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How to Fix TYCO Engine.

64K views 48 replies 17 participants last post by  Jim ACDAT 
#1 ·
I have a TYCO Santa FE engine from the mid 80's that has not been used in a while. The wheels will not turn. When I increase the throttle I hear a sound as if the engine wants to turn but it doesn't.
 
#2 · (Edited)
Clean it and lube it. Then give 'er a whirl. If it doesn't work, clean it and lube it some more.

I have some old 1950's engines that almost met my hammer, before they broke free.

Use one of those compressed air cans to blow things out, along with a brush to help break things free and clear the motor of debris.

Clean the wheels also. You may not be getting enough "juice" to the motor. Amperage loss due to oxidation and grime.

Bob
 
#3 ·
Welcome to the forum...



Sounds like the pinion gear on the power truck is stripped, a common problem with Tyco "Power Torque" trucks. Because there are no spare parts made or available anymore, there are three options for most folks...

---toss it if there's no sentimental value, they are quite common...

---make it a shelf queen until you can find another Tyco to strip for its power truck...they all used the same mechanism, regardless of model...

---repower it with an Athearn or other brand mechanism that will fit under the shell, like I did with this Tyco Chattanooga GP20...

 
#40 · (Edited)
New Option Tyco Power Torque Motors - Upgraded Magnets



I had to revive this thread for those who may have dead or poorly running Power Torque (PT) motors. I almost tossed out my Chattanooga GP-20 until I seen what Shaygetz did with his, so I repowered mine with a Mantua MU-2. Not as fancy or as nice running as with an Athearn mechanism, but she runs gain and I even created a dummy unit.



So that put my GP-20 back on the rails, but it does nothing for a dead PT. I've found that the slot car fans have loads of custom parts available, including some very strong magnets. I've done a lot of testing and measurements and found that PTs can be easily upgraded with minor modifications. I used Dash Motorsports magnets at $3.50 / pair to upgrade a few engines, available from eBay seller jaghobbies.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/jaghobbies/m.html?item=181633328904&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

They're much stronger than the stock Tyco magnets and really tame the PT while significantly increasing the torque. Poly magnets and Neodymium magnets are also available, but the Neodymium are too strong for the PT and it won't run. The best value are the blue & white Dash Motorsports Ferrite magnets.










The above images and video are from a Chattanooga 2-8-0 tender drive that I did a lot of my test and measurements with. Below is my dual PT C-430.







 
#5 · (Edited)
Hi and Welcome!
Tyco has the worst record for recovery. If it wants to turn but doesn't look at the gear drive in the truck. A mount could of broken off. Remove that gear. If the gear powers only one axle it will run with the other,if not your done.It will not go if you are missing traction tires. You can remove all the gears and use it as a dummy.
You are lucky you have a three Bob answer.:thumbsup:

.


Does it look look this?
 
#26 · (Edited)
honestly with these you only need to remove two gears, the small one thats between the drive wheels, and the bigger one that sits (touches) the little gear between the drive wheels that you see when the engine is upside down, I did that and I successfully converted my tyco shark to a "dummy" with its weight incase I ever want to swap it all back in and use it...


I will admit that to me Tycos are cheeply made, but if it wasn't for them I wouldn't have really gotten most of my interest, ok it was I think the engine (Atherin) my parents bought me that got me started...but the tycos got me back into the hobby as they were cheap, and I got tons of there rolling stock freight and pass cars (three pass cars at least 12 freight)...so yea I like them, and heck i may keep getting the tyco stuff just because it works...and if it breaks I can use it in my layout scenery later in life :D
 
#9 ·
That's great...even Tyco has a respected place in model railroading---even if it's the butt of jokes. Long live Tyco...
QUOTE]

If it were not for Tyco and the lowest level Life Like made when I was a kid I would not be in this hobby. I hate to say this but a Tyco from EBay will probably be my first kid's train. Cheep and if it breaks I have lost nothing of value.

I have found several of the Tyco rolling stock to be good runners. I commonly run some of their gons, tanks and hoppers. The work as well as my Bachmann ones.
 
#10 ·
If it were not for Tyco and the lowest level Life Like made when I was a kid I would not be in this hobby.
I love them myself and cringe at the thought that I've defaced a couple with weathering and Kadee couplers over the years. Now I leave them alone, if they don't run fine, if they do, even better. They have a growing fan following too, now that that generation is getting up in years...yikes...

 
#12 ·
Hey VictoriaVA,

I have an late '70's Tyco Sante Fe diesel that I'm trying to fix, too. The engine runs fine, but the rear end of the rear plastic truck that houses the coupler is broken off. I have no way to attach other cars. So ...

I'm bidding on a cheap equivalent on ebay ($4.49 so far!). If I get it, I'm gonna strip whatever parts I need. Then, after that ...

Your welcome to whatever motor componets are left over, if you still need them.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I've got a bunch of their rolling stock from the late 70's and they run great. I've found quite a few of their loco's for free on craigslist, broken of course but they make great scenery for repair yards and junk yards.

@ TJcruiser, would those late 70's Santa Fe's happen to be blue and yellow F7a Warbonnet's? just asking since I have like 5 of the shells for them (no guts) and I see them a lot on craigslist.
 
#14 ·
@ TJcruiser, would those late 70's Santa Fe's happen to be blue and yellow F7a Warbonnet's? just asking since I have like 5 of the shells for them (no guts) and I see them a lot on craigslist.
Nope. The Tyco locos I have are standard silver and red Santa Fe paint schemes.

I ebay bought #2 to use some rear truck parts to fix #1. #1 is up and running, and #2 is sitting idle ... if you or anyone would like some parts ... cheap!

I can post pics if anyone is interested.

Cheers,

TJ
 
#17 ·
Dredging up an ancient thread, I know, but... I'd like to thank you guys. I joined this forum because it's the only one I've run across where someone said something nice about TYCO, instead of pure TYCO-bashing.

Okay, maybe they aren't the highest-class out there. Maybe they did get a little silly. They were also just about the least-expensive RTR sets out there, and graced many a Christmas morning for a lot of kids (I actually know of a few girls who wanted - and got - a TYCO train set). As others have pointed out, there's a whole bunch of folks in model railroading right now who would have never even made it through the door if it weren't for TYCO. But I know, I'm preaching to the choir.

Howdy there, Mr. Shaygetz - that Athearn-repowered TYCO Chattanooga GP20 you showed a picture of. You wouldn't happen to have a write-up on how you did that, would you? I'm expecting three "maybe DOA" locomotives in the mail tomorrow (one TYCO F unit, one TYCO ALCO, and one "mystery steamer"), and I've never tried my hand at repowering like that before. I'd appreciate knowing a few of the "gotcha's" before running into them the hard way.

OH! And...uh...hi guys, I'm Lee, and I'm a trainaholic. Nothing set up at the moment, but I'm working on getting my old TYCO Spirit of '76 set up and running, alongside my father's TYCO (red and silver) Santa Fe, plus these new engines, and whatever else I can come up with. HO scale, of course, but I'd like to do N scale too, and at some point I want to model a section of the old El Paso & Southwestern line, circa 1923.
 
#20 ·
Lee R was back and said nothing.....I guess he joined Tyco forums.:D

I would guess no one trashes Tyco's over there.:laugh:
 
#24 ·
Thanks Mr. Shaygetz! Good old-fashioned kitbashing. I guess it's just a matter of finding the right undercarriage, and they threw out a number of ideas that I can work with. :thumbsup:

And I'm not saying "everybody" bashes TYCO, it's just that the majority of posts I found on searches seemed to have an arrogant, condescending tone. This forum seems like a "kinder, gentler forum" (no politics intended!)

And Big_Ed, you're right - I "was" here yesterday and didn't reply. Didn't feel like doing a lot of things. I'll go into details in a PM, if you wish, but suffice it to say, I never realized SO many things you do are connected to one small area of your body!! ;)
 
#25 ·
I thought you broke your keyboard signing up for the Tyco site.:D
One site that won't have any Tyco bashing, I would think.;)
If it makes you happy I think we did have a few here put down Tyco, but it didn't last long.

I'll go into details in a PM, if you wish, but suffice it to say, I never realized SO many things you do are connected to one small area of your body!!

Would the small part be called a brain?:laugh:
I AM JUST KIDDING!!!:eek::D:D

Why PM? you can tell us all.......if you want.:p

Some come and ask then come back get an answer and leave, no thanks to anyone. I tried to dig up Shaygetz's thread for you and could not find it, I knew I saw it somewhere.
Now I know it wasn't here. But over there.

Stick around, pop in every so often, so our Tyco men don't get lonely.
Happy Tyco-ing to you.
 
#32 ·
#36 ·
Head-smack

Good, old-fashioned JB Weld - now why didn't I think of that?! :( Thanks, T-Man.

I'm in the same boat as steam chaser - an F7 that is missing both wheel covers on the rear truck, and a C430 that is missing both front covers. Unfortunately, I don't have the parts to piece together.

Now, if I had paid more attention in metal shop (and possibly gotten into the trade), I suppose I could carefully remove the remaining covers, make a mold of them, and cast some new ones out of aluminum. I'd make a fortune - non-breaking Tyco wheel covers! :laugh:
 
#38 ·
Good, old-fashioned JB Weld - now why didn't I think of that?! :( Thanks, T-Man.

I'm in the same boat as steam chaser - an F7 that is missing both wheel covers on the rear truck, and a C430 that is missing both front covers. Unfortunately, I don't have the parts to piece together.

Now, if I had paid more attention in metal shop (and possibly gotten into the trade), I suppose I could carefully remove the remaining covers, make a mold of them, and cast some new ones out of aluminum. I'd make a fortune - non-breaking Tyco wheel covers! :laugh:
There's an idea then they would be weighted. :)
If you could make a rubber mold of the original .
 
#41 · (Edited)
Good Evening, I am new to the forum. I recently started working with my HO model trains after a significant period of time. I was pleasantly surprised to find that three of my old Tyco locomotives actually ran after surviving my child hood, sitting under the outside stairs of my mothers house for 30 years and spending another 15 years on a shelf in my garage. I have subsequently taken them all apart cleaned and lubricated them and reinstalled missing truck covers. I have also bought quite a few new to me Tyco locomotive for parts or repair and so far all of them have been able to be repaired. I am currently waiting for a few parts so I can get my Tyco Spirit of 1776 Alco locomotive put back together. I had quite a few parts in with my trains that were left from trains that did not survive my childhood, but brushes, springs, motor armatures and pinion gears were in short supply. I ordered several different sizes of slot car brushes, springs and pinion gears and I found some that work with the Tyco power torque motors. I still have not found a source for power torque motor armatures, but I will keep looking. I have missed spending time with model trains and I am looking forward to building a layout over the next year and learning about DCC control systems. I have bought a few newer Athearn and Bachman trains, but I have a lot to learn about the newer technology that is available today. I am just as happy working on my old Tyco's as I am working on a new Athearn. I have been reading this forum and it is good to see not everyone hates on old Tyco trains. I spent many an hour with my Tyco model trains as a kid and I have enjoyed working on fixing my old trains and fixing the new to me trains.
 
#43 ·
Most of us don't hate Tycos... we just recognize that there is much better stuff available today. Most of us also don't have your level of enjoyment for repairing them either... that's one part of the hobby that I would gladly do without (personally). Those locos from my childhood which failed to operate after a clean and lube (or which proved too difficult to convert to DCC -- a whole other ball of wax, as you will soon discover), were soon disposed of. I sold a box of it to a fellow Hobbyist for $25. Some of it can now be seen as static locos on the layouts at the Pizzaworks restaurant jn Old Saybrook, CT.
 
#45 ·
I am a tinkerer by nature and taking things apart and putting them back together or building something new has always been something I enjoy. I have been pleasantly surprised that my wife is supporting my re-entry into model railroading. I don't know to what level I will modify or upgrade my Tyco locomotives, but as I learn more about the new technologies I am sure there will be parts left over from upgrades of other locomotives that I can use to upgrade my Tyco's. I am looking forward to building a DD35 A and B locomotive as my first major build. I have an Athearn Blue Box DD40 to build the DD35A and I have a newly made DD35B shell and frame to build a DD35B from Bachmann DDA40X trucks and parts. I am currently planning on building a dual motor Tyco Power Torque powered locomotive. But the most important part of it all, is I am having fun.
 
#47 ·
547499

This is the next TYCO locomotive project. I now have enough parts to refurb this old locomotive. When I got into my old trains there were three locomotives that were incomplete and of the three this is the only one that will ever see the track again. I am going to put it back together with two Mantua MU-2 power trucks. I have several Power Torque trucks, but none are able to run as of this time. She is not pretty, but she will run again.
 
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