Lister Engine Model identification.

[Stephanie]

Hi. Can anyone help identify the model of my narrow boat Lister engine? It doesn't seem to say on it, unless it is under oil on a side I can't access.

[Tony Brooks]

Probably an SR2 but may be an SL2, LH2 etc. This one has an LH 100 mechanical gearbox with reduction box but I don't know the reduction. I guess about 2:1

 

It does not seem to have its COOLING air exhaust duct fitted so in this weather may overheat. Be aware they are prone to  developing internal fuel leaks causing them to dilute the oil.

[Tracy D'arth]

At a guess SR2 with one broken decompressor lever and some very dangerous wiring on top.

[Tony Brooks]

5 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

At a guess SR2 with one broken decompressor lever and some very dangerous wiring on top.

 

I did not notice that decompression lever. I am sure there is a safer way of routing what looks like the battery charger cables, keeping them away from the engine..

Edited July 14, 2022 by Tony Brooks

[Stephanie]

There is currently no starter battery attached to the engine.  The dodgy wiring on top is just keeping the limping leisure battery running the bilge pump. 

[Tony Brooks]

I have just messed with one of the photos and the wiring across the front of the engine looks dangerous as well.  At least try to tape it up into a single loom and secure it so none is resting on the engine parts

 

It does not seem to have had the alternator drive modified so battery charging may well be an ongoing issue because the alternator is driven from the camshaft so runs at half engine speed.

[BEngo]

I also think it is an SR2 with LM 100 gearbox.   The connection between the exhaust manifold and the exhaust pipe itself looks to have been "expediently engineered".  The clamping and fastening arrangements are certainly non-standard. When next you start up I would check carefully that it is actually fully exhaust tight  and I would keep a close eye on the various joints to make sure it stays that way.

 

N

[Alan de Enfield]

33 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

some very dangerous wiring on top.

 

very dangerous (potentially) stripped back, black wire, no termination, and the bare copper touching the top of the engine (next to the broken deco-lever)

24 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

I have just messed with one of the photos and the wiring across the front of the engine looks dangerous as well.  At least try to tape it up into a single loom and secure it so none is resting on the engine parts

 

I think that is the instrument panel, just flopping about on the end of its wires.

 

 

 

29 minutes ago, Stephanie said:

There is currently no starter battery attached to the engine.  The dodgy wiring on top is just keeping the limping leisure battery running the bilge pump. 

 

Is this a slowly sinking project boat that you have bought ?

I'd suggest that there is a lot of work to do in the engine 'hole' before you should consider trying to start that engine.

[alan_fincher]

See if you have a data plate like this on the engine anywhere.

If you do, post a picture that shows the details, and we can both tell you what model i is, but also the year of manufacture.
 

 

Edited July 14, 2022 by alan_fincher

[Alan de Enfield]

1 minute ago, alan_fincher said:

See if you have a data plate like this on the engine anywhere.

If you do, post a picture that shows the details, and we can both tell you what model i is, but also the year of manufacture.

(They are not normally as "moth-eaten" as this one)

 

I think you may have forgotten something ...............

[alan_fincher]

7 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I think you may have forgotten something ...............

 

Yep, I forgot you need to reduce the size  of an image file before the forum will let it in.  Now sorted.

[Tony Brooks]

53 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

I think that is the instrument panel, just flopping about on the end of its wires.

 

It looks more like a battery charger to me.

[Alan de Enfield]

2 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

It looks more like a battery charger to me.

 

I meant this (not the battery charger sat on top of the engine), or did you mean that this is a battery charger ?

 

 

[Tony Brooks]

3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I meant this (not the battery charger sat on top of the engine), or did you mean that this is a battery charger ?

 

 

Once I had messed with the brightness and contrast I agree, it may well be. I fear that OP may not comprehend the full horror of what they have taken on.

[Stephanie]

Challenge Accepted!

I did up a house doing all the trades I can legally do - took a lot of research but it ain't too shabby.

Thanks for all the comments. 

[Alan de Enfield]

7 minutes ago, Stephanie said:

Challenge Accepted!

I did up a house doing all the trades I can legally do - took a lot of research but it ain't too shabby.

Thanks for all the comments. 

 

Are you aware of the requirements and standards for fitting out a boat ?

 

For example, you cannot use the same types of cables as you use for house wiring, &, you do not base the wire size on current rating but on volt-drop. Gas piping has to be certain sizing and .......................... fuel pipes, hoses and filters have to be of a specific type and ....................

 

There are 1000's of pages of specifications that you should be complying with.

 

Just be aware that there are standards that have to be met before you can get the safety certificate issued.

[bizzard]

And the gear change lever is bent right over. Possibly to get the floor boards down without the lever sticking up in the way. Which might mean the engine has only been run in neautral to charge batteries and the boat not moved.

Edited July 14, 2022 by bizzard

[Stephanie]

It was moved, by it's own propulsion,  to it's current location about a year ago.

The gear stick looks to have been fashioned to poke up through the stern like a giant walking stick, leaving a lovely long hole for water and debris to get in.

I already have the Boat Safety Scheme info for bedtime reading.

I know it's a challenge but aren't all the best rewards in life.

 

[Tony Brooks]

16 minutes ago, Stephanie said:

I already have the Boat Safety Scheme info for bedtime reading.

 

Without going into all the ISOs Alan is referring to that apply to boats built after about 1997, that I doubt applies to yours, it may help if you study the course notes on http://www.tb-training.co.uk. Both the mechanical and electrical. Remember there are many here who are happy to help and advise.

[Arthur Marshall]

Actually it looks a bit like my engine did when I got my boat, including the wiring.

It overheated every hour and had to have a rest for a bit as we brought it from Coventry to Ellesmere Port. Had to have the deck planks up to keep it cool, exhaust fumes up on leg and oily hot air up the other as everything had holes...

Nobody ever complained about the wiring until I got it redone professionally, when the BST bloke failed it.

[Alan de Enfield]

24 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Without going into all the ISOs Alan is referring to that apply to boats built after about 1997,

 

I wasn't referring specifically to the RCD and post 1997 boats, but the specifics of 'best practice' and (eg) not using domestic T&E to wire the boat, not using 'speaker cable' to wire up the battery bank etc etc.

 

The best practice for wiring, gas piping, fuel pipes and hoses are all detailed in the ISO specs and are of course the basis of the BSS.

[BEngo]

25 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

..detailed in the ISO specs and are of course the basis of the BSS.

Unfortunately not. 

 

The BSS Standards and Checking Points  were the result of David Allison qqcollecting the collective bees in the bonnets of the principal surveyors in the inland waterway sector.  People like Jim McDonald, Roger Lorenz,  Don Inglis et al.  Graham Watts (then of the EA, on loan)  brought along the Thames Launch Standards ( which could not be relqaxed if the EA was to support the scheme).  The whole mish mash was then distilled into the basis of the requirements for a (voluntary)  Certificate of Compliance emanating from BW. All this happened late 80"s early 90's.

 

Following the passage of the BW act 1995 it became possible for BW to require that a boat met safety standards before a licence was issued.  After another round of arguments in the Technical Committee of the BSS these became the first set of BSS requirements.

 

The BSS  was in place before the ISO standards were published.

[Alan de Enfield]

9 minutes ago, BEngo said:

The BSS  was in place before the ISO standards were published.

 

I know all that ...........sigh

 

Are you suggesting that there have been no changes since their introduction ? Co Alarms ?

 

There have been changes that have been introduced to match the ISO requirements - I'm sure you are aware, just as one example, that the specification / requirements for copper gas pipe has changed over the life of the BSS.

[Tony Brooks]

45 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I wasn't referring specifically to the RCD and post 1997 boats, but the specifics of 'best practice' and (eg) not using domestic T&E to wire the boat, not using 'speaker cable' to wire up the battery bank etc etc.

 

The best practice for wiring, gas piping, fuel pipes and hoses are all detailed in the ISO specs and are of course the basis of the BSS.

 

Also available at a cost from the BMEA codes of practice. A library might have access to it as a book. They are based on the ISOs

[Peugeot 106]

2 hours ago, Stephanie said:

Challenge Accepted!

I did up a house doing all the trades I can legally do - took a lot of research but it ain't too shabby.

Thanks for all the comments. 

Good on you. I wish you all the luck. It isn’t rocket science but do do your research.

The 10 or so dinghies I built all float, my house and others I have rebuilt all passed building regs, electrical inspections etc and I really enjoyed completely doing up my narrowboat which passed its BSS first time as well as doing the Trent, Ribble Link  + two weeks ago the Severn Estuary. I was a salesman for most of my life so not many skills learnt there!

You can get a lot of invaluable advice off this site but need to assimilate what is useful and what is “willy waving” 

All the best. We all need a project