I have a Proto 2000 BL2 that I purchased new at Orange Blossom Hobbies (I got the name right this time) about 10 years ago while on vacation in Miami. About the second time I ran it was at a show. A friend noticed the clicking sound which changed with speed. It wasn’t a flat wheel and even running without the shell, no one could tell what was making the sound.
It runs OK, but the noise is bothersome.
I have two questions:
What is causing it?
What can I do about it?
oops I have three questions.
If I run it as is, will it cause serious problems?
Thanks, Walter
Well, I don’t know a whole lot about P2K ,but it’s sounds like you have the famous cracked gears on the axles. The fix is to replace the axles. You can either get replacements from Walthers, or Athearn axles work just fine. I don’t think Walthers is going to have them for a few months so your best bet is athearn. If you need the athearn part number, let me know.
I had that same problem with two P2K BL-2 models – the problem seems to be that the front and rear trucks are not in perfect sync and a gear in one or the other slips a cog now and then to get back in sync.
The only solution I found is to change the trucks to ones from a different model. When I phoned LifeLike in Baltimore (before the Walthers buyout) a very pleasant lady said they no longer had parts for the older BL-2. From looking at a picture, I knew that the trucks on a different model seemed to be exactly the same, so I asked her if they had those trucks in stock (a 2-axle Blomberg truck). They did, and she sent them to me for no charge, and they even paid the postage.
The bumping noise stopped with the new trucks.
Since Walthers now owns LifeLike, I don’t know if the same replacement policy is still in effect – you’ll have to give them a call to find out.
I have read that an Athearn truck is a direct replacement for P2K locomotives, too, but haven’t used any of them.
Sounds like the famous P2K cracked axle gears. Remove the cover from the bottom of the trucks. Remove the wheelsets and inspect the axle gears for small cracks running lengthwise. As has been mentioned, contact Walthers for replacements. They sent me complete wheelset assemblies.
I have a proto limited and it has a flat spot on the wheel gear its done on perpose
it makes a cool chuging click that just sounds like a train
think that is whats up with yours as you say it runs fine
my trains will not pull worth crap if a gear is spit or broke
K
The only reason for the trucks to be “out of sync” is due to the aforementioned cracked gear. The reason the replacement trucks worked is because they had “healthy” gears.
In the future, you only need to replace the axle gears, not the whole truck. The axle gears for four axle Athearns and Proto 1000/2000 are idedentical, (Proto cloned the Athearns), so you can use whatever is available.