Hello, hope all is well.

It is possible your coupler is one of the original designs and may be causing the problems you mentioned.

Below is a photo which shows the difference between the two coupler designs.



The coupler on the right shows the new coupler. Compare this to yours. Yours might not be chamfered.

Your replacement part number is correct. You might want to replace couplers on both sides of your wagon. Your dealer should be able to get these for you.

Keep an eye on those coupler springs, they are easy to lose.

Take good care

Zme

Hello. Hope all is well.

Your wagon looks like a very old one

I have not replaced a coupler on this style. I believe the melted plastic on yours has been redesigned. Now there is a small angular metal plate over the coupler pocket. It is possible someone already attempted a repair on this and it is less than perfect and this is causing your troubles. Further repair may not be possible.

You will need to re-melt the plastic over the coupler without leading to its total destruction. You will need to work carefully with your heating device. This work may be risky, there’s not much you can work with.

If you proceed, if extra oil is added to the coupler pocket it will hold the spring in place. They are not attached but are two separate pieces. The springs just have a way of getting lost and are difficult to spot should they get away from you. With the new part number it is possible you will get a number of couplers including the springs. Let me know if this is true.

I don’t know if others frown on this but I usually glue the spring onto the nub of the coupler using super glue. It is just easier to reinstall this if it is one piece. Just make certain the glue is dry before reinstalling , this I learned the hard way.

Hope everything works out well for you. Should you not have success, I have encountered wagons with the coupler glued in solid and it doesn’t move back and forth. Another consideration is to always keep this wagon at the end of your string, coupling on the one good side. Take good care. This wagon could always be replaced, it is very common and cheaper than most.

Zme