Kato GS4 steamer Help please

[beakaboy]

can anyone point me in the direction of a video or site showing replacement of main drivers on a Kato GS4 steamer. I have the 1st release which had issues with brass bearings popping out of chassis inserts. I have got the replacement drivers set, but hope there is a bit of a tutorial to help with dissassembly and reassembly in the right order. cheers 

[Martijn Meerts]

I didn't document it, but I have replaced the wheels in my GS4, because it had the issues with cracks in the plastic wheels, causing them to come off the axle.

 

In my case, I just removed all the drive rods, replaced all wheels at once and then put the drive rods back on. It's a bit tricky because the wheels can get misaligned ever so slightly, causing the loco to not run very well. Although, I found the GS4 to be very doable compared to European steamers I have worked on.

 

Also, make sure the replacement wheels aren't bent in any way. I ended up having to get 2 replacement sets, and both sets had some bent axles. In the end I had to use a combination of the 2, and still had to carefully bend another wheelset into shape. The loco is still slightly wobbly because of that, but it does run fine, pulling a full 18 car morning daylight up a 2.5% curved slope.

 

Edit: I wrote this in my phone, and re-reading it now it's a bit unclear.. I didn't completely remove the drive rods, but I removed the pins holding the drive rods in place. This allowed me to remove the wheels and replace them with the new ones. If you do this carefully enough, you could remove one, and put the new one in place with the exact rotation the old one had. If you then reinsert the pins it should be fine. Definitely take your time and try to limit the number of times you remove and reinsert the pins. Doing it too often causes them to be too loose and they can fall out during running.

 

[inobu]

 

Here's all the parts dissembled. I think a lot of the photos were lost in the server move.

 

 

 

[beakaboy]

thanks guys. will attempt this job in the new year once I finish several other projects and clear some workbench space.