Hello all, I have a couple of Marklin BR89 locos; one new (old stock), one used. I've stripped them down for a repaint, and now it's time to re-assemble I'm experiencing some weirdness - the axles are making an occasional clicking sound when I roll the chassis by hand on the rails (without motor). I've tried many combinations on both locos, with and without idler gears, with and without the two front axles etc. and it seems to persist. The gear teeth look ok, and it happens on both locos. I'm utterly stumped at this point, simply cannot fathom what could be causing the noise. When all gears are installed, it will also occasionally 'bind' up and release with an audible click. I want to use these two locos as switchers, and they'll be fitted with new coreless motors and DCC for super low speed operation. However, this gearing issue is preventing them from reliable smooth (and relatively quiet) running. Any ideas please? I'm completely out of ideas. Open to custom re-gearing options or even replacing locos if it's likely to help. Thank you!
You need to resequence the gears and drivers. The binding and clicking noise you are hearing is because one or more of the gears and side rods are not properly aligned. likely its just one gear one tooth out of alignment. once you get it properly sequenced it should roll free and smooth. This video might help
David's solution is very likely the right one, but I once had the same problem with one of my N Scale locomotives and I finally looked at each gear with a jeweler's loupe and found a tiny bit of ballast seated at the base of one tooth. It was the source of trouble.
Thank you. Is it possible to still have the gears incorrectly sequenced if the side rods only attach to one wheelset? Right now I'm testing with side rods removed. Wondering if any of these parts are direction specific or if it's possible for them to jump out of sequence even without side rods to contend with. (I do have another loco with more complex side rods and the video will be a huge help.) Thanks again.
