MTH Tetherless Drawbar - Any Tips?

Wrap a 10mm cable tie around the drawbar and receptacle and cinch it tight. That will solve the problem.

I have that same engine .

Order the three pack of the tethers & replace yours    or send in your engine to get new one 

That engine can smoke you out of your basement .

Great runner for me .  

My Pacific on other hand wants to derail every switch /turnout .

I use a small piece of vinyl tubing that fits tight on the drawbar post

I have that engine in a UP variant.  Mine did the exact same thing as yours even around corners. I replaced the draw bar which did not fix the problem. I eventually tore into the tender and discovered the problem at the 6 pin connector where the draw bar connects.

Where the wires from the tender electronics are inserted into the connector, I found that MTH decided to cheat and put two wires into one connection spot (I think the wires were black in color). Upon closer examination, this pin with the two wires was very loose in the connector and and would easily push out of the top when the draw bar was put into place on the bottom.

I very carefully removed the pin and the two wires from the connection. I then put only one wire on that connection and spliced the two wires intended for that connection to the newly installed single wire. The pin connection now fits securely into the 6 pin connector and my problem was solved permanently.

I use a faucet washer on the tender side that was suggested by a forum member here. Tighter fit than an O ring.

Also check for free movement on the locomotive end. On some engines the wires to the connector in the locomotive are too tight limiting side to side motion. If you see this you should remove the shell and try to free up some slack.

Pete

Sounds more like the pins in the engine drawbar connector are NOT fully seated in the connector plug.  I have corrected several of these problems.

Contact your nearest MTH ASC.  Since the locomotive is under warranty it should be no problem to correct.

bruce

The poor connection was in the engine drawbar not being fully seated in the connector plug.  I unscrewed the drawbar on the engine side, disconnected the pin and reconnected it. Now that the connection is solid the engine runs fine, but the front truck (is this called a pilot?) has too much play and the small wheels ride up on a switch I have on the curve side and eventually the train derails as it goes into the next turn because the wheels never make their way back onto the rails. Some of my Lionel engines have a screw that you can tighten down or loosen but this MTH doesn't appear to have any mechanism to mess with the resistance or play. Any suggestions with this issue? Runs fine on a straight away, around curves and even over the straight side of a switch, but doesn't want to glide over the turn in a switch or a wye.

I am a long time MTH fan, but it sounds like the MTH engineering and design team needs to correct these DESIGN and/or assembly issues! It has been a negative forum topic since its inception. The customer or end user should NOT have to make these various "fixes", adjustments, or accommodations!  :-(

I experienced the same problems with a Rail King Santa Fe Northern and have not bought a Rail King locomotive since that experience.  I do not care to pay $350 for a locomotive that does not operate flawlessly out of the box.  I had no problems with MTH tethered connections.  It is long past time for MTH to replace this poor  “tetherless” design.

Another issue with these is the connection inside the locomotive and tender.  Sometimes they are loose and will cause the symptoms of a drawbar not seated.  I've gotten a few for repair that just needed the connector inside secured.  As mentioned previously in the thread, occasionally the drawbar internal connection doesn't have enough slack and will pull out during operation.

I have a tinplate MTH Christmas train that has the problem GRJ describes.  I've tried to get it fixed three times but still no go.  Has the tie-wrap installed as suggested above but after a few minutes of running the vibration causes the connection in the loco to go loose.  When the tree comes down, it's headed to Henning's for a repair.  Hopefully, a permanent one.

I used Pete's suggestion, (I'm not sure who it was that first suggested this trick to him), using faucet washers on the tender side of the drawbar. Seems to work great, a really tight fit. The 2 engines that I'm experiencing the problem of drawbar loosening, are a brand new MTH premier PS3 UP Challenger and a brand new MTH premier PS3 UP Big Boy. Both of these engines are equipped with steaming whistles. At first, I thought the whistles were causing the stalling and stuttering problem, but thanks to this thread, I was able to resolve this 6-pin drawbar issue, at least for now. I also really appreciate Gunrunner John's extensive research into this MTH problem and his many thoughtful solutions.

The older and larger drawbars don't seem to have the same issues as the 6-pin drawbars.

Thank to all...