Issues with a Athearn RTR AC4400


jbovinette

jbovinette

Florida Railroads
Hey guys,

I just bought a Athearn RTR AC4400 brand new never been run. I put it on the tracks to test it out and it sounds like a Lawn Mower! I have opened it up to see if anthing was touching the motor or the gears to make it do that. And I have found nothing. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,
John
 
I have heard some people have bad experiences with RTR and Genesis locos from Athearn, where others have them run flawlessly out of the box. I think there is plenty of ways to fix the sound. I'll let others who know more about it post though :eek:

Mike
 
my best guess is that you have a broken gear, or something you can't see is touching the drive train. If I were you, I would pull the shell back off again 9if it has been re-mounted) and get close to the engine while its running and see where the sound originates from. You could also put it on a DC test track (or a section of your layout) and hold up one truck from the track while the other spins in place...This will allow you to hear where the sounds are coming from. Of course, last but not least (and highly unlikely for a new Athearn from my experience) try to rotate the wheels on any of the 6 axles in opposite directions. If they can turn opposite of eachother easily, the plastic gear may be broken. These are very easy to come by although not very likely to break on anything but some runs of Proto 2000 locomotives. Again, get as close to the loco as you can when its running (hold it in place) and try carefully to hear where its coming from. I have had similar problems (only with Athearn's and Proto 2000's) and its not that these engines aren't good quality, but just like anything else assembly line built, nothing is perfect! Hope this helps!

-Rich
 
Where did you buy it? Online or LHS? If I were you I would return it for a new one.

That's the beauty of supporting your LHS, if it doesn't work right, return it. Or you could just call Athearn tech support.
 
I only have experience with one diesel, the Genesis SD75M, but in two issues. of that model separated by maybe three or four years. On one of them, the engine made a noise that could be described as if it had a small internal combustion engine in it, like a mini-diesel. I lifted the shell and found that the wires to the ditch lights were impacting one of the truck final drive gears. The teeth set the insulation on the wire to chattering.

If you don't have a broken gear (and don't be dismayed if you do...this singular problem afflicts several manufacturers...) then I would suspect that the lowered, snapped into place shell has a component forcing the wire to make contact with the rotating gear.

-Crandell
 
You may want to write to parts@athearn.com. Ive had excellent luck dealing with them. At most, it may cost you shipping to send the engine to them. They will take typically about 10 days and fix it/replace it. Ive had excellent customer service dealing with them directly.
 
Thank your lucky stars that yours only makes noise. The wires in mine heated up and set fire to the board on it's very first test run. I ended up stripping it for parts which I used to rebuild an Athearn SDP40F. I traded the AC4400 body and frame for some freight cars.
 
I have one on the way. First thing I better do is check it out. Hope there is nothing wrong with it as it is a real pain dealing with that sort of thing down here.
 
Fixed

I called Athearn and they told me to loosen the engine mount a little and it worked. It was way over tightened. The screws were extremely tight and hard to turn. I loosened the screws and it runs very quiet.

Thanks for all the info,
John
 
I just picked up a Katy SD40-2 that suffers from the same problem. I'll give the screws a quarter turn and see what happens. Thanks for the information!
 
hmm, ironically, you'd think that the motor not being secured to the frame may cause the noise, but then again, if the driveshafts are out of alignment due to the motor sitting too snugly against the frame, that can cause the noise.
 
diburning said:
hmm, ironically, you'd think that the motor not being secured to the frame may cause the noise, but then again, if the driveshafts are out of alignment due to the motor sitting too snugly against the frame, that can cause the noise.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what happens..My last HO Atlas engine(a GP38-2) sounded like it was imitating a older BB locomotive..I loosen the motor screw and all was well.

The model producing contractors needs to get their employees act together.
 
Again!?!

I got received a GP38-2 brand new from them and the same thing happened. Over tightening of the engine mount.

Dont know what going on over there!

John
 
Undoubtedly, Athearn and Atlas have already contacted their suppliers and the next batch they receive will be fine. At least, it was an easy fix and not one that called for the return/replacement of the engine.

It could have been more serious like the issues with pre-Walthers P2K B-drive engines(Geeps, BL2's, F-units, etc) that entailed tearing the engine down to replace a faulty/broken gear. luckily, again, except for more a more complicated repair, another relatively easy fix.

Bob
 
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