The motor in my Lionel 210 Texas Special shifts the armature up and down almost 1/16 of an inch depending on whether it is going in forward or reverse.
In reverse, the brushes shift up to almost the top of the brass brush housings. But in forward, they drop down what looks to be almost 1/16” of an inch. See the attached photo where the white twist-em is pointing.
Does anyone know the diameter of the ball bearing on which the armature rides? Also, I saw something about using a center punch to tighten up some play in the motor-truck assembly. How can you tell if that is needed and is that done ? Thanks
In my humble opinion, if your engine is running smoothly, leave it alone. The motor truck assembly should only be tightened up if the worm and gear are misaligned and grinding. If they were, your engine would not run as well as you describe. I guess it is not impossible, but I have never seen or heard of the lower ball bearing wearing out. Since you have the two required washers at the top, the armature play should be OK. I guess you could add another washer, so long as some play remains. Your attempts to “fix” your engine could cause a lot of damage that is difficult to undo
That isn’t much play. When reversing, the gears switch to move on their backsides. With some play the motor will move up or down. The important item is that the armature is in line with the surrounding coil.
If the ball bearing were missing, it would run raspy in one direction. You can pull the brush plate and armature to look down inside there. If it is giving you problems, the proper fix is to add another thrust washer to the top of the armature shaft (p/n 600-129). If there is one already there, add another. That is what they are designed for. There should also be a smaller washer directly on top of the armature. If it runs fine as is, leave it alone. The worm has likely been broke in and lapped for these positions. Changing the settings could make matters worse.