Lister HR3

[unimogr]

Thanks for the info Peter.

I had some time this afternoon to look at the engine some more.  I pulled the valve and the side injection pump covers and everything is nice and clean inside.  It looks like the engine may have been rebuild at least once already, looks like someone was using RTV sealer, I doubt the factory would use this stuff.

I checked the engines throttle control again and the long lever on the right does turn clockwise but only has two position, so I'm guessing it's run and stop.

The starter was not working so I pulled it off and cleaned things up inside.  I should have more time on the weekend so I'll put the start back on, prime it up and see if she'll run.

Jason

[dieselgman]

The Lister HR series is a very solid engine that has a distribution around the world second to none except for the CS series that has been widely copied. Do not assume that SR data will give you any true understanding of the HR, they are substantially different machines. I do have full technical data for the HR and can forward what you are interested in. The HR has been experimented with in the Pacific Islands using copra oils, it is a direct injection engine and may have some problems with excessive carbon build-up when burning alternative fuels. You can get extra heavy duty parts for this machine for extreme service and 30,000 hours is not an unheard of run-time. The HR as commonly used in the oil patch will have a variable speed governor rather than a fixed speed type. They are specified to run from 900 rpm to 2500 rpm. I personally prefer the more modern housed flywheel like the HR models because you can easily get adapters for a variety of SAE housings to fit most equipment such as clutches and other direct drives. I have a large parts depot in central Kansas well stocked for these engines.

Gary
diesel-electric.us

[listerdiesel]

The Lister HR series is a very solid engine that has a distribution around the world second to none except for the CS series that has been widely copied. Do not assume that SR data will give you any true understanding of the HR, they are substantially different machines. I do have full technical data for the HR and can forward what you are interested in. The HR has been experimented with in the Pacific Islands using copra oils, it is a direct injection engine and may have some problems with excessive carbon build-up when burning alternative fuels. You can get extra heavy duty parts for this machine for extreme service and 30,000 hours is not an unheard of run-time. The HR as commonly used in the oil patch will have a variable speed governor rather than a fixed speed type. They are specified to run from 900 rpm to 2500 rpm. I personally prefer the more modern housed flywheel like the HR models because you can easily get adapters for a variety of SAE housings to fit most equipment such as clutches and other direct drives. I have a large parts depot in central Kansas well stocked for these engines.

Gary
diesel-electric.us

It turned out to be an SR3, Gary, not an HR3 as the original post.

Peter

[dieselgman]

I also have excellent parts coverage for the SR series including forgings & castings. It appears that the tips offered for this model all seem to be correct. I will be very interested in seeing if the SR can handle burning WVO or other non petroleum fuels. The valves and ports are quite small on this model though, and might present some immediate problems with carbon build-up. I would guess that running the machine at maximum loads/temperatures will help as it does in burning conventional fuels. There is also a variable speed governor set-up available for this model or you could fabricate your own.

Gary
diesel-electric.us

[unimogr]

Thanks for your input Gary.

If you have any technical details that you can forward to me about the SR3 please do, my e-mail address is jason@unimog.ca.

On the parts side, is there a PTO shaft for the flywheel side?  If this engine is any good my plan is to couple it to an ST head directly and run it at 1800 RPM.

On the engine data plate I can see the engine was set to run at 1800 RPM, but someone X'd over it and the HP rating.  Not sure what this means but I am hoping that the governor wasn't changed or tampered with so that they could get more speed out of it.

I'm going to pickup some fuel line for it this weekend and see if it's going to run or not.

Jason

[dieselgman]

Yes, there are many applications using a direct-drive shaft extension that bolts directly to the flywheel. Some marine applications I've seen also have a gear-reduction drive installed. In my experience, the Twin-Disc clutch is a nice way to couple the engine to its load and these are very common around the oil-patch. There are standard SAE adapters to fit the Lister fan housing for close-coupled applications so the clutch need not come originally from a Lister engine.

Gary
diesel-electric.us

[unimogr]

I put a battery on it last weekend to see if it would turn over, but no luck.  So I pull it off and open it up, water got into it the armature so I cleaned everything up and put it back together, now it turns over when I put power to it.

I hooked up the fuel line and tried to purge the air out but I might be doing something wrong.  The hand pump doesn't have a lot of resistance but I cracked the inlet line on the fuel filter and I was able to pump fuel out of it.  I cracked a plug on one of the discharge ports on the filter housing and pumped like mad, but all I got was an slight dribble and bubbles.  I tightened the plug down and continued to pump, but nothing came out of the bleeder port.

After nearly wearing out my thumb I cranked the engine over and I was getting a little bit of smoke, but only a wisp.

Can anyone give me a rough idea how much pumping would be needed to purge the air out of the filter? 

I'm wondering if I have a weak supply pump that can't build enough pressure to overcome the bleeder valve thus making it impossible to purge the air, or I could just be doing it wrong.  All my knowledge is with Mercedes diesels and they are a very different beast compared to this Lister.

Thanks,

Jason

[listerdiesel]

I put a battery on it last weekend to see if it would turn over, but no luck.  So I pull it off and open it up, water got into it the armature so I cleaned everything up and put it back together, now it turns over when I put power to it.

I hooked up the fuel line and tried to purge the air out but I might be doing something wrong.  The hand pump doesn't have a lot of resistance but I cracked the inlet line on the fuel filter and I was able to pump fuel out of it.  I cracked a plug on one of the discharge ports on the filter housing and pumped like mad, but all I got was an slight dribble and bubbles.  I tightened the plug down and continued to pump, but nothing came out of the bleeder port.

After nearly wearing out my thumb I cranked the engine over and I was getting a little bit of smoke, but only a wisp.

Can anyone give me a rough idea how much pumping would be needed to purge the air out of the filter? 

I'm wondering if I have a weak supply pump that can't build enough pressure to overcome the bleeder valve thus making it impossible to purge the air, or I could just be doing it wrong.  All my knowledge is with Mercedes diesels and they are a very different beast compared to this Lister.

Thanks,

Jason

Starting from the filter, has that been cleaned/filter been changed?

If the fuel lift pump is a bit tired or has a leaky non-return valve, you could have problems.

The bleed valves on the pumps are simple open/shut things, they are not spring loaded, so open them a couple of turns and see what you get out.

At the worst, rig a gravity fuel tank and try again, you don't need to include the lift pump if the head of fuel is about 2 feet or more.

A decent lift pump will squirt fuel out of the bleeders pretty smartly and should have a fair bit of resistance.

Peter

[unimogr]

The bleed valves on the pumps are simple open/shut things, they are not spring loaded, so open them a couple of turns and see what you get out.

At the worst, rig a gravity fuel tank and try again, you don't need to include the lift pump if the head of fuel is about 2 feet or more.

A decent lift pump will squirt fuel out of the bleeders pretty smartly and should have a fair bit of resistance.

Thanks for you help again Peter.

I had a little free time on Sunday so I tried again.  I cracked the bolt on the filter outlet that feeds the injectors and lots of fuel came out when I pumped and there seemed to be no bubbles.

I cranked the engine over and all I got was smoke.  It was 15C outside so if the engine was any good it should have fired, I also noticed that a small puff of smoke came out the intake manifold while cranking.  I found if I decompressed #2 and 3 the smoke came out but as soon as I decompressed #1 it was a lot less.  I'm thinking the engine has internal issues and I'll have to pull the heads off in the spring for a closer look.

Jason

[dieselgman]

Does your unit have cold start cups/plungers installed? If so, then injecting a couple tablespoons of engine oil here will lube the top cylinders and bring up the compression allowing for better starting of a cold engine. One other method I've used for starting derelict engines is to inject a spray of WD40 into the intake port during cranking. Never use starting fluids or ether in these engines, but WD40 will start and run an otherwise balking engine and allow you to diagnose other problems without a teardown. The WD40 is also good for loosening stuck rings and getting the upper cylinders lubricated. These engines will sometimes stick the valves in their guides especially after sitting long, so you also will want to pull the valve covers and check the valve travel on each one and be sure they are not hitting the pistons due to carbon build-up. This approach may reduce the amount of initial work you have to do to determine your actual engine condition. If you can make the unit run and pull a load you can also decarbonize it to a great extent via water mist injection into the intake port while the engine is at full operating temperature. Steam is a pretty effective cleaning agent. This will not help much with sticky valves though. Hope this is helpful, good luck with your engine!

Gary
Diesel-electric.us