remotor

Jim,

If you decide to do the re-motor, you can contact Athearn Service or parts guy and get a Genesis up grade motor, or a replacement in kind.  I have had wonderful experiences with the parts guy.   You will have to look at the exploded parts diagram, and get the part number, or look at the Athearn site for the part number for the Genesis upgrade.

Anyway, remove the fuel tank cover, remove the coupler boxes, remove the shell, remove the electronic board that clips to the top of the motor, then remove the motor hold down screws and remove the motor, or if you have the old type of motor hold downs, push from under the locomotive to remove the motor and the hold downs ( I have always had to push hard, and they are hard to reinstall ).  Then remove the clips that hold down the trucks.  With the truck clips out of the way, you can take the drive shafts out of the flywheels.  With the drive shafts out of the fly wheels, you can completely remove the motor.  Be careful to not lose any parts.  Reverse the process to reinstall.  Be careful with the electronic board, and the wire connections.

Hope this helps, if all else fails, Athearn customer service is great,

Roger Bodwell

La Luz, NM

Roger, Of course if Athearn

Roger,

Of course if Athearn can replace the motor for me or send me the part since the one I have is basically defective.  I'll try contacting them about that.

I have had various SD's apart but I haven't replaced the motor in them so thanks for the info and comments!

Cheers, Jim

Try a bit of diagnosis first.

If it's squealing. it's most likely the motor bearings.  A drop of light oil would fix that.

Remotoring Athearn Diesels

Jim, Years ago I re-motored an Athearn GP38-2 with a flat can motor from NorthWest Short Line. To hold the motor in the frame I used silicone caulk. You have to measure the shaft size of the Athearn motor to get the correct motor from NWSL. The NWSL motor is not a drop in replacement, but I seem to remember they had a flat can motor with the same diameter output shaft as the stock Athearn motor, allowing you to remove the flywheels from the Athearn motor and place them on the new NWSL motor. The hardest part of the entire upgrade is getting the drive shaft straight and level. It sounds tough, but it wasn't all that complicated. 

Of course, the easiest thing to do, would probably be just purchase another can motor from Athearn.

I called Athearn and got a

I called Athearn and got a call back; yes suggested it had dried out while in the box and try lubricating.  Also he suggested loosening the motor mounts as the previous factory may have overtightened.  I'll try those things next chance I get next weekend.  

Squeal may not be motor

yes the motor bearings can squeal, but so can the truck tower worm bearings and the gear bearings in in the trucks.  Usually caused by dried up lube and grit.  The tower gear bearings tend to seize even when care is taken.  

If you decide to up grade motors, there are a number of choices.  I show some of the performance impacts here:http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/22270#comments

I have others, but this is a good indication of what to expect.  There are a number of choices that are just drop ins.  Others are almost.  Specific motor cradles are available for SD45 models that then allow easy installation of a can motor.  These use a silicone chalk to hold the cradle in place.  You may also have to go with dog bone shaft and coupling parts.  It can all add up. 

In the tests highlighted above a P2K motor does as well as a can motor in most aspects.  This is not to say that you can not find a can motor that will do better, but the P2K open frame motor is a good choice. Plus it may be had in a  used model for half a new can  or Genesis motor.  I have indications, other tests, that all the Genesis buys is lower dB's.  It may have lower current draw, but likely only .05 Amps.  Likely better for a sound application, but that will depend on the power requirements.

good luck with this project.

Motor replacement

I have not had to do it myself YET, but a popular alternative on another list is to replace the Athearn motor with one from Kato.

Don

Another option Jim.

The later issued Proto 2000 models copied Athearns drive train to a T.  I have been able to find older P2K motors at swap meets.  The do run smoother and do not draw as much amperage.  Best yet, they are a "drop in" conversion.  As for the drive shafts, you will need to keep the Athearn ones or convert everything P2K trucks and all.  Beware of the P2K axle gears, as those were a different plastic than Athearns.  Athearn still lists the gears as available on their web site. 

I'll follow Athearn's

I'll follow Athearn's suggestions first and see how that goes; will let y'all know.  If loosening the mount screws and lubricating doesn't do it, will look at the other suggestions posted.

Kato motor

That's what I did a few years ago when upgrading the old blue box GP38-2s.  Details are at  http://www.iaisrailfans.org/gallery/Upgrading-Athearn-Blue-Box-IAIS-GP38-2s .

Having done this many times,

Having done this many times, changing an Athearn motor is straightforward. Newer ones are screwed into the frame where older ones utilized press fit (hand pressure)  pads into the frame. A normal part of my decoder installs is removing the motor, drive line, and worm gears for cleaning and lubrication.

The wires are secured to the light board with black plastic clips. I discard these and solder the wire to the tabs when reassembling.

Some light boards are clipped onto the top motor brush spring retainer and are removed by gently prying the board free from the motor brush spring retainer. Be careful to not pull the retainer loose which could allow the brush spring to fly off into another galaxy. Others may be secured to a molded saddle with 2 tabs which capture the light board. Gently manipulate the tabs to free the board.

Like most manufacturers, the Athearn RTR line uses a hexagonal ended drive shaft to engage the flywheel. Some models may require removal of a screw attached weight in order to remove the drive shaft and work gear once the retainer is removed from the truck. If your motor has the mounting pads, the pad can be flexed with a small flat bladed screw driver to allow wiggling the motor free.

There will likely be a spring clip with motor wire on the bottom brush spring retainer. I replace these with new wires soldered to the retainer. Regardless of the motor mounting style, insulate the frame where the motor mounts to avoid any shorts. Kapton tape works well. If you are reinstalling the factory board, the top motor lead may be made automatically. As I am installing DCC decoders, I solder a new motor lead to the top retainer.

Remember what you do to remove a motor you generally reverse when installing.

Noisey Motor or Drive Line

Before I would change the current motor, I suggest you do complete disassembly of drive line and trucks.

Then give them good scrub, look for burs on gears and apply good lube and reassemble and test.

If its been in box for years, dried lube can cause problems and a new motor wont help as much as clean and re-lube.

You learn from one and it applies to all the others.   Maintenance is a must for good running engine fleet.

FYI, I had some plastic

FYI, I had some plastic compatible Labelle lubricant and put a drop or two on the worm gear on each end.  The screeching seems to gone away and the engine runs quieter now.  Many of my RTR Athearns run fairly smoothly but have a noticeable hum; it may require a re-motor to get rid of the hum.  As some commented earlier about lubrication, that appears to have been the major issue.  Other fine tuning ...

Might just need running in

If this has been sitting around for a while it might just need some running in. I picked up an On30 rail truck that had never been run, it would barely move at first, after running it in for an hour or more (and in both directions) plus a drop or two of nano oil, it runs just fine now.

If it were me..

I would break that puppy in for about 30-40 mins before getting any where near doing anything else...