How hard is it to repower an Athearn SD-40

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

[8D] I posted a topic on a noisy Athearn yesterday, and one of the replies I got was that I should repower it to make it quiet and smoothe like my Atlas Master Dash 8. How hard is this, what parts will I need, and is it worth while.? Also, is any brand of repower kit better than another?

2

Did you try the Alliance Locomotive Products website? Here’s a link to the page illustrating what Alliance sells. The Athearn kits are about 1/3 of the way down the page. http://www.alliancelink.com/alp/photos.htm

Here’s a link to their instruction sheet for kit #144 (the one that includes flywheels - $32.95). http://www.alliancelink.com/alp/144.htm

And one to the cheaper kit #134 ($21.95). http://www.alliancelink.com/alp/134.htm

Looks like a slam dunk to me. Got a Moto Tool?

Andre

3

Thanks Andre, I wil take all the help I can get. Are all Athearns this annoying, or did I just get unlucky? I have a Digitrax powered layout, and I want to run this one on DCC, is it hard to add ditch lights to a DCC loco, or can you use the same lights accurate lighting sells for DC applications. Will putting a higher quality truck in make it quieter too, or will the motor make it run smoothe enough?

4

I would think the motor replacement would be sufficient. I have no idea about ditch lights since I don’t model the modern era.

Andre