MTH cHRISTMAS 249E W/ PS3 - HEADLIGHT

My engine does the same thing. I usually power it down and let it sit. Once I start it again it is good for a while. My bigger problem is that on the last day of running at the Muzeo museum it would start and stop randomly and only got worse. Steve Eastman looked at it and thinks maybe the wires are too short going to the drawer tether causing this. Maybe the headlight is affected also? Let me know what you find out.

Jeff,

Thanks for the input. I had not thought of these possibilities. However, when it was new it never did this. Now I am wondering if I need to disconnect the drawbar and  reconnect due to abad connection. I am going to trying calling MTH next week, but not sure if I will get thru. The last time I tried calling, it took me over a week to get thru to the service dept.

JoeG

what is the engine item number, maybe a reset will make the headlight work again , can't hurt to try. what is your item number of the engine?

Alan

Sounds like and intermittent issue.  So it could be wiring, solder joint at connector, or the draw bar connection, though if everything else is working fine (smoke and motion) draw bar is probably ok.

You can try a factory reset.  Remove the connector on the boiler board  and reseat,   Check wires to the LED.   G

The engine is an 11-5505-1 I believe. I was running it again and noticed while running it stopped for a brief second and then continued. I believe that is when the headlight went out. I just heard it as my back was to it and heard the  chuffing stop and then start back up.

      JoeG

Not sure how to take this engine apart to check the connectors on the board. When turned upside down there are 2 screws towards the rear of the engine. not sure how this comes out with the harness going to the connector on the back that mates with the tender.

JoeG

Found it . one screw in smoke stack and two underneath towards rear.

Jeff,

There's a lot to be improved in the owners manual for this little gem, as there is more to take apart than what is shown. There is the screw in the smoke stack, 2 screws on the underside of the frame and two screws in the drive linkage going to the frame.

I also removed the front and rear trailing trucks for easy cleaning and lubrication. It was tricky to say the least to get the motor and drive wheel assy out of the shell without cutting or pulling on any of the wiring. After getting it out, it appeared that all connectors were seated . However, I pushed on them anyway and gave  1/4 twist to the one wire nut. Since I had it apart, I decided to check the gearbox. Everything was well lubricated, but dirty, so I cleaned the gears and applied a small amount of lithium grease to the gears

CAUTION - When removing the 2 screws to the gearbox be very careful as there are 4 minute washers that are part  of it and you will need to see where they fit in.

I carefully put it all back together,making sure not to pinch any of the wires going back into the shell and lubricated the axles, drive rods, and wheels. After completion, I gave the engine and tender a nice coat of Meguiar's cleaner wax and handled with my brown jersey gloves as help to prevent finger prints in the paint.

I then carefully attached the engine and tender and placed on the track and fired it up. I ran it for 20-30 minutes and no headlight issues or jerking. When you do this give yourself a few hours. Hope this helps.

JoeG

Now this is done, I am curious on how difficult it would be to get rid of the draw bar, and put a plug in tether so one does not have to deal with this draw bar, or if it can even be done?

JoeG

I would think not too hard if you had a wiring diagram.