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.

[JohnO]

Finally managed to get everything connected up today and tried to start it up. Predictably it didn't start, apart from once when it ran for about 5 seconds and then stopped.

New fuel filter fitted and fuel confirmed as bled as far as the back of the injector. I can see that the rack is moving in ways that seem to make sense, with the brass control vertically up (start position) the rack is fully to the left (as I stare into the injector housing), moving to the 'run' position the rack moves to the right a bit and turning it to 'off' the rack moves fully over to the right, presumably cutting off fuel.

Compression feels good, I can't easily turn it over when it's on compression. it's making quite satisfying Thomas the Tank Engine 'chuffing' noises when I turn it over. When I crank over the decompression lever it won't start but it does puff out a little grey mist/smoke, once or twice.

Any ideas?

[KC7NOA]

might be clogged injectors .. or the injector pump isnt actually working ..
crack open the injector outlet and see if fuel is there .. in pulses ...

[JohnO]

Thanks, will give that a go.

[JohnO]

Latest update, undid the pipe between the injector pump and the injector itself. Cranking the engine over I can see small spurts of fuel, the spurts seem tiny but I suppose it could be the right amount of fuel.

I guess this means that fuel is reaching the input side of the injector and perhaps there's an issue with the injector, blocked maybe. Seems like my next job is to dismantle the injector and take a look to see if it's blocked.

[keith71]

If you can pull the injector out of the head and see if it spays from the nozzle. If it sprays out while cranking ,they might be okay. Also if it is spraying fuel from tip, keep cranking, build some heat and it may go. If its puffing it might just start and run.

[JohnO]

Progress of sorts. I popped the injector (the sleeve came out with it), reconnecting (upside down) and cranking I can see that nothing is coming out of the injector. Not sure what the end of the injector should look like, a black disk about 1cm in diameter and what I assume is the Pintle valve sticking out by about 1mm. Is there a method for unblocking the injector?

[vdubnut62]

Sounds to me like you still have air in the pump area of the fuel system.
Ron

[JohnO]

Thanks Ron,

Not sure if this helps but if i disconnect the injector the pump spits out fuel a decent distance across the garage, couple of metres maybe. So it feels like fuel is getting to the injector, I'm not sure whether it would spit out fuel if there was still air in the system perhaps it would but a little air could prevent the fuel being pressurised enough? dunno.

I also noticed that with the injector connected and the fuel bleed/overflow pipe disconnected no fuel made its way out of the bleed/overflow valve, even after a period of cranking so I'm not sure where the fuel is going. How can I tell for sure that I've managed to eliminate all air?

cheers

John

[JohnO]

Finally got the Lister running yesterday, bleeding fuel at the point the fuel line goes into the injector body did the trick. Thanks to all who chipped in.