It’s not uncommon for whistle relays to stick in the operated position, which may be what your problem is. The armature (the part that lifts up when the relay operates) often fits too snugly on the surface of the pole (the iron cylinder through the middle of the coil) and remains stuck there with the tiniest bit of residual magnetism. The cure is simple: Put a little bit of tape (like masking tape) in-between the two pieces. This will increase the distance between them very slightly, by the thickness of the tape, and prevent sticking.
The resistor is just a piece of resistance wire. There is very little that can go wrong with it. The copper-oxide rectifier can go bad–or last forever. If you can’t get a good whistle relay to operate, you can replace it with a silicon rectifier. Note that the Lionel schematics always show the rectifier pointing in the wrong direction. The cathode (the end of the rectifier with the band around it, or the point of the arrow in the schematic symbol) should point toward the U terminal of a 1033. I would leave it alone if it is working; but here is a suitable one for a 1033: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062591&filterName=Type&filterValue=Rectifiers
If by “SHOE” you mean the pickup assembly, I know no easy way to get it in or out. You can spread the side plates of the motor, but not enough. Of course, if you’re removing one that you don’t need to save, you can just cut it out. To get one back in, it helps to trim the tabs down to where you can force it in-between the plates, spread as much as is possible. Good luck.
Hobby Horse Products makes a special tool for spreading the frame to remove these pickups. See item #HH-1073. Before the internet, I made a frame spreading tool that is similar to the ST-303 e-unit spreader, with an offset handle and an oval head big enough to spread the frame enough to get these pickups out. Necessity is the mother of invention…
Larry
Thanks for your input.
I did mean exactly that by “shoe”. It appeared to me that the side plates would have to be “sprung” to get it in and out. Because one of the contact plates doesn’t operate properly and that the wires are suspect it probably have to be removes.
I am uncertain how to debug the engine but now that I have it out of the housing I will attempt to make some measurements with power applied to figure out what might be wrong. Any tips on typical failure modes might be useful.
Speaking of the contacts , one of them seems to be in contact with the shoe plate which would seem to short power input to the frame and prevent operation. Am I missing something? Be gentle…lol.
Chuck,
You state that the headlight works, so there is no apparent short. Replace all wires as necessary. If the loco does not run at all, the e-unit may be locked in neutral. Move the reverse lever and try again. If still no movement, time for an overhaul. Pull out the e-unit and look closely at the contact ‘fingers’ and the drum. Inspect for any burned, bent, or broken contacts, and for the drum, look for any burn marks on its contacts. Clean the unit with tuner spray or other plastic compatible solvent, and cycle the plunger by hand to insure proper operation. Make sure the ‘fingers’ make solid contact on the drum, and in the right place. Reinstall the e-unit. Next, pull off the brushplate, clean the commutator face, brushplate, brushes and springs with alcohol or naptha. Replace worn brushes and springs as necessary. Reassemble the motor and oil the front and rear bearings of the armature with a few drops of oil. Clean all old grease and oil from all gears and the axle bearings. Clean the wheels and pickups of dirt / rust. Grease the gears, oil the axle bearings on the loco, front and rear trucks, and side rods and you should be set to try out the loco.
Overhaul the whistle motor in the tender as outlined above for better performance. Clean the wheels and pickups also.
After 50 years in storage, your trains will thank you.
Larry
FYI, Pep Boys carries the 5A breaker (Littelfuse UCB5BP) for $3.99. The other local auto chains (AutoZone, O’Reilly, etc.) either don’t carry it or want about three times as much.