Lister LD - First steps to get old engine running

[JohnO]

Hi all, new to the group, I just acquired a Lister LD, it's been sitting under a tarp on a driveway for 8 years but ran before that, apparently. It's pretty rusty and dusty but seems complete, it turns easily and feels like it has compression. I haven't decided how pretty I want to make it yet so I'd like to get it going first and then decide. What should my initial approach be, should I clean out filters, oil etc then give it a crank and see what happens or should I dig a little deeper first?

The number is LD 13 (or maybe 15) and 6838, any idea what age?

Open to hints, tips, warnings and general ridicule.

John

[KC7NOA]

find the rack ...
its part of the fuel pump for the injectors ...
make sure it moves mostly freely .. it needs to control teh fuel burnt or you might get a run away condition and get a destroyed motor or worse ...
check my pictures in my threads .. and my you tube videos ...
youll see im sure.

it hurts nothing to check the fuel filter and oil filter if it has them ...

does the decompression lever work on teh exhaust valve?

[JohnO]

Thanks for that, I think I identified the rack when I took the side cover off to get a general impression of the state of the engine, I didn't check it for movement, will do that now. I checked the fuel filter, was full of manky old liquid so I cleaned that out. Oil bath air cleaner was dried out so will top that up. I didn't see an oil filter so assuming it doesn't have one.

The decompression lever moves freely and, taking the cylinder head cover off I can see that it 'should' be holding the valve ok.

[KC7NOA]

is it a constant speed setup ( with generator that is now removed ) or variable speed(rpm)?

If the rack can move fairly freely -- with the run/speed control set to off .... its probably ok to try to start ...
i would remove the air filter if it had one and prepped to choke off the air intake with a block of wood or similar to shut down the motor it is wanted to run away --- high rpm.
a fuel shut off is not fast enough to starve it if it is running away ...

[JohnO]

Thanks, not sure if it previously had a generator, it's on a trolley that has mounting points for other bits of kit bit that's all gone. Brass plate says 1.5 hp at 750 RPM.

Will have something available to choke the air intake, good idea.