Hello:
I am not that familiar with some of the newer MFX locos. I purchased this as used. However, the loco looks to have never been used. I am using the Marklin 6647 transformer which the loco should recognize. The loco seems dead. No response at all. There is a jumper plug inside for track or catenary. Plug is set for track. I thought perhaps stale grease/oil syndrome but the motor truck seems unobstructed. Interior is factory fresh. No loose circuit boards or wires. No hum or lights when power is applied. Any ideas???
Thank you, Paul

Hi Paul,

Can you take a photo of the model with the shell removed?

As there are no lights when the model is given power, this should rule out a seized motor or brush issue.
This was one of the last models with the OEM ESU decoder. It is possible that the decoder is damaged/dead. It was also one of the first models to have the rail/catenary switch replaced with jumpers on the circuit board.

Personally, I was not satisfied with the error in the production which resulted in the model having the shortened cab railings like the Re 421 instead of the complete railings of the Re 4/4II (420). I took the digital chassis from both locomotives and used them to upgrade two earlier models to digital and sold the 37342 shells with the analog chassis from the older models. At the time, it was clearly expressed that the chassis was from 3434/34344 type models.

If your model has the ESU decoder and jumpers, you did not end up with one of those particular models.

My first suggestion would be to ask how far you are from Euro Model Trains and whether you can have Mike take a look at it.
Alternately, you can contact Robert at RJF Trains in Katonah, NY.
They may have the ESU decoder tester which can be used to check the decoder. I am not certain if the current Maerklin tester will work on the older OEM ESU models.

If you have a similar Re 4/4II (37356/26534), you can carefully swap decoders to test the motor/lights.
I suspect that the issue is likely decoder related.

Regards

Mike C

Hello:
Here are pics of the loco.
Thank you, Paul

The plug is in the track power position...

Agreed, an easy test!

Three other obvious tests, especially knowing the lights are out:

1- the decoder just pops out, no soldering. Take it out and test it on a decoder tester, that is obvious thing #1, although you of course need a tester. (an excellent investment in my opinion, I prefer the ESU one)

2- Measure voltage into the decoder/PC board at the end of the red wire, which you can see dangling loose underneath the decoder. If there is no power there, you have a contact problem, not a decoder problem. Sometimes things don't make it from track to decoder, for example if the other end of that red wire came unsoldered at the pickup shoe, or oxidation.

3- Put power directly to the motor block to see if the motor itself works. (I'd remove the decoder to be safe) I bet the motor is fine though.

These are the closest manuals that I could come up with (online):

26534: https://static.maerklin....0920e965881434541708.pdf
37356: https://static.maerklin....bd2db4326c1434541941.pdf

Actual 37342 Manual (snippets): 37342.pdf (1,256kb) downloaded 4 time(s).

The 37342 and both of these models still had the OEM ESU (Lokpilot V3 21MTC) decoder. Later models had the Maerklin In-house decoder.
The earlier models (37344, 3734, etc) had Maerklin 6090X type decoders with dip switches.


First thing to test would be to verify that there is contact/power from the slider to the PC board via the red cable (second pin on left on non-motor side). You can check this with an OHM metre between that contact and the centre rail when off and with the metre set to 25VAC (Analog/6021) or DC (MS2/CS) when powered.

As suggested, I would unscrew the PC board (2 screws) and carefully remove and reinsert the decoder. I had one incident where a similar decoder was fried because it was inserted inverted and then powered up. I have the ESU profile for the OEM decoder and if your's is not working, you can get a replacement Lokpilot and I can send you the file which you can load using an ESU lokprogrammer. If you order a replacement from Maerklin, it will be a non-ESU Maerklin decoder that may not have the same profile/settings. If possible, can you take a photo of the decoder (top side)?

You can check the slider by switching the jumper to catenary and then running power to the contact plate (large metal rectangle). If the loco works, it means that there is a problem between the board and the slider.

Here is a photo of my model:

Regards

Mike C

Hello:
Here is the damaged decoder. What is the current replacement? I do not need a sound decoder.
Thank you, Paul

https://i.frg.im/ain2pqI...4-4a67-808b-684809277175

I'm not sure any old 21 pin decoder will do. I believe this is what you need- see the bit about marklin-specific applications in the description:

https://ajckids.com/products/esu-59649

If a "normal" 21 pin will do, part number 51619 would be the equivalent.

I am sure that you could put in a V4 or V5, but I am not certain that the original decoder profile which I have saved and offered to the poster will be fully compatible with the newer models from ESU.
The original decoder was an OEM ESU for Maerklin.

Without the OEM profile, you will have to setup all of the functions and settings or use ESU's default for Re 4/4II.

Regards

Mike C