Another Disappointment From MTL

I know we have been through this before but once again I have to voice my profound disappointment at MTL's SD40-2's. I recently purchased a brand new one straight from a dealer which had not be pre-tested before being shipped to me. When I received this engine, I immediately took it out of it's box to put in on the track for it's test run. This was my first indication of trouble. As soon as I carefully picked it up from the cradle and turned it upright, the fuel tank fell off. When I attempted to replace it, I noticed there was no resistance and therefore nothing to hold it in place. Ergo, it kept falling off. I tried in both ways but it would not stay on. Since I had to turn the unit over to do this, I looked down into the box and noticed the horn assembly was laying in the cradle. I attempted to replace this as well, which was fine as long as the engine remained upright. As soon as I turned the engine over, the horn again fell off. Now one would think that this would be enough, but it wasn't. When I turned the unit back over to place it on the track, I discovered that one of the side rails was partially off. I carefully put it back on but it wouldn't stay. By this time, I was majorly upset and I had not even test run the little sucker yet. Once on the track, I turned on the power and it ran beautifully, that is until it came to the first turnout where upon it got stuck on the frog. Upon examination I noticed that the plow was getting hung up. I gently lifted the unit so the plow would clear and the engine went happily on it's way. It cleared the next 5 turnouts but got hung up on the next. Again I helped it over. Suffice to say, of the 12 turnouts I have, this SD got hung up on 3. In short, the plow has to be just a micro millimeter too long, or not all the frogs on all the turnouts are the same. IMPOSSIBLE! I say since these are all MTL turnouts. Oh Really?! Now I have been on here before complaining of SD40 woes and it seems to me that MTL's quality control is in serious question here. Doesn't MTL test these units before shipping? It's not enough to see if they make it around a test track. Every facet from length of plow to secure hand rails to fuel tanks, to horns, to working lights has to be checked or you defeat the whole purpose of quality control. I have purchased pairs of these SD40's in the past and in never fails where one works perfectly, the other one doesn't. I've had to send one back for replacement or repair. Something is seriously wrong at MTL if they keep pumping product that doesn't work, or falls apart in your hands. If these were manufactured in China, I could understand somewhat because quality means nothing over there. But these are supposedly made in the U.S. So what gives? The dealer says to ship it back to him for a refund but now I'm out this SD 40 because he doesn't have another one to replace it. I can probably fix the horn and hand rail with a dab of Krazy Glue and sand down the plow so it will clear all my frogs. But what do I do about the fuel tank that keeps falling off? This is a good runner to be sure. Nothing wrong with the mechanism at all except that it gets hung up on some frogs. I can't run the unit without the fuel tank. It will look stupid. So c'mon Joe, what do I do? How do I keep the tank on?
Ken

 

...what did your dealer say to this?

 

Hi Ken, I agree with Robert, they have excellent customer support. They will make it right.

As to why the SD 40 is giving you all those issues could be a variety of things. I'll try and help. First they do run very well. Smooth and strong for sure, a great mechanism. I will tell you that somtimes turnouts do have slight differences and when in Z, the slightest difference can cause problems for any loco. Before doing any sanding of the plow or trucks I would check to make sure the shell is seated properly. I have many times put a shell too far down on one side and then noticed it was not level. Now, if that is not it, I have no issue with doing a light sanding with a finger nail sanding stick just so long as I do not over do it. I have done this to the trucks of mine and with a few swipes I have had my issue resolved.

I have had fuel tanks not stay on locomotives of Z and N. Good old double sided scotch tape works very good.

Horns are easily secured but use a tiny tiny tiny bit of AC otherwise you get white haze or worse a glob overflow.

I guess I am used to tinkering with any locomotive I get in any scale. Plows and horns are available for a few cents at a popular retail on line shop we all know so I am not afraid of messing with them. I help some of my suggestions help.

 

Hi Frank.

The dealer said to send it back to him for a full refund including return shipping, but that really is a lot of hassle especially all the packaging and customs paperwork and travel to the PO and so on.

 

Rob, I know Joe will make it right. That is not the issue. The real issue here is this shouldn't be happening at all. I've heard that there are constant QC problems at MTL and if that's the case then it's time MTL got a grip on their QC people and got down to business. To my way of thinking, there is no excuse for anything leaving their facility without it being thoroughly checked first. Every car, every engine, every piece of track, it doesn't matter what it is. If you're going to sell a quality product, then quality control has to be first and formost at the top of the list otherwise, you may was well be selling garbage.

 

Well at least on this engine I would agree that it runs very smooth and has a great mechanism. I have purchased two different pairs of these SD 40-2's in the last 2 years and always 1 works perfectly and the other doesn't. I've had to send one of each pair back for repair or replacement. I shouldn't have to do that. They should both be identical shouldn't they. I did check the seating of the shell on the chassis, but I will check it again a bit more closely this time with a magnifying glass. Perhaps it's tipped a bit up at the back and that's why it's catching on some of the frogs. Gluing the horn and railing shouldn't be a problem but again I shouldn't have to do this if they have been secured properly in the first place.I am sceptical though of your suggesting of the double sided tape to hold the tank in place. Makes sense, but it will prove interesting trying to cut a piece small enough to fit inside it. Could be quite a challenge. Thanks for the tips. I'll try them before contacting MTL.

 

I had at least 50 SD40-2 in my fingers and never such issues. All the lose bits and your scraping snow plow indicates a rough treatment of the loco during transport. So not neccesarely MTLs fault. Regarding the tank try to lose the chassis screws a bit, might do wonder. Are you sure you are really the first owner of the loco or do you might got some returned item from your dealer? Believe it or not, I got once a "new" GP35 with a Digitrax decoder installed...

 

As others have said, contact MTL. I had some track/turnout issues. I wrote Ben ( Marketing ) and explained the problem. The items were replaced with new stock and checked by Talent's Quality Control before shipping to me. It would be extremely hard to ask for any more help. MTL is a great example of high quality customer support. This all took place within the last few weeks.

...don

 

Gerd. I almost certainly have to assume that this loco is brand new never before used by another customer since it was just recently issued by MTL. I have never purchased anything from the dealer before so I can't speak to his reputation or integrity. Since he has suggested sending this unit back for a full refund including return shipping I would therefore have to assume that he is willing to accept responsibility for the problems I'm having. Having said that, and taking into account all that everyone else has said here re: possible remedies to the issues stated, I'm going to do some trouble shooting to see if I can resolve these issues myself before resorting to contacting MTL. It may well be that repressing horns and side rails, leveling out shells, and loosening off chassis screws, might resolve the issues and save me the trouble of sending this unit back to MTL for repair or replacement.

 

Thanks to all who have offered there suggestions, opinions, etc regarding these issues with this SD 40-2. I am not 100% convinced that rough handling though the mail or courier company or other forms of transport is responsbile for jarring these parts lose. I've gotten many other engines through the mail and never had parts fall off like I have with this unit. I am going to try to resolve these issues myself before contacting MTL as I stated above. But one big issue remains and it has to do with quality control at MTL. The issues that I have had with this unit and others only speak to a serious problem that seems to exist at Micro-Trains. I am fully aware that this company puts out quite a bit of product every month with cars, engines, structures, accessories, and what-not. That does not excuse it or exempt it from exercising high quality control practices for every single piece it puts out. Every piece MUST be tested thoroughly to ensure it meets or performs to the standards set by MTL engineers and designers. But that is not where it ends. Every part that is placed on every engine or car no matter how big or small must be checked for security, positioning, and in the case of couplers, operation. If they pass inspection, then and only then should they be allowed out the door. If not, REJECT!!!! If MTL is going to stand behind it's product and say it's excellent quality, then they had better be prepared to back it up with industry leading quality control measures. I remember years ago a famous brand of TVs and a logo that went, "The quality goes in before the name goes on." Who was that? Zenith, GE, Westinghouse, does anyone remember? Well perhaps MTL should consider putting the quality in their product before putting the MTL name on it. Or maybe it's just a simple matter of replacing their current QC people with those who actually care about quality and are willing to do what it takes to achieve it. I dunno. Maybe that's asking too much. I look at it this way. If I were the owner of MTL and I were receiving or reading all these complaints about the products my company were putting out, I'd be asking some rather pointed questions of my staff and demanding answers as to why? I would not be prepared to sacrifice my position in the market place because someone on my staff wasn't doing their job properly. Heads would indeed roll. Better to delay bringing something new to the market in order to ensure it does what it's suppose to do, then rush to meet a deadline and put out a piece of junk.

 

I could be wrong but why was this not just brought up with Micro Trains themselves and not on this Forum? They do fine Customer Service and after all they would be the ones to set it straight not the members of the Forum?
I guess I asking what were you looking for by doing so???