try

i would try ohming the motor to get a more accurate  answer sounds like the motor is dead to me

-randy

Worn Out Motor Brushes?

Could be that the motor brushes are worn out? Just guessing! Try pressing on them and see if it runs.

Consist

Was this engine part of a multi-engine consist that was broken up without killing the consist? That can do what you describe.

Dead Roco Motor

This was another motor (manufactured by Roco) out of another Athearn Genesis loco which had definitely a dead spot or interrupted coil. This photo shows how you can get access to collector and brushes to clean them. Simply clip the brush holder off with e.g. a small screwdriver blade.

What you can check before:

- remove shell

- remove the 2 leads to the motor off the motherboard, the motor have to be isolated for the test

- apply DC current directly to the separated motor leads so that

- motor turns very slowly

- "brake" the motor by your fingertips onto the flywheel

- motor has still to turn, if necessary increase voltage

- if motor comes to a stop and does not move further

- or does not start running alone when voltage is applied

=> then there is an shorted or interupted coil

Any warranty claims possible? In cases as described above a new motor is necessary.

Lutz

Dead pole?

As another posted, ohm out across the pole contacts and you may find one that is shorted or open.  Most likely open will be my guess.  When the motor did run, was it smooth or did it "cog" like an engine skipping?  Also have you been noticing that it has been losing pulling power?

As for warranty claims, now that you have taken it apart you most likely own it.   Most companies once unauthorized repairs have been made or attempted will not cover the cost regardless of the product.  Call Athearn and ask!  The worse the will say is "no".  In the same token I would try a direct email with Chris Palomarez from Athearn.  Sometimes a more personal connection can help. 

Thanks for the Suggestions!

I will do a little more investigation...   The loco is up at the club at the moment, so it will be a week or so before I can get my hands on it again.  (doesn't run on tight curves on home layout)

I don't normally use CV-change consisting, mostly just assign both locos together on WiThrottle/JMRI.  On occasion I do use a Digitrax 402D for this pair of F7s, but since I can get it to run after touching the drive shaft on it's own address, consisting doesn't seem to be my problem..

Once the motor starts moving, it's reasonably smooth, I don't see any real noticeable skips, but I normally don't run it by itself, so I may miss it..   When I do manually turn the drive shaft and it starts working, it takes very little movement, so if there is something dead inside, I'm guessing it covers a pretty small percentage of the area.

I'm not familiar with the innards of these motors, but I can at least pull the leads off the decoder and do the tests as suggested before cracking it open.

It is a second hand loco, but I don't think the original owner ran it all that much....

Thanks!

-Stephen

Hmm.. No Luck with initial tests...

So, I brought the loco home from the club and put it on a test track.  I ran the loco very slowly and tried to stop the motor with my finger as it spun to find the "dead spot".  It never stopped, ran perfectly for about 10 minutes before I gave up...

I'm going to break out the ohm meter and give that a shot as well, but it's not looking like a dead spot at this point...

-Stephen