Well, my first ever locomotive was a Life-LIke GP-38. I have had problems since day one. It keeps stalling out, going only a couple of feet without a nudge? Is there any way to fix this? My hobby shop guy thinks its a pick up motor…but is there anything I can do before spending money on it?
One of my first thoughts is how clean is the track and the locomotive wheels? If they are both really dirty it can certainly ruin your day.
Also, check all the electrical connections and pick-up connections. Any loose or dirty connections or half soldered connections will cause a stalling problem. Then check the routing of all wires and make sure the trucks are not pinching them when they move.
Good luck, electrical problems are madding.
Am I better off just sending it to my hobby shop and paying 5 bucks for it to be repaired? I honestly have to say I have no idea where to begin with electrical connections, etc. And what is the best way to clean a locomotive?
Since it could be a mechanical problem too, like a small burr or piece of dirt on a drive gear, $5 to give the headache to someone else and gain the right to complain, is worth it. 
I wouldnt pay for it to be repaired. If its a life like (non P2K) its hardly worth 5 bucks. I think you should clean the wheels and track and if it still doesnt work tear it apart and look for the problem.
If that Life Like diesel is one of the el-cheapos with just one powered truck that used the infamous Pancake drive (motor mounted inside the truck tower itself), throw it in the garbage. It’s not worth the box it’s shipped in.
Pancake-motor locos are notoriously unreliable. One should look for all-wheel-drive locos with a center-chassis-mounted motor, like the Proto 2000s, Atlas, Athearn, Kato, etc. Those are a lot more reliable.
Missed the basic Life-Like part. I agree with Long Island and JPM.
I don’t in any way want to sound condecending here, but rubbishing the guy’s engine and recommending a replacement with a much more expensive item is good advice on the one hand but some can’t have that luxury, and before I went that route myself I had some good rummers with the pancake motor. We’re not all rich.
Okay, well since I’m already short on cash and need to spend a lot more on track…I’ll just toss it. OR I could spray paint it and make a Santa Fe into an unnamed switcher!
mj3200:
Good-running engines don’t have to be expensive.
I purchased two Proto 2000 Alco S-1 engines from Trainworld for $30 apiece. All-wheel-drive, flywheel-equipped, easily converted to DCC (isolate motor and plug in a standard 8-pin decoder). Beautiful runners, super reliable.
Or you can hunt around trainshows or ebay and pick up an Athearn blue-box or two, usually around $30 or so. Very good engines, much more reliable than pancake-motors, the Athearn BBs are very rugged, built to take a licking and keep on ticking, and can last darn near forever if you take care of them right. I got an Athearn BB GP38-2 I purchased in 1988 and it runs as good today as it did back then. And it never had any of the issues that plague pancake-motor locos.
A good loco is a good investment. It will make your hobby that much more enjoyable and that much less frustration.
The Life-Like GP38s have 4 wheels on the back that pick up electricity. Those might be dirty, along with the track. I’ve heard alcohol works for cleaning wheels and track. If that doesn’t work, then maybe there’s a loose wire under the shell or something like that.
Excess Oil??? Might be worth taking off the shell and wiping off excess oil on all the brass contacts. I’ve bought a few new engines that sometimes have excess oil. Even a few that have seeped thru the cracks in the body frame/shell onto the paint. Oil on the contacts to the trucks can stop the engine. It might run a little bit and then stop a lot, sounds like the symtoms. Doesn’t matter what the price of the engine is, over lubrication will kill it.
Clean the track and the wheels. If it’s a standard line Life-Like, it has 4 wheel pickup and 4 wheel drive. I’d ditch it and get something better, at least an Athearn (which is about all I use).
If you find it’s going to the trash, save the shell to be a victim for air brush practice or anything else suitable for a ginea pig.
Bob K.
I think people missed the boat on this one. This is perrfect to begfin to learn how locos are built and how to fix them. Start with cleaning as suggested. If that doesn’t work take it apart and see what you can learn about why it has problems. You will either fix it or learn why not. If you throw it away, you are wasting a learning experience.If you wanyt, go with the 5 bucks and the loco to the shop and watch while they fix it.
KM - Before you do anything else try cleaning the track and wheels. No matter what you get and how much it costs, you’re still going to have to learn to do basic cleaning and maintainence so why not start now? I now have a fair bunch of new stuff, but I still clean up my old cheap stuff and run it now and then. It is your railroad after all. J.R.
I don’t see the learning experience from working on a pancake engine. Other than finding a broken wire or replacing a rubber tire there’s not much else worth servicing. These engines are of a totally toy design compared to an all wheel drive center motored quality loco worth actually learning about. If this was some old Athearn or Rocco, yes explore and experiment to your hearts content.
Bob K.
I’d start by cleaning the wheels and track with some Goo Gone on a paper towel. That should get things running better. If not, than the engine might have some dirty electrical contacts somewhere. If your GP38 uses metal tabs to get power from the wheels, maybe one of those got bent? This can lead to annoying running problems. If that checks out too, something might be wrong with the motor.
Pancake motors have a reputation for unreliability, mainly because of the junk Tyco was putting out years ago. I had a few Bachmann (non-Spectrum series) F units that used a similar motor, and didn’t have any problems with them. However, if the motor does fail, it sometimes can cost more than a new engine. The Fs were reliable and ran for 15 years. I finally ‘retired’ them in the late '90s after they finally died.