bought a new athearn f7, not the gen. model. it has a vibration type noise when going forward only, reverse is quiet. the faster it goes, the quieter it becomes. motor bearings and everything else is lubed. im almost 100% sure it is the motor itself making this noise. i originally thought it was the rear truck, but i removed it and held it on the track running it slowly and still noisey. loosened the 4 screws, and also removed them and the weight, no difference. it is louder with the shell on also. sounds like a fautly motor to me. any thoughts?..thanks
Hello check and see if the motor mounts are tight. Check the shaft and see if it has a bend in it. Make sure the gears are meshing right.See if you can take the motor apart and look for loose parts. If it is new see if Athearn will return or repiar it for you. Hope this helps Frank
If you have one way noise look at the motor shaft or the worms being pushed to far forward or backward. This happens naturally with the Athearn type drive. Most likely needs a shim someplace. If you can, take it back where you bought it and see if they will tune it up.
Its not the motor so save your money…[:D][tup]
This should help you.
http://www.mcor-nmra.org/Publications/Articles/Athearn_TuneUp.html
take the motor apart and glue the magnets back in place.make sure that the magnets are in exact same position they were when you started…some time athearn gold motors magnets become unglued and they will become noisy.
thanks for all the info. it is the motor for sure. i took it out and ran jumper wires from the power pack, still noisey. tearing into the motor now…im determined im going to fix this damn china outfit or bust!!! thanks again everyone
Lee is right – I’ve heard quite a few reports of magnets coming loose in the Chinese production motors and scraping the armature. Odd, because the blue box gold motors had a plastic rib on each end bell that retained them without any adhesive, but that’s progress for ya…
the magnets apper to be never glued in at all. they just fell out when i removed the case. the word “china” is getting old…
problem no. 2
motor issue is ok now, but it now sounds like the gears are not meshing right somewhere. it started on the rear truck. took the drive shaft out and ran it with the front pulling only. no noise. then i took the front driveshaft out and placed it in the rear truck, no noise. next i placed the offending driveshaft that was originally in the rear truck to the front truck, noisey again. so, i must have driveshaft trouble. i cant see anything bent or any flashing anywhere. i made a shim and placed it on either end of the worm, where the washers are, no difference. i want to think the noise is from under the worm housing?? any ideas? thanks…