Are these engines likely to have or develop cracked gears? If the answer is yes, will Walthers replace or sell the repair parts?
As I understand it, all of the old Life-Like engines were prone to the cracked gear problem. I’ve got one, and I contacted Walthers a while back about it. They said they would indeed ship the parts for free.
The catch is, they didn’t have the parts. They claimed they would be getting them in April. Hmmm, it seems to be April now, with the showers and all.
So, if April showers bring May flowers, then what to May flowers bring?
Pilgrims.
I always thought it was only the GP7’s and GP9’s that had the problem. DFORD, I’ve got over 30 Proto loco’s and not one has had a gear problem. I wouldn’t worry about it.
June BUGS…
The GP 7,9,20 & 30s are the ones that I heard about. I had to fix both my GP 30s.
Jim
It is an easy fix though, you can aquire the gears, 6 of them for about 2 dollars from Dicounthobbiesonline. I learned my lesson about waiting on LL and Walthers, so if I get one gear in the truck that cracks I just go ahead and replace them all. It takes about 20 minutes to change the gears out, and all you have to do is pop the gear covers off the bottom of the trucks and drop the wheels out. No big deal really.
I was told that the Athearn gears were drop-in replacements. I used some to fix an old P2K GP18. Worked like a charm. If Walthers still doesn’t have them this month, try Athearn.
I have one P2K GP60 Limited Edtion but never used it because Like -Life won’t make other one or very hard to find these
The E units are my favorites!!
I own P2K locomotives and had to replace all of the axles in one GP7. My LHS dealer showed me how it was done…Piece of cake!
Don’t be discouraged. If you like E units, IMHO, P2K units are an excellent bang for the buck. I’ve never paid full price for them. Got one on layaway new at my LHS for $67 (FEC E7. A-powered, B-dummy set) and the rest I got on Ebay and a train show at prices ranging from $39 to $55!
Criticism:
I don’t like the stock mars light. Since I’m going DCC, it’s cool to be able to take advantage of the “Special EFX” feature of a Digitrax, TCS, Lenz decoder that allows a realistic Mars/Gyra light effect.
What one do you have? Almost all of my ONR Proto’s are Limited Editions as well as my 2 Huron Central SD45’s. I’ve got 2 Proto GP60 EMD demos.
“So, if April showers bring May flowers, then what to May flowers bring?”
Allergies.
Every one of my older P2K’s I bought (probably New old stock )have this axle gear problem. Contacted Walthers a few months ago…still no response…I ordered Athearn axles on E-bay. Installed them and they work fine. I still need more of them though. I may still try contacting Walthers since I heard April is when they’ll get the parts. Other than that the P2K’s run fine…the detailing is great. I will buy more.
I’ve just followed up on my earlier request to Walthers for these. I also asked which engines are really subject to this problem. I’ll keep everyone posted when I hear back from them.
My first request took over a month before I got an answer. He was apologetic about the delay, but he says they’re kind of understaffed, and they were still digesting Life-Like at the time. So, I’m hopeful. Meanwhile, my other Geeps will have to take up the slack.
I do not claim to be the last word, but I have had no cracked gears in E units, nor have I heard of such. I still believe it was the four wheel trucks that had this issue.
I got a very speedy reply this time. Larry from Walthers answered both of my questions:
"The actual date of availability relayed to me since my last communication with you is April 27th. Provide me your address (if you are in the US) and I will create a backorder for you. Be sure to include the number of axles you need.
The only locomotives that we have seen afflicted with spilt geared axles are those that use the 584408 axle, i.e.: BL, E8, FA1 & FA2, and the following GP series; 7, 9-II, 9-III, 18, 20 30 and 60. "
So, I stand corrected on the question of which engines have the problem.