Lister SR3

[Speedyduck36]

Hi

This is my first post so I'm not sure if I'm doing it right but here goes......

 

Unfortunately I think I may have cooked my Lister SR3 engine.

I hadn't run it for a while but then had a good run but hadn't checked my oil.

 

I couldn't start the engine and compression seemed to be the issue. Having checked the oil, it wasn't on the dipstick so I topped up. After toping up over 14.... yes FOURTEEN pints of oil, I am now half way on the dipstick.

I get enough compression to start but she now blows quite a bit of black smoke and smoke comes from the head also.

 

I am told I may have cooked the engine. I can get her to run for a while but when she gets warm the revs drop even with full revs on and the engine dies. I am told I may have cooked the engine and my best course of action is to replace it in its entireity with an SR3 or an ST3.

 

This is an expensive mistake on my part.... not topping up with 15 quids worth of oil which may now cost me over a grand to fix.

 

Any advice or anyone out there that has an SR3 or ST3 engine in good working order.

 

Thank you in advance to anyone that can help

[wrigglefingers]

Hi

This is my first post so I'm not sure if I'm doing it right but here goes......

 

Unfortunately I think I may have cooked my Lister SR3 engine.

I hadn't run it for a while but then had a good run but hadn't checked my oil.

 

I couldn't start the engine and compression seemed to be the issue. Having checked the oil, it wasn't on the dipstick so I topped up. After toping up over 14.... yes FOURTEEN pints of oil, I am now half way on the dipstick.

I get enough compression to start but she now blows quite a bit of black smoke and smoke comes from the head also.

 

I am told I may have cooked the engine. I can get her to run for a while but when she gets warm the revs drop even with full revs on and the engine dies. I am told I may have cooked the engine and my best course of action is to replace it in its entireity with an SR3 or an ST3.

 

This is an expensive mistake on my part.... not topping up with 15 quids worth of oil which may now cost me over a grand to fix.

 

Any advice or anyone out there that has an SR3 or ST3 engine in good working order.

 

Thank you in advance to anyone that can help

 

Okay,

 

You're unlikely to have used 14 pints of oil on a run unless there was an underlying problem before you started. I'm famously not a technical person and somebody who is will be along soon. I might suspect an oil leak though - this might seem obvious but if there is any liquid in the bilge check to see if it's oil, I'm trying to remember if the SR3 has a sump drain plug and I think it does - on the crankcase from memory. May be worth checking, I do know that the SR3 doesn't have an oil filter, which is sometimes a cause of minor bother. Other than that I would have thought that if you had used 14 pints of oil and cooked the engine you would have been swathed in plumes of back smoke, and when that happens even I know it's in trouble!

 

Moreover, it's unlikely that you'll need a complete replacement engine, Lister SR3s are very robust and there are plenty of parts around to do repairs and lots of people with experience to fix them, so a wholesale panic isn't needed yet.

 

Good luck, and somebody who know what they're on about will be here soon.

 

Jill

 

eta and welcome to the forum, we're a strange lot but some of us are very nice ....... and .......

 

Mods, this would be better in Boat Maintenance for a faster response for the OP, please.

Edited January 30, 2010 by wrigglefingers

[Speedyduck36]

Thanks for the response.

 

I do have some oil in the engine sump but it doesn't look like 14 pints worth.

I did have the engine completely serviced back in August and before that time I never had an issue with the oil.

Maybe it was something that happened after, or because of, the service.

 

She's always been a bit smokey and the distance covered since the service was Gayton to Coventry basin and back down to Milton Keynes so I'm not sure if that was when the oil was lost.

 

Anyway thank you for your advice and hopefully someone out there may be able to assist further.

 

It's good to know that there are some virtual people out there that I can talk to about the issue.

[Chris Pink]

Repair is going to be so much easier (read cheaper) than getting a replacement.

 

Sounds like you might have blown the head gasket.

 

I would also be worried about why the oil was so low in the first place, this may be a symptom rather than a cause.

 

Your symptoms are a little ambiguous so you need a question and answer session with an expert to make a proper diagnosis

 

If you are in Milton Keynes then you are not a million miles from Uxbridge where Lister specialist Marine Engine Services are.

 

The first thing to do is to speak to them and get a proper diagnosis and a repair estimate.

 

Whereas you will get loads of sympathy and much (conflicting) advice in the virtual realm, it's no substitute for a real mechanic in the engine bay.

 

Could be a proverb there?

 

An engineer in the engine 'ole is worth on the internet.

[alan_fincher]

Okay,

 

You're unlikely to have used 14 pints of oil on a run unless there was an underlying problem before you started. I'm famously not a technical person and somebody who is will be along soon. I might suspect an oil leak though - this might seem obvious but if there is any liquid in the bilge check to see if it's oil, I'm trying to remember if the SR3 has a sump drain plug and I think it does - on the crankcase from memory.

Well for what it's worth, the SR3 has (from it's instruction manual) a quoted oil capacity of 13.5 pints.

 

So if you have put 14 pints in, and it's not obviously spilling out anywhere as you do it, in vast quantities, then, unfortunately, it was empty before you began, (and possibly even some has come out during filling ??).

 

Not quite sure what that means, other than if it has been falling out of somewhere, that "somewhere" must be very low down.

 

Now you have filled it to a measurable level, is it staying at that level, or falling ?

[wrigglefingers]

Well for what it's worth, the SR3 has (from it's instruction manual) a quoted oil capacity of 13.5 pints.

 

So if you have put 14 pints in, and it's not obviously spilling out anywhere as you do it, in vast quantities, then, unfortunately, it was empty before you began, (and possibly even some has come out during filling ??).

 

Not quite sure what that means, other than if it has been falling out of somewhere, that "somewhere" must be very low down.

 

Now you have filled it to a measurable level, is it staying at that level, or falling ?

 

That's why I wondered if it was the sump drain plug out but I think it's on the side of the crankcase. It was on the SR2 but when I had the SR2 I also had a tame diesel engineer and so avoided learning any whatsoever to do with engines. And if anybody knows Rob Hickinbottom say hello from me and tell him it's all his fault, the boats I mean!

[DHutch]

Moved to boatbuilding and maintenance.

[FORTUNATA]

I'm kind of curious about the engine as whole. I myself have an SR2 and have done what I can to familiarise myself with the design and workings of the engine. I'm not a diesel mechanic or engineer although there is some engineering background in my family. I suppose you could say I'd be fairly keen on learning diesel maintenance, mainly on Listers. Does anyone know how easy it would be to get your hands on an old knackered Lister to have a go at stripping one down for the learning process?

They tell me the main problem with the Listers is oil leaks. I do know one thing the engine manual styresses with these engines is cooling maintenance. Apparently the cooling fins need to be kept clean so that cooling air always does its job and keep the engine from overheating.

[paulcatchpole]

They tell me the main problem with the Listers is oil leaks. I do know one thing the engine manual styresses with these engines is cooling maintenance. Apparently the cooling fins need to be kept clean so that cooling air always does its job and keep the engine from overheating.

 

The workshop manual can be found online and has good information on the internals. PM me if you can't find a copy.

 

Not sure about oil leaks - ours doesn't leak any, but what it does do (ST2) is to leak diesel into the sump at a huge rate, and yes, it overheats like anything partly 'cause of that, and partly 'cause it's in need of a serious clean.

 

Despite baking it to the point it's stopped a couple of times, it's recovered and still works fine.

 

Not tried the previously-sunken SR3 on the project boat yet though...

 

PC

[MoominPapa]

Not sure about oil leaks - ours doesn't leak any, but what it does do (ST2) is to leak diesel into the sump at a huge rate,

I found Peter Thompson's instructions here very useful when I had the same problem.

 

MP.

[paulcatchpole]

I found Peter Thompson's instructions here very useful when I had the same problem.

 

MP.

 

I knew I'd seen that online somewhere - thanks for digging that up!

 

Cheers!

 

PC

[FORTUNATA]

I suppose what happens is people don't always follow up on the engine manual maintenance schedule and the engines in question are a good thirty years old. Mine tends to smoke too much if my brother bangs it away into reverse which is why I keep telling him to bear in mind there is a lot of extra weight on the boat after overplating the hull.

Not that I've done much in maintenance of the engine thus far, or even took the boat out as much as I ought to. However, I'm hoping to have a good go at the engine some time soon and at least give it a bit of a clean. I did change the oil.

Strictly speaking, a heavily used Lister is supposed to be decarbonised every so often and air cooling ducts cleaned and so on. I don't know if anybody bothers to carry out such tasks as the engine does have a reputation for being a bit of a warhorse. Mine seems to run fine so long as I treat it well and don't overtax it on reverse.

 

The workshop manual can be found online and has good information on the internals. PM me if you can't find a copy.

 

Not sure about oil leaks - ours doesn't leak any, but what it does do (ST2) is to leak diesel into the sump at a huge rate, and yes, it overheats like anything partly 'cause of that, and partly 'cause it's in need of a serious clean.

 

Despite baking it to the point it's stopped a couple of times, it's recovered and still works fine.

 

Not tried the previously-sunken SR3 on the project boat yet though...

 

PC

[PhilR]

Hi

This is my first post so I'm not sure if I'm doing it right but here goes......

 

I couldn't start the engine and compression seemed to be the issue. Having checked the oil, it wasn't on the dipstick so I topped up. After toping up over 14.... yes FOURTEEN pints of oil, I am now half way on the dipstick.

I get enough compression to start but she now blows quite a bit of black smoke and smoke comes from the head also.

 

 

Thank you in advance to anyone that can help

 

1. Is the drip tray/engine bilge full of oil?

2. Have you got the correct dipstick?

 

14½ pints is the full capacity of the sump on the SR3. It sounds like your engine sump might have been completely dry before you ran the engine. More info would be helpful

 

Phil

[Speedyduck36]

1. Is the drip tray/engine bilge full of oil?

2. Have you got the correct dipstick?

 

14½ pints is the full capacity of the sump on the SR3. It sounds like your engine sump might have been completely dry before you ran the engine. More info would be helpful

 

Phil

Thanks Phil

There is some oil in the engine sump but not that much. I've had the 14 pints in there a couple of weeks now and its holding it so I don't think that's an issue. Cracked a bolt on the fuel filter and there's fuel going in but I'm having a great deal of trouble starting her. Battery now flat and on charge. Going to try again today to see if I can start her and get a friend of a friend (who knows about engines) to try and give me his opinion before I have to spend a huge amount of money.

 

I'll see if he has any further comments that could help identify the issue / resolution

 

Ta

Mark

 

Repair is going to be so much easier (read cheaper) than getting a replacement.

 

Sounds like you might have blown the head gasket.

 

I would also be worried about why the oil was so low in the first place, this may be a symptom rather than a cause.

 

Your symptoms are a little ambiguous so you need a question and answer session with an expert to make a proper diagnosis

 

If you are in Milton Keynes then you are not a million miles from Uxbridge where Lister specialist Marine Engine Services are.

 

The first thing to do is to speak to them and get a proper diagnosis and a repair estimate.

 

Whereas you will get loads of sympathy and much (conflicting) advice in the virtual realm, it's no substitute for a real mechanic in the engine bay.

 

Could be a proverb there?

 

An engineer in the engine 'ole is worth on the internet.

 

Hi

Thanks for posting

I tried Uxbridge and without really knowing what my problem is they just quoted me 3.5k or 5k for refurbed or replacements which is a bit drastic and a bit pricey. I've got a friend of a friend having a look today so I hope I can shed more light on the issue then. The oil is still at the same level after a couple of weeks so no apparent leak although she hasn't ran.

 

Ta

Mark