AFter laying some track ast night, while waiting for the caulk to dry I ran a train. One of my Proto2000 GP-7’s starting WHINING really loud, the screech of unlubricated metal. Wierd, because when I had them apart to install DCC decoders, I made sure they were nicely lubricated with good Labelle products. So I took it all apart, isolated the problem to the rear (front for me) truck. Everything looked fine, no signs of cracked gears, but it just make a horrible noise. Cracked gears usually ‘thump’ anyway. I cleaned everything off, relubed it, put it back together - if anything, it was WORSE. It’s definitely that one truck, not a sound if I disconnect the drive shaft to that truck.
So a few minutes ago I put in a call to Life Like. A pleasant lady answered the phone and I described my problem, and new parts are on their way. Simple as that. Hopefully this will fix the problem.
What’s odd is this is the newest of my 3 GP-7’s, and has probably the least running time out of the three. It’s also from the most recently run batch of them, but even that makes it over 2 years old.
–Randy
I think the LifeLike customer service is excellent
I’m trying really hard to get over the fiasco I had with the F2A/F2B unit. I even bought an N-scale GP-38. But they had the F2A/F2B unit for a month and did nothing to it. And returned it without the decoders. Now today, a month and 5 phone calls later, I am told that they never saw any decoders. So in addition to $49.95 I paid for the semi-functional engines, I am out $65 for the lost Digitrax decoders.
I had a GP-9 Proto2K that thumped straight out of the box, off the shelf, brand new. LL fixed it, but it was a disappointment to open up your brand new loco and it doesn’t run right… Also heard this was a common problem with these particular locos. Overall, I’m happy with LL customer service, not necessarily their quality control. If your QC is bad, you better have good CS 
I can sense your frustration, Chip. I would reeeeeaaallly be frosted if I had an experience like that. In a way, it is a sign of how emotionally invested (I typed ‘infested’ before I corrected [(-D] we are in our trains. That they are so finicky at times, and yet we still play with them, is a strong indicator of our determination and love for the craft and hobby.
So, that’ sit? LL shrugs and says, “Sorry, Dude, no can find.”
A vien in my forehead is throbbing.
Never send nuthin’ to nobody with extras attached. Guns, trains, whatever, it’s usually gone.
I had two GP30’s crack gears during the ops session last night coming up the helix from staging. Wow, you should have heard the banging as they nursed the train into the yard. Sounds something like blowing a rod or piston.
Looks like it’s going to be the Stewart truck conversion for them.