# Noisy KATO SD40-2 Extreme Whirring Noise



## igmuska (Nov 21, 2009)

I cleaned brushes, checked for loose flywheel, cleaned gears and wheels but didn't reduce the annoying buzzing.

The only thing I haven't tried yet is sanding the shell or gluing on the running boards to the shell.






Anyone else have this problem? Is the shell supposed to have loose running boards?


----------



## tkruger (Jan 18, 2009)

I do not have a Kato nor have worked with them. To me it does sound like part of the shell vibrating or the sound of the drive train reverberating within the shell.


----------



## igmuska (Nov 21, 2009)

Latest update:

I changed the motor, the buzzing has not changed. I removed the light board, and scotch taped the pickup wires directly to the motor hookups, no change. I used my powered wheel cleaner, no change. Using a magnifying visor, I looked for rubbing and saw none.

It has to be the shell. I'll secure the running boards to the top part of the shell. I'll sand the shell at the points where the motor contacts after looking at whether the shell is warped.


----------



## dozer (Jan 2, 2010)

So, have ya tried running it without the shell?


----------



## igmuska (Nov 21, 2009)

dozer said:


> So, have ya tried running it without the shell?


Shell-less running on the last part of the Youtube.
I'm thinking about gluing the walkways to the shell, that would quiet it immensely.
I guess I got spoiled by my Athearn RTR loco; several started out noisy but not as loud as this Kato, eventually the Athearn quiet down after running for a few hours.


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

igmuska said:


> Shell-less running on the last part of the Youtube.
> I'm thinking about gluing the walkways to the shell, that would quiet it immensely.
> I guess I got spoiled by my Athearn RTR loco; several started out noisy but not as loud as this Kato, eventually the Athearn quiet down after running for a few hours.



Very strange indeed.
Nothing rubbing. And all is tight on the engine.

Can't hurt nothing if you glue them?

Do you have the room to stick two small sticks of wood (or dowels)cross the inside of the shell to put a little pressure towards the outside of the shell. 
It might stiffen it up a little and save you from gluing?

I will go and look again. I only watched it one time.


----------



## igmuska (Nov 21, 2009)

I CA'd the walkways to the shell as well as CA'ing the plastic underbody to the metal frame.
I forgot to add in my earlier post that I removed the drive shafts, then ran it with the shell. The buzzing was there. I squeezed the shell in several locations but northing diminished the buzzing. This was prior to applying super glue to the walkways and underbody.
The short and skinny is that the loco is tolerably quieter although I think that once the new brushes in the new motor break in, it might get quieter.
I'll make another video showing the improvements. But the Kato loco is not as quiet as my loudest Athearn nor is it as fast as my slowest Athearn.


----------



## dozer (Jan 2, 2010)

Are the springs for the brushes putting good pressure on them? If the springs are collapsed or unsprung I could imagine them vibrating.


----------



## igmuska (Nov 21, 2009)

dozer said:


> Are the springs for the brushes putting good pressure on them? If the springs are collapsed or unsprung I could imagine them vibrating.


Here is the results of my tinkering with super-gluing the walkways to the shell, and gluing the plastic under-body to the metal chassis and the motor replacement.

Lots quieter


----------



## x_doug_x (Jun 21, 2010)

that's not dcc rite?


----------



## igmuska (Nov 21, 2009)

My layout is DC, not DCC.

I've managed to quiet the Kato to my loudest Athearn but it is still slower than my slowest Athearn. At prototypical speeds, it'll suffice but at XMAS speeds, I'll have to wear a flak jacket for the comments.


----------



## SD1612 (May 7, 2011)

Sorry to necro this thread, but it came up in my google searches. 
I have the same problem with my Kato SD38-2, it sounds just like yours and nothing I do gets rid of the whirring noise. 
Cleaned it, disassembled it, glued the walkways, it helped a -little- but not enough.

I can hear the sucker across the other side of the house, I never thought my most expensive loc would be the noisiest one. even my crappy beat up IHC and Athearn blue box are much much quieter.
Now the Kato sits on a shelf because I can't tolerate the buzzing.:thumbsdown:


----------



## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

This is strange guys, I have more Kato engines than any other brand combined and they are the quietest of all the stuff I have. I have older non DCC ready and even the newest HO scale SD40-2 with the ditch lights. All are quiet, powerful and smooth to operate. Noisy on my layout is an old Athearn BB Dash 9, and its noise is in the truck gears.

Have either of you tried putting a drop of oil (light sewing machine oil works well here) where the bearings are in the endbells of the motor? If the bearings are dry then you will need to oil them or they will make alot of noise. One drop on the bearings/bushings is plenty.

Massey

Massey


----------



## igmuska (Nov 21, 2009)

Last fall I switched from DC to DCC and also bought another Kato SD40-2 which I immediately converted over to DCC. Very quiet. But since I was away from the rest of my trains, I couldn't test my older DC Kato. I'll get around to doing that eventually. I did buy two extra motors with flywheels and another two without flywheels as well as few more sets of brushes.
After researching more into the issue, several train heads said that buzzing is more than likely being caused by running it on DC and not on DCC.
Below is a very short running Youtube of my new DCC SD40-2 BN #8002


----------



## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

that's a sound equipped engine. I am thinking it is just a sound the engine makes when running like the turbos that emd's have so try F8 adn if it still has that turbo sounding noise post a video of that up. Haveing the sound on makes it impossible to tell if it is a normal sound for the prototype engine or an actuall issue, that and most microphones on cameras and video recorders are not the best just makeing it harder to tell.


----------



## gondola1988 (Sep 9, 2010)

Never heard a Kato sound like that I have 45 of them and run them on Dcc .You hear the metal wheels on the rolling stock but not the Kato's mine all run very quiet. Jim


----------



## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

I heard the sound but I didnt hear the squeal or the grinding or any other odd sound. Run another video with the camera following the engine with the sound off.

Massey


----------



## igmuska (Nov 21, 2009)

gc53dfgc said:


> that's a sound equipped engine. I am thinking it is just a sound the engine makes when running like the turbos that emd's have so try F8 adn if it still has that turbo sounding noise post a video of that up. Haveing the sound on makes it impossible to tell if it is a normal sound for the prototype engine or an actuall issue, that and most microphones on cameras and video recorders are not the best just makeing it harder to tell.





Massey said:


> I heard the sound but I didnt hear the squeal or the grinding or any other odd sound. Run another video with the camera following the engine with the sound off.
> 
> Massey


The fellow is asking about this loco, non-DCC equipped.






The other sound loco is DCC equpped as well as enduring an extreme customization session.
Eventually I'll add a decoder to it and then test whether running on DCC silences it. If not, then I install a new flywheel-equipped motor. I did superglue (CA) the walkways to the body, that took out a little of the buzzing sound but not much.


----------



## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

you can rule out bushings, DC/DCC issues, or bad motor. That leaves you with uneven flywheels, rubbing flywheels, vibrating mech in the trucks. 

This is clearly caused by vibrations in the rotating assy that is magnified or perpetuated by the body shell. you are going to just have to examine the mechanics of the engine until you find out what it is. Here are some tips.

1. Remove the drivelines from both sides of the motor and trucks. Put shell back on and see if the sound is there. If yes then motor/flywheels are the issue. If no then they are good move to step 2.

2. Install one driveline only (front or rear does not matter) run engine with shell on and see if the sound returns. If yes check out that truck or driveline. If no, repeat step with other side, one drive line only. Also even if the sound is there try the other truck anyway just in case it makes noise too. 

If the gears are making the noise you can try to polish the gears with some toothpaste. Yes I said toothpaste, it has mild abrasives that will help run the gears in. clean the oil off the gears and then relube them with an ample amount of toothpaste and run the train about 1/2 to 3/4 thottle, no cars for about 30-40 minutes. Clean the tooth paste off and reoil the gears and reassemble.

Massey


----------



## SD1612 (May 7, 2011)

I talked to someone at Kato USA yesterday and they told me to send it in.
Mailed it yesterday so I'm just awaiting a verdict from them, and will post it when I know more.


----------

