The semi diesel I am familiar with will run constant without the kerosene torch only if the conditions are right.  The older ones are set up to have water drip on the head to  keep them in the proper heat range.  The compression is 8 to 1.  This is why you have to maintain heat at the injection chamber.  They are very hard to start.  The conditions have to be perfect.  You get the cylinder head cherry red. You bring it to top dead center and spin the flywheel counter clockwise trying to get it to back fire and then it will start.  If the head is too hot you get preignition to cold and ou have too much fuel in the cylinder.  For the most part these engines are two stroke.  Some were set up with air tanks hard piped into the side of the cylinder with an air valve.  They would take around 300 psi and up to start.  Once started you filled the tanks back up using the engine as the compressor.  They were designed to run on crude oil, also known as crude oil engines.  They will run on various oils of the right specific gravity and cetane rating. Another one that comes to mind is the Crossley V07.  This was a hot bulb, 2 stroke that had a piston scavenger as well.  It would run on any oil.  There used to be a post on Youtube of a marine engine being started.  It was a single cylinder Bolinder I think it was 80 horspower.  There was quite a ritual the engineer went through preping it for starting.  I don't know if it's still on there but it would be worth a search.  I can't view Youtube vids anymore for some reason.  Haven't figured out why. 

How does the Compression Change-Over Mechanism work on a CS 3/1. I have printed a cross section and read the accompanying body at www.oldengine.org/members/diesel/Technical/change.htm but am none the wiser. The plaque on the valve on the tap reads "screw in to start/unscrew when running" but I found the engine starts to run down when unscrewed.

Also, the hand priming lever was a fantastic innovation (now that I know what it is) but can someone proved a manual or information as to how to change the oil and what oil should be used in this engine?

Cheers

Tom

The reason it "runs down" as you say, could be due to lack of compression.  Give the cylinder a hone and slap some new rings in it, grind the valves and I bet it will run great with the change over unscrewed.  They are meant to be run with it out because if the compression is lower (which it is when unscrewed) then there will be less stress on the engine overall which equals longer life.....i.e.  Longevity.   I might have a manual on PDF Ill have to check.  As far as oil goes there are alot of choices.  I would use a Rottella 30w for soot control.  I just disconnect the oil line at the bottom of the sump and drain it out.  Then I spray diesel fuel all over the inside to clean the soot and wipe off as much diesel fuel as I can.  Then I give everything a good coat of WD 40 and fill er up with oil.

Nice of you to come back kurdawg - and with the same tired old rants as well!  Are we going to go through your expert knowledge of cams, compression ratios, valve timing, best builders etc. before you go away again or become slowspeed something or other?  Nice of you to start with the engine prices, I think you did that a couple of years ago in an attempt to wind people up.  BUT - bad news dawg - a lot of us are still here and we have pretty good memories.  Oh - but things have changed a bit - can YOU say E.P.A.?

To get things rolling and to establish your expert credientials, I'll ask some of my previous questions so everyone knows where you are coming from:

How many Listers/oids have you, personally, owned (i.e. paid good money for)
What is your operating exerience - how many hours and under what conditions?
How many of the Indian manufacturers have sent you samples of their work?
Are you still using your pirated copies of software to design better valves and tappets?
This is  new one, but I'm really interested - Have you ever touched an actual Lister/oid?

Really, it's nice to have you back, it's been sooooo quiet around here!

I dont think he's back.  That post is over a year old.

I like the gauge, where did you get it?

On the flip side, 10 years ago I filled up my 1979 ford f100 inline 6 cylinder with diesel in a blinding snow storm and drove 8 hours like that.  Couldn't get it to go over 45 mph.  It knocked, bucked and pinged the whole way.  I still have that truck.  The ford inline six is indestructable.  I figured the main bearings would be shot but they are still holding up.

Anyone ever put their crank on a truing stand to see how true it is?

I saw a thing on tv where they are making houses out of those.  They used 4, one on each corner, studded out the gaps, laid the roof trusses on top, sprayed some insulation and finished it with stucco.  It looked really good.  They said they had a contract for 230 units in a housing development in California.  I'm kicking around the idea of machine shop.