Lionel Acela cars disassemble and reassemble

Look up the TMCC Acela (product #6-31714) on the parts website, you will find documents there on how to do that (newest release is exactly the same tooling as the TMCC version.

But I have a few disclamers to give you on disassembling the Acela passenger cars...

Don't do it unless you really need to. If it's in warranty, then I would not recommened taking any apart yourself. The non sound equiped cars are not terrible to take apart, but still are challenging to reassemble. The interior of the cars doesn't just drop out with the frame on these, they are clipped onto the shell. This makes any work you need to do to the interior more challenging.

I do not recommend pulling apart the Bistro car, as there's a lot of wires that go between the bottom of the interior and the plastic frame. Putting it all back together without pinching any wires is extremely difficult. I tried a complete disassembly myself on the Bistro car when I tried to replace the tether assembly.

I wasn't able to get it back together without the frame being slightly buldged, causing the car to no longer track correctly. I tried at least a dozen times over the span of 3 different days to put the car back together, failed every time and had to get another expansion pack. As Lionel didn't allow me to send it in as I took it apart and therefore voided the warranty.

My replacement 3-pack had to go to Lionel to have something loose in the Bistro car fixed, none of the service technicians of that hobby shop wanted to even try to fix the issue. So I would guess that not many Lionel service centers will even want to touch it.

So it's probably best to send it into Lionel to have it fixed, it'll be gone for a while. But at least you don't risk voiding the warranty and having to stuggle to put it back together correctly

@MichaelB posted:

Look up the TMCC Acela (product #6-31714) on the parts website, you will find documents there on how to do that (newest release is exactly the same tooling as the TMCC version.

But I have a few disclamers to give you on disassembling the Acela passenger cars...

Don't do it unless you really need to. If it's in warranty, then I would not recommened taking any apart yourself. The non sound equiped cars are not terrible to take apart, but still are challenging to reassemble. The interior of the cars doesn't just drop out with the frame on these, they are clipped onto the shell. This makes any work you need to do to the interior more challenging.

I do not recommend pulling apart the Bistro car, as there's a lot of wires that go between the bottom of the interior and the plastic frame. Putting it all back together without pinching any wires is extremely difficult. I tried a complete disassembly myself on the Bistro car when I tried to replace the tether assembly.

I wasn't able to get it back together without the frame being slightly buldged, causing the car to no longer track correctly. I tried at least a dozen times over the span of 3 different days to put the car back together, failed every time and had to get another expansion pack. As Lionel didn't allow me to send it in as I took it apart and therefore voided the warranty.

My replacement 3-pack had to go to Lionel to have something loose in the Bistro car fixed, none of the service technicians of that hobby shop wanted to even try to fix the issue. So I would guess that not many Lionel service centers will even want to touch it.

So it's probably best to send it into Lionel to have it fixed, it'll be gone for a while. But at least you don't risk voiding the warranty and having to stuggle to put it back together correctly

Thanks for that info. I actually just found out my bistro car isn’t responding to commands from the Legacy remote nor is it making any sounds while moving. I tried reprogramming it and it didn’t respond to being programmed. I did check that the volume is on since it makes a sound when track power is applied. I’ll have to send it back to Lionel. I actually purchased it from the Lionel retail store in concord a couple weeks ago since nowhere else had one. Would it still be under warranty? If not I guess I could return it but I’ll never find another one since I already checked everywhere else before.

@LionelLegend posted:

Thanks for that info. I actually just found out my bistro car isn’t responding to commands from the Legacy remote nor is it making any sounds while moving. I tried reprogramming it and it didn’t respond to being programmed. I did check that the volume is on since it makes a sound when track power is applied. I’ll have to send it back to Lionel. I actually purchased it from the Lionel retail store in concord a couple weeks ago since nowhere else had one. Would it still be under warranty? If not I guess I could return it but I’ll never find another one since I already checked everywhere else before.

I would guess it still is under warranty as you bought it directly from Lionel. It should be so long as you kept the reciept for proof of purchase. Lionel's customer service department should be able to confirm if it is.

@MichaelB posted:

I would guess it still is under warranty as you bought it directly from Lionel. It should be so long as you kept the reciept for proof of purchase. Lionel's customer service department should be able to confirm if it is.

Do you know if I could bring it back to the store for them to get it to Lionel to fix it since it’s the retail store instead of having to ship it? I’m worried about it getting damage in shipping.

As @MichaelB suggests, don't attempt to do any surgery on these cars. Send it back to Lionel. My Bistro Car has been back to them 2 times for the problem of not producing human sounds nor responding to programming. Another passenger car was slightly deformed out of the factory and had loose parts....etc etc etc. After 4 round trips to Lionel, my set is now working perfectly. As the warranty expires on the Acela, unless someone steps forth to be a dedicated Acela repair expert with access to a large inventory of specialized parts, most everyone's Acela's may eventually be relegated to #1 Shelf Queen status.   Arguably, it's one of the prettiest-looking passenger train models ever produced.

@Bruce Brown posted:

As @MichaelB suggests, don't attempt to do any surgery on these cars. Send it back to Lionel. My Bistro Car has been back to them 2 times for the problem of not producing human sounds nor responding to programming. Another passenger car was slightly deformed out of the factory and had loose parts....etc etc etc. After 4 round trips to Lionel, my set is now working perfectly. As the warranty expires on the Acela, unless someone steps forth to be a dedicated Acela repair expert with access to a large inventory of specialized parts, most everyone's Acela's may eventually be relegated to #1 Shelf Queen status.   Arguably, it's one of the prettiest-looking passenger train models ever produced.

Wow I hope it doesn’t take that many tries with mine. Mine initially responded to programming but now it won’t anymore. I wonder if it’s something wrong with the program/run switch. I believe those can be bad from the factory but I wonder why mine only worked once.

Matthew,

One of the problems is that Program/Run switch is not labelled clearly. Even Lionel techs got confused on the right settings. Please look at:

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...your-odds-of-success

for the proper switch settings.

@Bruce Brown posted:

Matthew,

One of the problems is that Program/Run switch is not labelled clearly. Even Lionel techs got confused on the right settings. Please look at:

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...your-odds-of-success

for the proper switch settings.

Thank you for that and yes the switch is confusing. Unfortunately I’m not getting a response when I program it even after checking I was using the correct switch. Weird since it worked the first time and now it won’t anymore.

Matthew,

That did happen to me also. Just send it back to Lionel. They have seen this problem before!

Good luck..."Products that are more than 3 years old, from date of manufacture, are not applicable for warranty coverage, even if they have never been sold prior to this date. (Under no circumstance shall any components or labor be provided free of charge.)"

Don,

All these Acela's were made in 2021 so buyers should be OK for another year.

Eric Siegel mentioned that he disassembled one of the cars in his review.

You might want to ask him.

John

still hard to belive. years ago when I asked ryan at a train show about the possibility of a reissue of the acela. he told me they were working on it and they wanted all the issuses of the old one fixed and worked out before they  announced its re return to the catolog.

he said they were going over the old sets and looking for improvements and how to make them more reliable. seems the newest ones have there fair share of issues also unfortunately.

now that being said I own the new one. the full add on set and all. I had issues also. one engine went back to lionel. it all works fine now and I just love it. always wanted this set and I just love the bestro sound car for this time arounds reissue.

I hope it works as it should 10 years from now or more. this is a beautiful set and lionels only passenger set this ambitious and detailed so itt seems to date. so I am proud to say I own this set.

with all the current issues It maybe safe to say this could be the last set like this to be produced by lionel. seems this set even stumped the Chinese workers who built them.

for those of use who have them. the original set with opening doors and this newest one. seems we will have a highly collectable piece for years to come. at least lets hope so. good luck with getting yours repaired. when it all works as it should you will be glad you own one.