Repairing a Millennium Falcon Motor

[SF1138]

Hello! I just had the experience of having two Millenium Falcons with non-functioning motors.

I figured why not attempt a repair. I successfully refurbished the motor and it took less than 10 minutes.

Does anyone have any interest in the breakdown? I could provide pics and instructions, but if no one cares, I'll pass...

 

[aussiejames]

Disassembly pictures are always useful, you could probably get them up on toyfixer too.

 

[Shoenix]

Hi,

I usually use a silicone based lubricant in aerosol form. To get motors running again:

- Remove the motor from the craft
- Spray some lubricant on both ends of the metal shaft into the motor while manually turning the shaft
- Connect the motor to some batteries
- If the motor does not run, help it manually
- Once the motor is running smoothly, spray in some more lubricant while it's turning

Unfortunately the motor will seize-up again in time due to internal corrosion. The only way to keep them turning is to periodically put in batteries and make them turn.

And although it seems easy, never EVER leave in batteries!

I am interested in the disassemble pics btw

Regards,
Shoenix

 

[ThorOakenfelder]

a lot of people just get in there and turn the gear back and forth a few times to loosen it up and it tends to work.

 

[SF1138]

Full disassembly of the motor is easy and cleaning the corrosion with a fine sandpaper seems to be enough to restore the contacts, but didn't know if anyone cared. The center section pops out easily and that's where the corrosion seems to build up the most...

 

[Ian_C]

I had a similar experience with an X-Wing recently. I had read that if you got light but no sound, the problem can be fixed. Sure enough, a nice X-Wing popped up on ebay that the seller clearly stated had working lights but no sound.

I got it, and carefully took it apart. No idea what I was doing, so I just left the parts lined up as they were removed, so reassembly was as easy as working backward. I got to the motor, ans simply turned it manually a few times. Reassembled it, added batteries, and it worked! It was sluggish at first, sounding like a worn out battery, but I kept it up straight for about 5 minutes. It now works as perfect as it did in 1978.

Ian

 

[chewielvr]

Could you take a few photos of the damage? It might help. Usually with tie fighter, dv ties, falcons motors just need a tender touch and a few spins but it could be too much. Luckily there should be replacement motors around. Most of the time in my small experience unless there is alot of corrosion you can get that battery going with a little work. The worst fixes are probably the battery with the disks like the troop transporter and EWOK Wicket Phone!!!

PS: I just want to add I would defintely enjoy a guide on the X-wings guide to battery wire corrosion because I seem to have the most problem with that (next to the whole sonic landspeeder gear readout). Simply scraping the rust out of the o rings doesn't seem to work on the X-wings... any tips?