LIONEL F3 2343

A few items to check:

1. Did the magnetraction pick up any fasteners that are causing a short?
2. Is the insulator for the collector assembly present and actually insulating? There are 2 machine screws that attach the collector plate to the truck. The insulator is supposed to be sandwiched between them. Also, there are insulator washers used on the screws.
3. if all insulators are present, I’d suggest disconnecting the wire going to the collector plate and then doing a continuity test between the truck frame and collector plate. If the parts were not oriented correctly during reassembly, that could cause a short.
4. while collector wire is disconnected, try running the engine on test leads clipped to the E-unit and confirm it all works. This will verify that the problem is in the truck.

The wire for the sliding shoe shouldn’t be a factor here.

There are no washers on the machine screws that hold the collector plate.  Any idea what I can use instead?

The insulated spacer is 671-112.  It is a common part used on several post locos and is available from Jeff Kane, The Train Tender.

Right now the collector and truck frame short together without the washers in place.

When I power up the eunit with the front truck total removed it fires up no problem.  This tells me it is the front truck that is causing the problem.right now waiting on parts, to replace on the front truck ie new pickup roller assemble and washers

Yep, that’ll do it. Essentially the goal is to electrically isolate the cast collector plate from the main truck casting. Lionel accomplished. If you google “Lionel 2343 parts diagram” you’ll find images from the Greenbergs Lionel repair manual that show what the arrangement lloks like.

Repair tip: every time I rebuild a horizontal motor F-3 and after I reassemble the front truck, I always do a continuity test on the isolated truck before it is reinstalled on the chassis. Sometimes I have forgotten to reinstall the washers or if something shifted, the collector could ground out.

Thank you for the info.  Now just waiting for parts

I finally got the parts I needed and all is well.  I can't believe a small insulated washer for the screw that holds the pickup roller assembly to the truck was the cause of the short.  Thanks to all for the assist.