Athearn GP40 Mechanical noise problem.


K

Ken Portner

Member
I put a Tsunami TSU-1000 into a brand new Athearn GP40-2 this weekend. The sound is great, but it's being marred by a mechanical clicking noise. The loco has also now started to shake a bit side to side when running at slow speed.

I checked to make sure none of the decoder wires are interfering with the motor shafts and also ran it slowly with the shell held off a bit and couldn't see any obvious problems.

Any suggestions on what might be causing this and what to do about it?

Thank you.
 
Did you run the loco before installing the decoder?If you did was it noisey then?

Some things you might check for is exsess slop in the worm gear.If there is a lot of freeplay you will need to put shims on the outer ends of the gears.The KaDee fibre washers are what I used to use.

You might also check to see if the motor is setting true,or if it is loose as these will both affect noise and/or vibration.
 
I would also check the main gear on the axles to see if they are cracked, this will cause a wobble & a noise like gears slipping.
Johnathan is right about the motor not being in the mounts or setting all the way down in the frame. You have to take the shell all the way off & run the engine.
There's a few more items if none of these are the problems.
 
Thanks for those suggestions.

I had to take the motor out to wire the decoder. I think it's secured well enough to the frame. The screws are tightened down.

I'll look at the other items.
 
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