Lionel 6-84271 Baltimore & Ohio GP9 #3419 Gears do not line up properly. Is there a fix that does not invlove Lionel Service Dept?

I do not know why Lionel has so much slop in its wheel sets on diesel locomotives. This excessive slop is ridiculous nonsense and not needed; especially on a 4-axle unit. 

I have seen this before on my purchased units. Here is what I do. I take one or two 671M-22 e-clips and clip them onto the axle opposite of the gears to make sure that the gears remain fully engaged. The Santa Fe GP30 below has been running like this for at least 6 years. If you look at the wheels opposite of the gears there are two 671M-22 e-clips on the axles. 

Gears that do not mesh properly wear excessively and will fail prematurely. 

All my units have at least one e-clip on the axle. 

WBC,  Thank you for the information about the e-clips as a solution for aligning the gears properly.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Return it to place of purchase. Let them deal with it. 

That looks like the wheel and gear are not pressed far enough onto the axle and that axle may be out of guage.

Are you having any tracking issues through turnouts etc?

I really want to preorder some of the new legacy Fa's....maybe not.

I had a new SD40 with one wheel that was way out. I took the truck off and then side frames and lightly tapped the wheel with a rubber mallet while supporting the axle on the other side and the wheel slid right into place.

I have a Lionel SD40 that has a similar movement, but not as severe. It works without any modification. I have to order those wheel clips though. 

WBC posted:

I do not know why Lionel has so much slop in its wheel sets on diesel locomotives. This excessive slop is ridiculous nonsense and not needed; especially on a 4-axle unit. 

I have seen this before on my purchased units. Here is what I do. I take one or two 671M-22 e-clips and clip them onto the axle opposite of the gears to make sure that the gears remain fully engaged. The Santa Fe GP30 below has been running like this for at least 6 years. If you look at the wheels opposite of the gears there are two 671M-22 e-clips on the axles. 

Gears that do not mesh properly wear excessively and will fail prematurely. 

All my units have at least one e-clip on the axle. 

We have an F unit here where you can hear a screech when running. Think it is when one gear slips? Think this will solve it? If so I'll get some to install. Thanks

Is this a special E-clip size wise?

 John, fears of an E-clip falling out are kinda unwarranted.  Maybe if it were undersized and over-hardened it might...still only might. It is no more likely to happen than a screw falling out imo..... maybe less so. 

A snug fit will grip and spin with the axle, and long term wear should then be on the trust surface of the bearing where it belongs. If it is stamped, put the sharp edge facing the wheel so it doesn't scrape the thrust surface of the 🐻....oops...bearing.  Chamfering endges smoothly is really best though.

Ricko, 

The 6-84271 B&O #3419 engine runs and appears to be the correct gauge on my Atlas O O-72 track.  The potential for current and future gear issues is my concern.  I am preparing for the time when there is no warranty to fix the gear problem.

I hate to bash Lionel, but my first B&O #3419 arrived with a short vertical rail stanchion that pulled the railing downward.  It went back to the dealer.

My Lionel 6-81323 Nickel Plate #482 arrived on Tuesday missing a roof lift ring on the front left of this new sealed engine. No broken part was in the box.  It is on its way back to the dealer.

My Santa Fe SD40 #5018 arrived missing a front air hose.  Lionel said they had no replacement air hose parts.  It also had four loose screws in the bottom of the box. That engine went back to the dealer.

My Santa Fe SD40 #5006 arrived from Nichols Smith Trains and is also missing one of the three front left air hoses.  There is a little nib where one hose should be.  Joey is sending the part.

My H-10 #1773 from the Coal Hauler set had grit in the silver smoke stack paint.  Joey replaced the engine.

My H-10  #1688 had a intermittent short that gave me a Cab blink.  It went back to another dealer.

My Niagara #6013 keeps throwing off traction tires.  Katie is sending new tires for me to try.  They have not arrived yet.  I have an RA, but don't want to send the Niagara in because my FEF-3 got a nice scratch in the roof when it went to Lionel Service.

My Allegheny #1604 does not run correctly after service by Lionel.

My CSXF40PH #9999 just returned from Lionel for the third time and Dean emailed me to say that someone, not Lionel, severely damaged the screw holes on the engine by using the wrong size screws on the engine. He also said the volume control pod was unplugged and the engine had a short.  It ran before I sent it in for the volume problem on the third trip.  I did not open this engine after it returned from the second trip, so the unplugged volume pod was forgotten when the engine was serviced for a roof hatch that would not open on the second trip.  The roof hatch was missed on the first trip to Lionel, and fixed on the second trip.

Are you getting all of this?  There may be a quiz.

Thank you for your suggestions.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Are you getting it John? You continue to buy.

 To quote Albert Einstein. "The definition of insanity is to repeat the same action over and over and expect a different result."

Yes.

John Rowlen posted:

I did get my refund check from Lionel last week for the Vision Line GG1 #4913 that Lionel could not fix after three attempts.  This stuff is starting to screw with my head.  Is that insanity?

 

Yep!

Do you ever buy bread?  If so, do what I do.  Cut these down and use them as axle shims.  They won't wear anything, they don't short if they happen to fall off (never happened to me), and they're free.

Gunrunner John,  The bread I buy has twist-ties.  Do you think Lionel would have bread clips in their parts department?  They don't have air hoses for a SD40 engine.

I do appreciate the advice.  Thank you.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

You need cheaper bread John.

I saw some of those plastic bag clips, now I have to find them.

Andrew

BobbyD posted:

We have an F unit here where you can hear a screech when running. Think it is when one gear slips? Think this will solve it? If so I'll get some to install. Thanks

I do not believe that any type of shimming will help with gear slippage. My best guess that the screech is due to the worm or motor bushings needing some lubrication. 

Adriatic posted:

Is this a special E-clip size wise?

 

There is nothing special about these e-clips. Lionel uses these e-clips all over a number of different products and applications. They are used on either side of the thrust bearing on modern AC motors and on the bottom of the thrust bearings on postwar AC motors. They are often used to secure trucks onto the chassis for locomotives and cars. Thus, they are quite common and inexpensive. They fit onto the ~3/16 inch axle snugly. As others have mentioned, the smooth side of the e-clip is next to the truck while the rougher side is next to the wheel. If I use 2 e-clips, then the smooth side is next to the truck, smooth side is next to the wheel while the two rough sides contact each other on the interior.  

However, the plastic bread clip comes free with a loaf of bread purchase. 

WBC,  I have some 3/16" Steel E-clips I used to replace all the Lionel silver e-clips on my sixty-nine 21" passenger cars I purchased and detailed with Preiser 65602 Unpainted Seated People that I painted in 2018.  I had three passenger cars arrive with trucks dangling by the wires that I repaired with new steel 3/16" clips from Home Depot.  The soft silver clips opened up easily on many cars that were about to drop a truck before I replaced the e-clip.  It was usually the e-clip on the truck opposite the wire up to the cars lights. (Non-Vestibule end or rear of car) 

I just bought more 3/16" Steel E-clips for the four Add-on UP cars and nine Santa Fe cars arriving in December 2019.  I will give this a try.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Very interesting thread, is it easy to find the eclips? What size should one purchase? Here’s my B&O same vintage.. The first picture of the truck is without moving the wheel. The other is by moving the wheel..I think an eclip or two would be of help. The other truck is almost straight with the gears...Wow, what happened to the Quality Control In Lionel’s Manufacturing Department? Thank You.