Oiling issue?

[KevinKrey]

I bought a new to me GP38-2 at a train show a while back, its a proto 2000 from lifelike and is in REALLY really nice shape. It came pre equiped with a DCC decoder and Ive ran it on a few pieces of small track fine here and there, but today I set up some old Bachman EZ snap track just to run some trains on till I get more code 83 switches that I ordered. Anyway, when i get it to run fairly fast, it makes a screaching kinda noise, I dont know if its a new issue or just that I havent had it running this fast yet. I doesnt run the fastest anyway, so I know its not like Im just trying to get too much speed out of it. There dont seem to be any other issues with it though and i wonder if a simlpe oiling would help. Ive always brought my locos in to a really cool guy at the LHS for repairs. Heres a pic of it with the shell off, could somebody point out a spot to try puttin a drop or two of oil on? thanks.

[eightyeightfan1]

Put a couple of drops of plastic compatible oil on the motor bushings(arrows). Use plastic compatible grease on the drive towers. Not too much, just a small blob of grease, and one or two drops of oil.

[KevinKrey]

Thanks, are the drive towers where the trucks and the drive shafts connect?

[eightyeightfan1]

Oh...Sorry.
Yeah they are. You might be able to pop the bottom cover off the trucks. Just plop a little grease in between gears, then run the loco in both directions. This will spresd the grease on all the gears.

[KevinKrey]

I oiled what I can see with simply the frame off, and still hear the noise. It sounds like it might be comming from inside the trucks, so Im gonna try to remove the bottom and get some in there. Im not positive but it seems like the sound could also be something rubbing on something such as the weight. Not sure though.

[nachoman]

Sometimes the way to spot these problems is to run them with their shell off. Then I would suggest running it with the weight removed to see iv the sound goes away or changes in any way.

[poliss]

Here's a video by Con-cor showing how and where to lube with Labelle lubricants. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQkU18WmuWw">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQkU18WmuWw</a><!-- m -->

[jim currie]

I had a Fa unit do the same thing and it turned out to be the old cracked gear syndrome , the gear dident split just the ends on the axle so in a bind the gear sliped on the axle ends and made noise .don't know if the Gp38-2 had the same gear problem.
jim

[Russ Bellinis]

Three problems that P2k model locomotives are famous for is coming from the factory with no lubrication, coming with too much lubricant, or cracked gears.