Doodlebug

[rich1998]

Good trouble shooting. Watch the diagram.
Pay close attention during pulling apart. Take photos.
You might also ask at trains.com forums. Many users there also. Photos might help. You will need a photo hosting site to post photos. Use the Model Railroader forum.

Rich

[WoundedBear]

Yes it does matter which side gets the "plastic bushing" .

Usually that bushing is an insulator to keep both sides separate for the pickups. Pay close attention to those insulators. Get one out of place and you have a short.

Sid

[rich1998]

Good point. I forgot the box has a polarity issue. Split chassis.

Rich

[graywolf]

I should have asked this before. I am going to pull the wheel and gear off so I can replace it if I can just buy the gear. If it is too difficult I may have to buy the assembly with the gear already installed on a new wheel set. So which side should I attempt to remove ---the side with the plastic insulator or the uninsulated side?

[graywolf]

Update ---made up a gear puller using 4 screws attached to my wood vise. Placed the wheel set between the screws and backed the vise jaws out. The wheel with the bushing came off. The gear just slid off since it was cracked. Ordered new gears from NWSL. Will let you know how things go.

[graywolf]

My new gears came in 3 days from NWSL. Went on easy with the use of my vise and the measurements taken before disassembly. So now she runs without any hop, skip or jump. The worst part is trying to get 77 year old fingers to hold the small bits. Very satisfying seeing her run!!

[ebtnut]

Congrats on a successful repair job!