Hornby 08 - disconnected connector rods

[PoshPaws]

Has anyone else had this issue and were you able to fix it?

 

We 'won' a Hornby 08 on eBay, which we received, oiled lightly and ran in, slowish, for about 1hr in each direction. After this I fitted a dcc decoder (Zimo MX622R) programmed and put the loco on another slow continuous test while we went away to make coffee. When we returned the loco was at a standstill and making a buzzing sound. It looked like either the middle cranks or the whole middle wheelset had shifted relative to the other axles, with the split connector rods on both sides at an angle to each other. I tried rotating the centre wheelset, which first seemd to be working, but caused the outer cranks to disconnect from their axles, both on one side and one on the other side. They will easily push back into place but are loose and soon fall out again. The middle axle is still connected to the under-cab axle on one side and has about 45 degrees of play.

 

My question is whether anyone has repaired this issue before and if so how difficult was it and do you have any guidelines / suggestions.

 

Thank you very much in advance

Mike

Edited October 9, 2017 by PoshPaws

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Difficult to be sure of what caused the problem at this stage, and that needs to be understood. That you report being able to turn the centre wheelset - which is the axle with the drive gear on it - implies that this gear is loose on the axle. so even if the flycranks were replaced correctly aligned it is likely the mechanism won't drive the loco.

 

Simplest fix: probably by obtaining a complete replacement wheelset. (From Hornby or Peter's Spares.)

 

The current wheelset is going to have to be removed from the rest of the mechanism whatever fix is decided on. Once out you can check whether the axle gear is undamaged and whether or not loose on the axle, as a first step, before deciding if repair is feasible or replacement is the better option.

[PoshPaws]

Thank you. I'm able to turn the centre wheels about 45 degrees. I have found that if I line everything carefully I can push the cranks onto the axles and the loco will run nicely until one of them pops out again. It has decent pulling power too. Is it worth trying a quick fix with cyanoacrylate or will that simply stop everything? If so any other suggestions?

 

Thanks again

Mike

[Izzy]

I am not familar with the Hornby 08, but the Bachmann version has the crank moulding plugging into the wheel centre to help keep the outside cranks in position. Wheel conversions to EM/P4 use separate cranks that sometimes need gluing to stay in place when they are under heavy loading, and it does seem as if this might be the answer here if the Hornby cranks are also separate and not keyed to the wheels. Worth a try at least.

 

Izzy

[Happy Hippo]

I had the same problem with the rear nearside crank on my Hornby 08.  

 

The crank was just loose on the axle.

 

A touch of super glue sorted it out for me

[Campaman]

I assume the wheels/cranks have to have the correct quartering the same as steamers with cranks, maybe that's the reason why they are popping out that they are not quartered correctly. 

[tamperman36]

From what you have said and the pictures I would go down the route of a little cyano glue on a cocktail stick on the end of the axles, however before you do that clean off the axle ends as some lubricants can prevent the glue working.

[blueeighties]

The rods are secured by small threaded screws on each wheel...unless Hornby have changed the design which I am not aware they have done. I have had this happen on a couple of customer models. The torque of the drivewheel is very strong,the rods are a soft metal and are always the weakest part that fails. I have never known the drivegear or wheel crankpin securing threads to be damaged....so far. A new pair of rods and correct quartering and away you go.