When powering up my 2046 from a cold start (first run of the day), it won’t cycle forward. The light shines, e-unit buzzes, I can hear the drum or pawl(sorry, not really sure of the right part here) drop, but no motion. After manually moving the loco back and forth an inch or 2, it will then run perfectly.
Then, after warming up a bit, it will cycle perfectly anywhere on the layout, at anytime.
any idea what may be causing this? How tough is it to take apart the 2046? I have no problem servicing diesels, but after a tough time trying to get a 2025 apart and then back together, I shy away from servicing 4 or 6 wheel driver steamers.
It’s really easy to take apart a 2046. First thing you do is to remove the two flathead screws that hold the Ashpan & Rear Truck & remove said assembly.Next, unscrew the Four-Wheel Pilot Truck in Front & remove that assembly as well. Next will be a large Phillips Head Screw that holds the Front Cowcatcher/Pilot to the front of the Boiler Casting (This will be below where the Four-Wheel Truck was,it’s hard to miss) After that, Remove the Large Screw on top of the Boiler Casting, Just in front of the Reverse Unit Lever & presto! You can remove the whole Motor,smoke unit,reverse unit assembly. Most likely, The Motor will need a good cleaning & Oil on the moving Parts also. You can use Rubbing Alchohol,Q-tips, & a Clean Pencil Eraser to clean the motor. The Pencil Eraser is used to clean up the Commutator of the Motor & will make it shine again. The Reverse Unit may need to be taken apart in order to get it fully functioning again. Use a Pair of needle nose pliers for this & spread the sideframes of the e-unit apart & everything should fall out(spread apart the sideframes at the rear of the reverse unit where the wires come out) Use the pencil eraser to clean up the Copper Drum & a small finger nail file on the copper(or silver fingers) of the 4 & 2 finger contacts.Now ,if you’re unsure on how to take apart an e-unit, just take it over to a lionel service station if one is nearby & they should be able to help you out.After all of the above is done. Put your 2046 back together in the same order you took it apart. Take Care & I hope this helps. let us know what happens.
may not be the E unit. I would inspect the brushes and clean the commutator, then lube the shaft ends. lots of oil over the years mucks things up. also check the contacts and drum surface for corrosion. I clean them up with 1200 grit paper then blow all the scrapings out.
Another important tip here when opening up a 2046/2056 is to be careful of the handrails. If you don’t unseat them first carefully they cut up your paint job on the cow catcher during disassembly. Before I do any unscrewing I put small pieces of masking tape in front of the holes on the cow catcher where the rails fit in. With the pilot screw out I slight pull up and out on the handrails and let the wire ends rest on the masking tape. Then I remove the top boiler screw and lift the shell off.
During disassembly of my LTI 2046 Hudson, I snapped the (pilot?) screw that holds the front four wheel truck assembly to the main frame. In all probability, the screw was damaged about 20 years ago when I had taken the loco out of storage and had it cleaned and lubricated at my local repair shop. The screw may have been tightened down too much on reassembly and was simply waiting for the next unsuspecting disassembler (me) to suffer this dilemma.
Does anyone have any experience drilling one of these busted screws out and replacing the screw? This screw drops through about an 1/8" x 3/4 inch slot toward the rear of the truck belly and into a threaded screwhole on the loco frame. It also serves as the left and right stop for the truck. Now I have a 0-6-4 2046 Hudson!
The screw sheared off flat with the main frame of the loco. On closer examination, the broken screw (shiny silver in color) appears to be made of a softer or cheaper metal than the black screws holding on the rear truck assembly to the loco frame. The shaft under the head is smooth (ungrooved) fot about 1/8" before the threads start, probably so the slot in the truck belly can slide smoothly.
Olsens has a replacement screw, but I need to repair this pronto or the train I wanted to feature this Christmas around my tree will be sidelined. I was thinking of wrapping the exposed mechanicals to avoid getting shaving on the motor and magnatraction wheels, using a small drill bit to avoid stripping the thread grooves in the loco frame, and taking the unit into my local hardware store for a non lionel screw.
1.) Is there a special drill tip for this?
2.) Can this be done without retapping the threads? Retapping the frame means the Lionel replacement screw
You need to get a reverse drill bit designed for pulling out a broken screw. Sears sells them. Follow the directions and go slow. Drape a towel over as much of the motor as you can, and keep the loco on its side if you can. That way shavings will fall down away from the motor and not into the shell.
Best of luck and don’t despair! This too shall pass!
Thanks Jim. The drilling out the broken screw part is the one that concerns me more. And finding the correct screw. Diameter is less problematic because I have much of the broken screw. Length is another matter…
I will make a trip with my engine to my local hardware store to pick up the reverse drill bit, and look for some JB Wels and/or epoxy. I use my local hardware store because it is large and has a staff that will walk you to the product you are looking for and consult with others about your particular problem or application. Usually there is a solution amongst them, and they really seem to get enthusiastic when you come in with the dilemma of the month. They can probably find me a screw that will fit that has the collar beneath the screw head, correct diameter, and various lengths.
I did some reading here last night and heard some interesting approaches to stripped holes.
One poster suggested using a toothpick to put epoxy in the screw hole, letting it set up a bit, then coating the correct screw with vaseline, inserting it, and then letting the whole thing dry. He said it takes up the slack and creates screw threads in the hardened epoxy.
Then there was the toothpick bits jammed in the hole trick. And a lot of favorable post about the JB Weld product for this purpose.
I’ll post my results, good or bad. But I suspect the answer is at hand.
You could also put some grease or Vaseline around the hole before you drill out that screw. The shavings will stick to that before travelling further. Then can be wiped away when done.
If you can get the screw out Olsen’s Parts has a replacement. The part number is 2046-28. If you take care and drill it out correctly you won’t damage the threads unless they are already damageds from the initial overtightening. If you are worried about drilling the screw out take it to a good machine shop. I hope I have identified the right screw. I have a 2046 that came with a set that my grandfather bought me back in 1950. I love that engine! After over 40 years in storage I finally got the set out this year and have it all running except the pair of 2032’s I also was given. My advice on the engine is to clean the commutator and the pick ups with a pencil eraser. Deoxit is great for cleaning the other contacts. Let me know if I can get you any more info.
How much of the broken screw do you have? If you’re just missing the last couple threads of the screw, you may not need to drill at all. The new screw could be ground off enough to still hold. If the hole goes all the way through the casting, or won’t harm anything if it does, find the correct drill and tap combination, drill all the way through, follow with a well lubricated tap, and all should be well.
Thanks JimA: I got the reverse drill bit and some JB Weld, but I want to use the correct screw, so…
High Plains, you’re right. I found the 2046-28 pilot truck screw on Olsens and two other places. I did think a machine shop could get the broken screw out of the threaded hole in the loco frame. But that would be too easy. I need to suffer through this.
mpz: the screw sheared off smooth with the frame and there isn’t enough threaded part below the screw head to reach the frame hole.
Hopefully the reverse drill bit will “catch” enough to remove the screw. Make sure you begin drilling in the center of the screw, and keep drilling through the center. If the drill is not centered, you can do some real damage. A center punch would be advisable. Go slow, and it should be okay. The correct sized tap ( sometimes called a thread brush) would also be advisable, if nothing else to insure the threads in the casting are clean.
A friend down the street brought a '83 model to look at…turns out it’s E-unit had come unglued and shorted.
After I finished with the friend’s “old”, 24 year old Lionel, I was inspired to get started on another project I had sitting around. My dad’s old 2056/2046W had been sitting and wasn’t doing anything but activating the solenoid on the reversing unit. After using a combination of 900+ sandpaper, pencil erasers, q-tips, and some propanol on the commutator, brushes, reversing unit’s drum, and finger contacts it is now thundering down the track. I didn’t remove the finger contact boards but I used sandpaper folded over between the drum and the fingers. I’m not too happy with contact between the fingers and drum. I may go back and get that a little later. Ah, the smell of ozone and the blue glow arond the contacts…
Well here’s the other timely part of this post. When I was a kid and tried to clean this locomotive maybe 20+ years ago, I snapped off the screw that holds the shell (near the reverse switch) to the motor assembly. Since the tapped part of the motor assembly was threaded all the way through, I was able to just run the screw out the bottom side using a tiny drill bit. I’m guessing this is just an #6-32 machine screw with an oval head? Length? Any idea if you can get one of these locally (Houston) or am about to order a $0.25 screw? (Already tried a service center that seamed not to have any parts and another store in town.)
Good luck with the snapped screw. For that size of screw, I ended up using a tiny bit with a grip on it from a local hobby center. Of course I could get away using one with the normal rotation.
The other thing I did before the solenoid was even powering up was to clean the center rollers for track pickup inside and out with contact cleaner.
One is not necessarily born with self confidence or innate abilities. They must be taught. And I may be the poster child for “definitely not mechanically inclined or handy.” As a child with trains, my father (r.i.p.) was the chief toy train mechanic and financier.
There were two unexpected byproducts on my Christmas layout this year employing these many excellent suggestions on bringing the old 2046 loco (and others), 2046W tender, and track back up to snuff, as opposed of just keeping or getting them running again…
Years back my first pass at post-storage loco cleaning (just for Christmas) was crude and hit/miss. Cleaning and lubricating did not include commutator, brushes, and armature posts. This year, with JimA’s and other’s suggestions and guidance throughout these forums, I performed these measures (no broken wires, thank you) and popped the loco back on the track. Thank you so much for your encouragement. Wow! What a difference! And I probably should have installed some new brushes, brush springs, and purchased some contact cleaner while I was at it, so these now go on my shopping list. And I get to take the loco apart again.
Now for the unexpected and pleasing byproducts of this second round of loco maintenance. The loco runs so much better and at lower voltage I had to pull more cars out of storage (and clean and lube them, for increased drag) so that:
!.) the tender whistle would operate, and
2.) I’d still get a decent amount of smoke out of the engine’s original smoke unit, and
3.) the train would still stay on the tracks.
Now it’s back to the 2046W tender whistle posts in this forum to “redo” that stuff. The only thing I left off that process was cleaning the internal contacts and chec