Athearn SD70M, lubrication?

[davidone]

The Athearn diesel engines seem to run louder then the Atlas, should all N scale engines be lubricated before running? Or will break in time quiet them down. This may be a simple question but i'm a newbie to N scale so please bear with me.

Thaks, Dave

 

[Herc Driver]

I've got a few of those SD's too and they do growl a bit louder than an Atlas or Kato. They seem to take a bit more power to start up as well. I haven't noticed any running problems with them though. Mine were clearly lub'ed right out of the box so I haven't added any additional oil. I don't yet have enough hours running them to decide if they're "broken in" yet or not. But I have tried to run them in forward and reverse to evenly wear in all the gearing.

 

[berraf]

I don't yet have enough hours running them to decide if they're "broken in" yet or not. But I have tried to run them in forward and reverse to evenly wear in all the gearing.

Could you please tell a little bit more about how much time is needed before a loco is broken in?
I suppose the speed/voltage has some importance too...or?

 

[darkcurves]

Usually 10-20 minutes on both direction is sufficient.