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Hello all,

I have two MTH premier line engines that are fairly new (within the past 8 months). I've noticed a kind of squeaking noise coming from both locomotives that sounds like the motor. Let's just say the motors are not silent and are especially noticeable when running the locomotives without sound. I have had a few railking and imperial locomotives for much longer and never noticed such sounds. Neither engine has reached the "maintenance required" point yet. I have oiled both locomotives as suggested by the manufacturer, but that has not helped with the sound. Does anyone have any experience with this type of thing and could tell me if this is normal? 

I am running both off of a Z-1000 on DCS. Total of 5 lit cars on the track. I do not smell anything that would suggest an electrical problem. The locomotive MTH product #'s are 20-3525-1 and 20-3554-1. 

Thanks for your input,

Marc 

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I suspect there's a wire/cable harness inside rubbing on something that's spinning/turning.  I had a clicking noise coming from an engine and it turned out to be a zip-tie rubbing on the drive shaft.  Can you remove the shell/boiler and run it?  If so, is the noise still there?

I installed a new motor in a RailKing 2-8-0 and the slow-speed was awful.  I finally got enough gear grease inside the gearbox that not only made it run better/slower it is less noisy.

I was always told that you can't break an engine in, you can only wear it out, but I think there's some truth to putting some mileage on an engine to "knock the burrs off".

Sunrise Special posted:

I had the same clicking noise with my MTH LIRR GP38. Sent it to GUNRUNNER JOHN to remedy the situation. He couldn't find the cause. It will either resolve itself over time or a component will fail identifying the cause.

Sunrise

I also have that noise on a lirr gp38. It seems to be from the gearbox. It runs fine except for the noise. I guess the wait and see approach is what to do. 

Certainly I don't like "funny noises" any more than do others, and they always bear noting and basic investigation, but, on steamers, as mentioned,  regular "clicks" can indeed be the valve gear and rods (this can be more than a little prototypical - but the "clicks" are "clanks" ). A squeak almost always just means oil all those little rivets...brass locos can also be noisy from gear whine and driveshaft whirr - brass, unlike cast zinc, acts as a sounding board and resonates with the sound (most real bells are brass...not a coincidence). Cast zinc actually acts as a noise suppressant. Brass locos tend toward being thin-shelled and more hollow.

Many noises, like gear noise, are irritating but harmless. If your brass (for example) engine is a bit of a growler, but the gear train moves smoothly by hand (spinning the flywheel, for example) it is probably never going to be a problem. It may quiet down as rough gear-tooth faces get smoothed by use.

I suspect gearbox noise, but you can narrow it down by listening to the frequency of the sounds.  It would have to be fairly fast to be the motor flywheel hitting or rubbing on something.  If it's slower, it could be gear/wheel related.

Of course, the new Lionel Legacy stuff has creaks and groans in the sound file, so turn off the sound to hunt it down.

Last edited by gunrunnerjohn

Thanks for all of the responses. 

I'm personally leaning towards the flywheel idea. The sound frequency increases with speed just like it could be something getting caught on the flywheel. The sound does seem to have no performance issues with the locomotive. My biggest fear is that I am going to cause expensive damage to an expensive locomotive. 

As I'm sure is the case for everyone here, I want to be spending money expanding my railroad empire rather than fixing things that I already own. 

One more question... I won't void my MTH warranty by opening up the locomotive will I? It would be just to check if nothing is getting caught. 

-Marc 

The flywheel is turning 20 to 40 time faster than the drivers.  Same with shaft if unit has one.  So John's comment about frequency is spot on.  If it increases with speed, it probably is drive line related, but gear, linkage are items to look for.

Opening won't void warranty, pinching a wire reassembling would....if manufacturer wanted to draw a hard line.  G

I had the same problem with a Premier H-8 2-6-6-6.  The driveline had the squeaking and clicking, which was consistent with the RPMs.  Initially I thought it was the U-joints on the drive shaft.  Oiled everything.  No luck!  After three times of removing and replacing the boiler, it turns out two of the three screws holding the motor mount to the chassis were ever so slightly loose.  This allowed the motor to pivot a few degrees each way.  This created a lot of slop in the driveline and completely threw off the geometry and balancing.

I put removable Locktite on all motor mount screws torqued everything up and PROBLEM SOLVED!  She is whisper quiet and one of my best runners.  Hope you have the same issue cause it is a tough find, but an easy fix. 

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