Originally Posted by: elig99 
Hello Steve,
You guessed correctly regarding the position of the pickup shoe/catenary switch, but that was just the beginning of the problem.
After having removed the plastic cover I discovered that lever and switched it back to the down position. At this stage the loco stopped acting 100% dead and instead stood still and hummed.
Couldn't tell what was wrong by examining the loco visually. Following an instinct I pushed forcefully the loco forward while pressing it down to the tracks to assure that the mechanism starts revolving. After a few pushes the loco started running smoothly, lights glowing and everything. Very rarely will it stop and hum again and then I will give it a taste of the same medicine. But this happens very rarely indeed.
Thanks for the diagram. What is the other lever for – the one on the right?
I am wondering whether I should/could lubricate the wheels as shown in the diagram. All I have is a WD-40 spray can, with a thin plastic nozzle attached.
And yes, my 3001 is red!!! The attached "photo" is actually a picture I have downloaded from the net. But the box in the picture looks exactly like my box. and the condition of my 3001 is just as depicted by the black/greenish locomotive.
Regards, Eli
Hi Eli,
Ok, well glad you made some progress. The other lever if you read the text on that page (now hi-lited), is the manual reversing lever. You don't need to remove the body to operate either of them.
The random stopping and humming may suggest a reverse unit out of adjustment and to check that properly, you do want the body removed so you can observe it in operation.
Once you have the service manaual downloaded, the adjustment procedure and how to check is explained very well in that publication.
It does sound however as if lubrication would also be very adviseable, but I strongly suggest NOT WD40. It's fine for what it's designed for, but not really for lubing your loco.
Assuming you have a car, in the mid-late 60's, Märklin suggested lubricating with normal everyday winter-grade motor car engine oil and is what would have been in the oil bottle 7199.
If you change the oil in your own car, and use a good quality oil, the fews drops left in a container after topping up your car would probably do for your loco's for years
- you only need the smallest drop.
Failing that, Sewing machine oil is also good, you are bound to have a sewing shop not too far away?, or, failing that...., a hardware store and you want a medium grade general machine oil, even 3-in-1 is better than nothing, but nothing is better than WD-40!
Just keep a note of what oil you use, it may not be a good idea to mix organic and synthetic oils but I'm no expert in this area.
Finally, the 3001 in Red is more rare than the Green one, and quite sought-after. There's also a Brown version, numbered 3002, and number 3002 was also used for a Primex version in the 80's.
Good luck
Steve
Edited by user 01 February 2013 18:47:10(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
