us know how this worked out for you. 

Great idea guys. Thanks for the advise. I'm purchasing some Loctite 660 now. I'll let you know the results.

gunreunnerjohns idea sounds feasible too.

StPaul posted:

from your description and the photo provided it appears that metal shaft is in tact and the hole is void of any of that metal shaft am I correct?

If so I would try 5 minute plastic epoxy inside the hole to hold shaft to that part of moving crankshaft assembly. I did look at lionels website and no mention of the North Lima Train Works as an option I went to this site but using the part number it was unable to locate your part. so only options left are to contact lionel customer service and see if the 3 truck shay assembly can be used by replacing the ends with the ones your engine uses. if not then the best option left is trying the epoxy trick.

I was lucky when mine broke was a year away from a new legacy shay release and when delivered I contacted lionel and they sold me the 3 cylinder assembly from that release as it was an exact duplicate!

good luck let us know how this worked out for you. 

Yes, the hole of void of the metal shaft, it's intact. I'm going to try the Loctite solution first and report back.

as a heads up to all shay owners this is a common issue with this assembly the weak area in design is where the crankshaft has no bearing supports as the other parts do and allows the crankshaft to deflect while running.

StPaul posted:

as a heads up to all shay owners this is a common issue with this assembly the weak area in design is where the crankshaft has no bearing supports as the other parts do and allows the crankshaft to deflect while running.

I'll add another caution about this part. It's very difficult to disassemble and reassemble and as Brits would say, it's a bit of a fidgety little bugger. I spent over 2 hours yesterday taking this thing apart and finding the issue and then getting it back together again.

The Loctite 660 is specifically designed for this kind of application, so as long as there's a reasonably tight fit with the parts, that should work.  The retaining compound is also able to fill small voids.  My issue with standard epoxy would be you need some material between the parts to be secured, a tight fitting shaft will probably not give you that kind of bond, hence my recommendation for the retaining compound.

Update: I received the Loctite 660 and applied it Sunday afternoon. I got the part all put back together and made sure I didn't get any on the moving pieces. I let it sit for 24 hours as suggested by Gunrunnerjohn before lubing and installing it back on the engine. I was able to run it for about 1 hour yesterday and it was working correctly. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions.

Here the gears are put back together and the Loctite 660 is drying.

Here a couple of short videos of the repaired engine pulling my wrecker train.

Lookin' good, hopefully that is the "final" fix.

I bought one of these used, and when I ran it, it seemed to run funny, perhaps this is the reason.  I'll have to inspect it.  Perhaps St.Paul you can give me a howler and look at it together.