Oh yes - I removed the old clip and replaced it with the one in the Digitrax harness. I also put electrical tape over the bare metal spot that was used as the pick-up point.
I just picked up on this thread while doing a Google search for "athearn tuneup.
I had posted a thread on another forum asking about a “whining” sound in one of my Athearn RS3 engines.
To make a long story short, I replaced one of the axle gears to solve the problem. A couple of comments may be helpful here.
First, while it is true that the cracked or split gear is more common to the Proto 2000, the Athearn axle gear is not flawless. The one that I replaced was “cracked” in the sense that the wheel axle was spinning freely although it should fit tight into the gear.
Second, the unit did not have a thrust washer between the axle gear and the square bronze bearing, so I used a Kadee washer to fill the space. The problem with too much space is that the square bronze bearing moves in and out, falling out or lifting out of the truck sidewall which, incidentally, is too thin to hold the square bronze bearing in place in some instances.
Having replaced the gear and added a washer, my whining sound went away and no more clicking or clunking due to a slipped bearing. By the way, a simple test to determine whether the axle gear is faulty is to simply turn the engine upside down and try to spin the wheels with your finger. If any wheel spins freely, the axle gear is at fault and should be replaced. Also, look to see if the square bronze bearing is sitting square in the truck sidewall pocket.
Hope this helps all who are interested.
Ri
Thanks for the heads up on the tutorial. Its great.
Wayne
Don’t give up on it. Try Dave B’s suggestions and see if that fixes it up.