I have a set of 4 rollers. I am not clear what I am checking for. When I place this loco on the rollers it opperates just fine forward and backwards.
I downloaded the exploded view of this loco however, I can’t determine how to remove the motor blocks.
Can anyone help me figure out how to remove the motor blocks on this locomotive?
Thanks
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Nevermind. I got it. Take the front and back screws off the bottom of the truck and leave the middle one screwed in. Then the truck lifts right off. Easy Peasy 
That’s fantastic as I was about to recommend this ^^^^^^^^^^^^
How do I get the wheels back in quarter?
Timmy, now that you have the motor blocks separated from the loco, put one on your rollers and feed it power so it runs very slowly. Like that video posted above by John_Bouck. You should be able to find contacts for the power, or just feed the rollers.
If they both run slowly and smoothly in both directions at low speed, then the quartering is fine. If not, make a note of where it sticks, take a photo, and report back to us!
P.S. to directly answer your question, if you know which axle slipped/jumped out of quarter compared with the other axles, then you take off the bottom plate, remove the axle partly (enough to clear the worm gear,) rotate it one tooth (a very small amount) in the right direction to reset the quartering, and push it back into the chassis.
I can’t get the front motorized truck to move at all. The rear one works great! I’ve checked the new motors and they both work great. If I apply power to the front motorized truck directly to the motor, it moves just fine. However, when I connected it all back up to the locomotive only the rear truck moves.
I live in the Seattle / Redmond / Bellevue area. Is there anyone local here that is good at working on these things I could have them take a look at it? I am happy to pay…
I typically in the past have had TOC work on specific problems I was having with my locos that I couldn’t figure out but TOC is kinda out of commission these days.
I had a similar issue with LGB Olomana. Everything worked until I hooked it all back up. It turned out the motor tab was not touching the pole bringing electricity up from the tracks. I got it working by bending that pole a bit. A year later, the motor fried. Rebuilding had the same issue. At the suggestion of forum members here, I soldered a jumper from tab to pole.
Eric
I am not a fan of locos that use friction for their electricity transmission. It used to be a fad for cheap manufacturing 25 years ago? I’ve fought with Bachmann trolleys, LGB Faldbahn locos, and now a Kalamazoo 4-4-0. Yuk.
Great article Eric.
I’m curious, I have one of those little Olomana locos. I’ve never greased the gears in this loco as I was concerned about gettin grease on the rubber drive band. Should I apply grease to this loco?
Tim,
I have no idea what a model railroad grease would do to that band. It would probably be best to check with the manufacturer. There are lubricants for rubber bands that model airplane builders use. Those might be OK.
Eric
So, I finally got my LGB 2085D European Mallet to run! I replaced both motors but now believe that I actually did not need to. Both old motors run just fine when applying power directly to them. I did end up soldering one of the motor contacts to the contact point and that seemed to make all the difference and the loco runs. The only thing is even though it appears to be running smoothly, the rear powered truck seems just slightly slower than than the front powered truck.
Gah! So close! I am sure you could paint a white dot on a wheel, apply voltage, and count rotations. I haven’t the foggiest idea what the tolerances are for safe running. Frankly, I’d be tempted to just run this beast and enjoy a frosty beverage for a bit first.
Congratulations on getting this far!
Eric
Nice to see your persistence pay off! Hope you had a beverage to celebrate!
Eric
indeed I did. In fact… a couple!
Well-deserved after a saga like this! I know the feeling well!
Eric