Old Kato EF65 maintenance

[Kyuhae]

Hello,

 

During my récent trip to Japan, I found an EF 65 by Kato at a local market for 500 yen. It'll be fine as a static display piece, but if I can get it running it would be even better!

 

I'm not familiar with this type of motor with two driven bogies, and am wondering how to disassemble and clean everything. Any tips?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

/Philip

[disturbman]

This is mighty old 😮

But the usual practice should apply. First remove the shell (I expect it should be simply clipped to the chassis) and then figure out how to get to the motor, unclip the bogies and open them. Sorry if I can't get more helpful, I never had such an old Japanese model in my hands.

If you don't have one, you should get a fiberglass pen to clean those wheels.

Edited Saturday at 11:14 AM by disturbman

[Kyuhae]

4 hours ago, disturbman said:

This is mighty old 😮

But the usual practice should apply. First remove the shell (I expect it should be simply clipped to the chassis) and then figure out how to get to the motor, unclip the bogies and open them. Sorry if I can't get more helpful, I never had such an old Japanese model in my hands.

If you don't have one, you should get a fiberglass pen to clean those wheels.

Thanks disturb for the tips!

 

I don't have a fiberglass pen, but I've made good progress with a peco copper brush. Probably a bit more abrasive than the fiberglass but it's what I had on hand.

 

I disassembled the loco, splitting the two chassis halves. Applying power to the motor directly revealed it is not burnt out! 

Filled with hope, I set about cleaning all the gears, electrical contacts (especially the metal parts where the bogies sit in the chassis, and wheels. 

 

And you know what? I now have a working, not-even-that-badly-damaged EF 65 for 500 yen!

 

I scavenged a rapido coupler off a tomytec motor chassis for a future project, since it'll be used for an EMU, so no need for front coupling. 

 

One of the lights still works, so I made sure to orient that towards the front of the loco, opposite the one rapido coupler. Other than that, it looks like there's a tiny edge piece of one pantograph missing, and one "post" on top of the rear cab had snapped off. 

 

Of course, it runs a bit rough. I think one of the axles may be slightly bent because there's a kind of rhythmic "chugchugchug" when it moves (despite not being an SL ; ) ). But it can even do (sort of) low speed running.

 

I should have asked the old man at the market for an e-mail ( or fax?!?) to tell him his old loco is back up and running in France alongside german, french, swiss and English locos x).

[disturbman]

Bien joué !

It's always nice to be able to restore an old model. You know have a working piece of history. Do you have the box still, or you bought it loose? This locomotive is probably 40 years old or more.

I definitely recommend acquiring a fiberglass pen. It's my go-to for cleaning wheels and contacts.

[Kyuhae]

40 minutes ago, disturbman said:

Bien joué !

It's always nice to be able to restore an old model. You know have a working piece of history. Do you have the box still, or you bought it loose? This locomotive is probably 40 years old or more.

I definitely recommend acquiring a fiberglass pen. It's my go-to for cleaning wheels and contacts.

Merci!

 

There was no box, this was the only n gauge item sitting next to toy cars, a HO scale passenger car, and other non related things like old postcards, cutlery, clothes, etc.  I saw 301 written on the underside, I'm assuming that's the Kato reference, but can't figure out when that would have been produced.

 

 

Edited Saturday at 04:35 PM by Kyuhae
Add pictures

[SwallowAngel]

31 minutes ago, Kyuhae said:

I saw 301 written on the underside, I'm assuming that's the Kato reference, but can't figure out when that would have been produced

The number at the bottom of the chassis is unfortunately misleading...
The actual item number is 302, the first EF65 Kato produced, being first released in 1969.
The mismatching item number is due to the EF65 sharing a chassis with the Kato EF70 (numbered 301) which released in 1967.

Afaik there's no publicily available catalogue of all Kato products, but searching for "manufacturer + loco type + item number" gets you there like 90% of the way. There are plenty of blogs detailing the early years of Japanese N gauge who like to document releases like yours.

[cteno4]

When you cleaned all the gears did you re lube them? Also a tiny bit of very fine oil on the motor bearings? Amazing what clean and lubing can do to a very old engine. 

 

Sweet you rescued the old gal! I would not do well in Japan with the bargain bins of stuff like this as i would get too much enjoyment in resuscitating older stuff and Frankensteining things.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Welshbloke]

You can pop the brushes out of this style of motors relatively easily, the covers unclip (don't let the spring escape). I find a good dousing of WD40 contact cleaner (plastic safe) and running a piece of rolled up paper towel through the brush tubes can do wonders, along with rolling the brushes in another piece of towel.

 

I think my oldest Kato is a 153 Series from circa 1979. I serviced it, replaced a couple of missing traction tyres with slices of heatshrink sleeving, and acquired a few more coaches to make a realistic train (it was sold as a six car set, which needs at least a dummy MoHa 152/153 pair adding for a formation which would work in real life). I've had it circulating as a twelve coach train on level-ish track for over an hour with no signs of stress.

 

Edit, your chugging noise might be a tiny bit of something in the gears. See if it sounds louder at one end than the other, then check the gearing on that end. Could also be a bit of gunge on a wheel, I've had that before now.

Edited 15 hours ago by Welshbloke

[Kyuhae]

On 5/17/2025 at 7:51 PM, cteno4 said:

When you cleaned all the gears did you re lube them? Also a tiny bit of very fine oil on the motor bearings? Amazing what clean and lubing can do to a very old engine. 

 

Sweet you rescued the old gal! I would not do well in Japan with the bargain bins of stuff like this as i would get too much enjoyment in resuscitating older stuff and Frankensteining things.

 

cheers

 

jeff

Hi Jeff,

 

Yes I put oil on gears and bearings 🙂

8 hours ago, Welshbloke said:

You can pop the brushes out of this style of motors relatively easily, the covers unclip (don't let the spring escape). I find a good dousing of WD40 contact cleaner (plastic safe) and running a piece of rolled up paper towel through the brush tubes can do wonders, along with rolling the brushes in another piece of towel.

 

I think my oldest Kato is a 153 Series from circa 1979. I serviced it, replaced a couple of missing traction tyres with slices of heatshrink sleeving, and acquired a few more coaches to make a realistic train (it was sold as a six car set, which needs at least a dummy MoHa 152/153 pair adding for a formation which would work in real life). I've had it circulating as a twelve coach train on level-ish track for over an hour with no signs of stress.

 

Edit, your chugging noise might be a tiny bit of something in the gears. See if it sounds louder at one end than the other, then check the gearing on that end. Could also be a bit of gunge on a wheel, I've had that before now.

Hi Welsh,

I'll look into the brushes, didn't mess with those yet although I did on a Kato c11 which was also sold as non working some years ago. Works pretty well after cleaning!

 

It's pretty amazing to think this design could be from around the 70's! And that it still runs despite seemingly being relegated to being a kid's toy, or at least not cleaned for a long time.

 

The wheels may still have a bit of embedded gunk on them, I'll have to try cleaning again. If I do the brushes I'll be sure to check if anything got stuck in the gears.

 

Thank you all for the insights and stories!