A growling 4-8-2 light mountain

[bmjcook]

Gidday
            I have a Spectrum light mountain that growls in forward and reverse. I have taken the loco apart and greased the worm gear and oiled the motor bearings lightly. All other oiling points have been oiled as well. This has not stopped the growling. I have three other light mountains and they run perfectly. What could I be missing here, has anyone else had this problem and solved it?.....Cookie

[Len]

Check that the motor mount is tight. I have a Mantua 4-6-2 that had a slightly loose motor out of the box. Drove me crazy trying to figure out where the noise was coming from until I pulled the body and felt the vibration when I put power to the motor.

Also check your wheel gauge. If it's too tight you might have a wheel rubbing against the body.

Len

[jonathan]

Also, check the wheel cover plate at the bottom of the locomotive.  No need to remove it.  Sometimes that plate is overtightened at the factory.  This can mishape the plate and cause the main gear to slightly rub against the plate.  A quarter turn or less (lefty loosey) may quiet the loco down.  Just something else to check.  This happened to me with an 0-6-0.

Regards,

Jonathan

[bmjcook]

Thanks Len and Johnathon, I will check these suggestions and let you know what happens. These will be easy solutions if they work. Off to the shed to see if I can quieten the growling beast!! ..... Cookie

[bmjcook]

Gidday again Len and Johnathon
                                                     When I checked the motor it was loose so I packed a piece of styrene between the frame and the motor which has quietened it down. Thanks once again for the suggestions......Cookie

[uscgtanker]

I have the same problem with a specrum GP-40 husle Musle loco. I found that the axles were rubing on the frame. I still wanted that growling noise for relisim but I removed the wheels filled the mounts with a fine round fiel. That quited the noice and reduced wear on the axles. With you Mountain check the axles if there is a line or rough on the axles fille the mounts.