Part 2. The repair attempt on the broken N-scale Intermountain SD40-2 Trains with Shane Ep94

Thank you to those whom had suggestions in the comment section of Part 1. Today we put some of that to the test!

[@engineerpat5290]

WE HAVE A WINNER!! This is awesome shane! That unit is back to live!!! I love it!! Well done!! Great 2 part series!!! Sometimes the items you have at home can save you some money! As they say if it works, it works!

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thanks Pat! Yep I like cheap fixes.

[@user-rb1ey8zc3e]

It"s really the strange case ! Never seen this before! Congrats,Shane ! Unusual solution!😮

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thanks! Although from some of the feedback that i've received others have experienced this as well. Although not all due to the same reason. Some have mentioned misalignments in the motor mounting system, frame halves being bent, etc.

[@1621billw]

This really takes me back. I used to work as a TV Broadcast Engineer. This is classic trouble shooting at its best and I find both fun and interesting to watch. Thanks for the video. BTW, if you ever decide to convert it to DCC, you might want to replace the painters tape with kapton tape.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thanks Bill! I don't think this thing will be getting a DCC conversion. At least not yet. I believe this chassis is actually set up for a drop in sound decoder so I don't think any electrical isolation would be required anyway. Now that being said Kapton would still be the safer bet. i worked for years troubleshooting PC hardware and software issues in my early I.T. days. I had a pretty good handle on how to troubleshoot. And having spare like hardware always made things easy.

[@Sormovo]

Nice work!

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thanks!

[@MattKonsol]

Nice repair work on this sd40-2 locomotive! Runs better and smooth as a top. I like that Bachmann dda40x you have right there in n scale.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thanks Matt!

[@trainsforbrains]

SMART! I have one that growls on occasion. Next time it starts making noise, I'm going to try the tape trick!

[@Trains-With-Shane]

if it doesn't growl with the shell off then it may very well be suffering similarly to this unit.

[@alcobufff]

Hi Shane!
On viewing your video very carefully, I noticed a few things. 1st, there are drag marks on the flywheels of the KCS unit, in the from of lines that go all the way around the flywheels. 2nd, the gap between the frames of the chassis on the the KCS unit is slightly wider then that of Sothern Pacific unit. This would explain the rubbing that that takes place regardless of which shell is placed on the chassis. I would pull split the frame and look at the insulators and see of they were correctly installed from the factory, or have been warped, I have run into this with atlas U25b's. Also, insure that the motor cradle is installed correctly.
Great video as always!

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Hey Peter! I'll have to take a closer look next time. Might be a good idea for me to get a set of feeler gauges as well. Which I could also use for automotive applications.

[@aceadman]

Nice work. It COULD be a permanent fix. I find that the more times I take a loco apart, the closer I get to breaking something on it that is inevitably unobtainium. If it’s working well…let it be… until it isn’t… 😊👍👍

[@Trains-With-Shane]

That's how I roll! 😎