American Flyer motor locks up

I have an American Flyer steam engine, probably 40 or 50 years old. It used to run fine, but now it seems to have a motor/linkage issue. Motor will not turn driving linkage, regardless of supply voltage. Trying to rotate locomotive driving wheels helps a little, but stops instantly. I have experience in repair of many things, and have done the following: Carefully disassembled armature, stator, worm and bull gear, removed driving rods from driver. Cleaned, inspected and lubed/graphite where appropriate. No heavily worn or excessively loose parts noted. Field windings appear to be undisturbed, but I have not applied a meter, and don't know what the OEM ohm reading shoud be for the windings. All parts appear to be intact. Reassembled and rotated by hand the motor armature and it drove the worm gear/driving wheel easily and without binding. However, applied effort from the driving wheel to attempt rotation of the armature caused lock up. Slop in armature end play noted. No spring loaded or tesnion device found for armature- I don't know if it should have end play or not- it seems to be about 1/8 inch or less. This is not a high precision motor, so I'm not thinking this is a grave concern.

I have a feeling this is a mechanical issue rather than electrical. If I had to guess, I'd say there is an issue with the worm gear and armature backlash, although the worm and bull gear do not exhibit unusual wear. Never having repaired these, the possibility exists that I've missed something key. Question: What is the common failure of these engines in this regard? And, are replacement parts available for the prescribed remedy?

valleydivision-Welcome to the forums! I should preface my remarks by stating that I know little about American Flyer but do have some experience with the repair of Marx trains.

I've read your post twice now and a couple of points are unclear-if I somehow missed them I apologize in advance:

1. Have you applied power to the motor without it being in the mechanism?

2. Have you tried rolling the mechanism without the motor attached?

Unless I've missed something, it sounds as though the mechanism is binding somewhere. You didn't note it specifically but what type of locomotive is this? I'm especially interested in the number of drivers. The drive rod mechanism could be worn but not particularly apparent.

For a source of American Flyer replacement parts try:

http://americanflyertrainparts.com/default.aspx

You might also want to consider joining one of the Yahoo groups dedicated to American Flyer. Quite possibly someone there has experienced your same problem and can offer some sage advice. Here are 2 groups I found on a quick search:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Trains/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AmericanFlyerTrains/

I'm a member of a couple of Marx groups and troubleshooting loco problems seems to be a predominating theme. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

Thanks for your input! To answer your questions, the unit is basically integral to the engine frame, and I tested the motor with test leads to the pole terminals using an American Flyer transformer. This was done with the shell removed and after the cleaning and lubrication. There are actually three of these engines (they are three steam engines, probably 40-50 years old) , all suffering the same problem. Thanks you for your links! I had trouble researching this yesterday. Also, on AltamontPress.com discussion board, a fellow suggested that the problem most likely falls with the reversing contactor/mechanism within the tender body. It seems the contacts there get corroded with time and that is where the power supply is fed from to the actual motor itself which is in the steam engine locomotive. This condition produces the problem I'm having, and I'll be looking at that first and see where it goes! Thanks again!

Hello: Dear Valleydivision. Let me start by saying I'm new to this forum. But not to fixen flyer. Been collecting for about 25 yrs. and repairing for about 20 yrs. I read your motor lock up post. As long as nothing is bent I can guarantee you it isn't a lock up problem.. You should not be able to rotate the drive wheels. The worm gear on the end of the armature shaft is locked in between the drive and smoke gears. There are many factors too look at. Brush ware, brush spring tension, slop in the armature shaft where it fits into brush holder. Is the shaft bent. The list goe's on. It would help if I knew the # of the engine. Flyer used several diferent armatures. 1/2" or 3/4" side mount or rear mount. 1/2" should ring out at about 1.5 OHM and 3/4" should be about 0.8 measureing across any 2 of the comutators. Then move to the wire harness. Do a continuity test of all 4 wires in the harness. Now the eunit, check both top and botom fingers for contact against the drum. check drum for flat spots or burn spots on the contacts. And lastly check wiring coming from front and rear trucks. Try to isolate things and deal with one thing at a time.. It would be a good idea to get new brushes, brush springs and fingers. Space between the drivers should be about the width of a dime. Let me know if you get it going. [email protected]

Thanks! I had a similar reply about a week ago from another forum. At this point, the main concern on both engines is drum contact fingers fouled with corrosion/dirt and brush rigging gooey, keeping brushes out of proper setting. Preliminary repairs indicate near success. Awaiting new brushes that are on order.

I suggest you spray the reversing unit with WD-40. It is a great contact cleaner and will dissolve the corrosion. I have fixed many Lionel E relays with it. Don't over do it, it doesn't take much, and wipe off the excess. It will leave a light film of oil which will prevent further corrosion, and also lube the mechanism. I recently brought a 60 year old Lionel engine back to life by a quick shot of WD to the E relay. The plunger in the E relay was stuck in the up position. The engine was run last in 1965.

Bruce Baker