My WBB GP30 quit running last night. It was going great until I decided to reverse it. Then... nothing. I think it's a connection problem, not a dead board because sometimes it will try to fire up but it won't move. When I took it off the track for a closer look I noticed one of the truck side frames is very loose. Pretty sure this is what's causing the problem but I can't see any obvious way to tighten it (middle going on old age eyeballs...). Anyone know how to tighten the side frames? I'd really prefer to fix this myself instead of sending it off for warranty work.
Thanks,
Ken
Hi Ken,
You will have to remove the truck from the frame to get to the screws that hold the sideframes on to the truck. There is one screw on the bottom of the truck. Unscrew this screw and the truck will separate from the motor. Tighten the loose screw(s) holding on the sideframe. Reinsert the worm gear into the truck and rotate the flywheel by hand until you see the wheels move on the truck. This indicates that the gears are meshing properly. Hold the truck and motor in this position and tighten the truck screw.
Regards,
3 Rail
One major thing that 3rail forgot is that you need to remove the diesel shell from the frame to re-install the motor to the truck assembly and turn the flywheel by hand. If you don't take the shell off the motor will go all over the place, from experiance with working on an SD-45 or two, and maybe pinch a wire and cause a short to occur.
There should be about two or three other screws that hold the truck sideframes in place, and a metal plate that the motor fits through. Be careful to note how the motor came out or in which direction the slotted end needs to point toward in order to re-assemble. At least that is how it was on most of the older Williams before Bachmann diesels.
It's not that hard to do once you have done one motor.
Lee F.
Lee,
You are right, I assumed that the shell was already off because this is usually the first step in any repair. Oops! ;D
Regards,
3rail