lister overheating

[romarni123]

Hi all, I have been asked to see if anyone can answer this.

My neighbour has a Lister petter engine he went out today and 15 mins later his engine had overheated badly,he said his skin tank is staying cold and then the coolant came back into the header tank.He has checked the water pump and all seems well and he cannot see any obvious blockages, someone has told him the head gasket might be the cause so I thought I would ask to see if anyone has any other suggestions. I think his engine is model LPWS4 if that helps.

cheers

[GeoffH]

I had exactly the same problem with a Lister-Petter LPWS3 which did turn out to be a defective head gasket.

 

Geoff

[romarni123]

I had exactly the same problem with a Lister-Petter LPWS3 which did turn out to be a defective head gasket.

 

Geoff

Thanks Geoff I will tell him when he gets back,He has gone to drown his sorrows

[NB Lola]

I had the same engine, 20 years old, exact same problems. I gave it away and bought a new canaline and changed the skin tank, sorry to hear he is having the same problems, wonder if it is the same engine?

[romarni123]

I had the same engine, 20 years old, exact same problems. I gave it away and bought a new canaline and changed the skin tank, sorry to hear he is having the same problems, wonder if it is the same engine?

His engine is about that age, I think he is going to change the head gasket in the morning see if that helps.

[Tony Brooks]

Hi all, I have been asked to see if anyone can answer this.

My neighbour has a Lister petter engine he went out today and 15 mins later his engine had overheated badly,he said his skin tank is staying cold and then the coolant came back into the header tank.He has checked the water pump and all seems well and he cannot see any obvious blockages, someone has told him the head gasket might be the cause so I thought I would ask to see if anyone has any other suggestions. I think his engine is model LPWS4 if that helps.

cheers

 

 

If the skin tank really is staying COLD after 15 minutes than it sounds more like an airlock or thermostat stuck shut to me. One assumes that he has bled the skin tank. He needs to check the large cooling hoses for upward or downward loops that could trap air. Straight pipe runs with a slight uphill from tank to engine is best. Only after ruling out no circulation should he do the head gasket.

[steamraiser2]

Before your friend tears the cylinder head off I would suggest that he takes the thermostat out and runs the engine without it. If it still overheats and generally misbehaves then it may be reasonable to blame the head gasket. Some the Lister installations have a small hose that runs from the stat housing to the plastic header tank. Ensure that this is clear because, if it isn't, it will airlock and cause overheating. If the cooling water is very rusty it is probable that there is not enough corrosion inhibitor in the cooling system. Flush it out and replace with good quality antifreeze. Check the thermostat by placing in a pan of water and heating it up. If it doesn't open readily throw it away and fit a new one of the correct temperature rating. Most motor factors will be able to supply a new one as they are not a Lister only part. The Lister LPW range are bomb proof engines generally and are not prone to overheating unless the cooling system is in need of some TLC.

[romarni123]

Thanks for all the advice I have passed it on to him

[Ianmc]

How do I fill up the skin tank,as I only can fill up the expansion tank.

[MtB]

On 4/25/2011 at 07:33, Tony Brooks said:

 

 

If the skin tank really is staying COLD after 15 minutes than it sounds more like an airlock or thermostat stuck shut to me. One assumes that he has bled the skin tank. He needs to check the large cooling hoses for upward or downward loops that could trap air. Straight pipe runs with a slight uphill from tank to engine is best. Only after ruling out no circulation should he do the head gasket.

 

 

Sounds to me like a missing fan belt! 

(Presumably it used to work correctly. The OP doesn't actually say.)

[BEngo]

Thread necromancy from MtB!

Ianmc: In the usual set up filling the expansion tank should also fill the skin tank. You may need to find the bleed fittings or loosen a hose clip to let the air out.

N

[MtB]

1 minute ago, BEngo said:

Thread necromancy from MtB!

Ianmc: In the usual set up filling the expansion tank should also fill the skin tank. You may need to find the bleed fittings or loosen a hose clip to let the air out.

N

 

Thats really weird. It appeared at the top of my "Unread Content" page and I imagined Tony had only just posted his comment.

But now I see it was Ianmc who actually resurrected it. Post before mine.

[SiFi]

Anybody know the outcome of this .... I have much the same problem.

 

... engine runs for 15 mins but the skin tank stays cold, thermostat works, do mechanical water pumps stop pumping even tho its being driven by the belt? Broken down on the Slough Arm!!

Edited June 27, 2023 by SiFi

[Tracy D'arth]

43 minutes ago, SiFi said:

Anybody know the outcome of this .... I have much the same problem.

 

... engine runs for 15 mins but the skin tank stays cold, thermostat works, do mechanical water pumps stop pumping even tho its being driven by the belt? Broken down on the Slough Arm!!

First check is for air trapped in the skin tank top. Vent everything.  What happened before this problem started?

[SiFi]

The boat has been laid up for years. The engine has been running but only for short periods.  This was my first outing and she overheated after about 10min.  I've vented the skin tank and also poured water into the top pipe on the skin tank and it runs through tank and comes out again where the pipe's connection is on the 'exhaust' manifold.  The thermostat works fine.  I'm really stumped.  I have fitted to the engine a kit for running a calorifier but I can't see how that can interfere with the skin tank cooling.

 

I also can't see that it is the water pump as its mechanical and spinning.  I have no experience of head gaskets.

 

I can remove pump but I need to be encouraged/convinced

[Tracy D'arth]

If its been laid up for a long time it is possible that the bottom of the skin tank is sludged up or that the block itself is scaled up. Is this a freshwater cooled exhaust engine?

The bottom skin tank pipe should go to the engine circulation pump inlet not the exhaust or are  you referring to the heat exchanger over the exhaust manifold?

The thermostat connects to the heat exchanger so if the skin tank also goes there, you have no circulation!

[SiFi]

The cooled exhaust is in circuit with the skin tank and this is connected to the top of the skin tank.  The thermostat is at the other end of the manifold heat exchanger.  I've attached a pic.  

 

Is there a reliable way of checking the water pump?

 

Thank you

[SiFi]

OK my skin tank this time got hot, and it took longer before the temperature alarm sounded maybe twenty minutes on tickover.  I'm wondering if there is even more air bleed needed.

... any venting tips welcome,

 

somebody I spoke to today thought there were bleed points on the engine, but I can't find anything that looks likely

[jonathanA]

Not aware of any bleed points on the engine. 

The cauliflower take offs don't look quite right to me but it might just be the photo angle. Do those pipes get hot? They should do before the stat opens and skin tanks flow starts. 

If the calorifier feeds get hot your pump is probably OK. Although if they don't it doesn't mean it's knackered. Do you have a pic before you fitted the calorifier feed? 

 

I'd take the stat out a d try that.

 

I'm probably  wrong but wondering if in fitting the calorifier tale offs you have stopped /restricted the flow around the engine somehow ?

[Tony Brooks]

5 minutes ago, jonathanA said:

I'm probably  wrong but wondering if in fitting the calorifier tale offs you have stopped /restricted the flow around the engine somehow ?

 

 

Not 100% sure of this, but when we last discussed fitting a calorifier to a water cooled Lister I seem to recall that the kit involves tapping into the thermostat bypass circuit, so that is worth investigating.

[Tracy D'arth]

My old brain cells have twitched.  There is a right and a wrong way to connect a calorifier on these engines. If you get it wrong it bypasses the circulation in some way that causes cooling problems.

More detail I do not know.

[rusty69]

I added a calorifier heating loop into our lpw4s without problem. However, if I had encountered a cooling problem after fitting, I would have removed it. 

 

Was it working OK before? Have you got the correct thermostat fitted? 

[jonathanA]

lifted this out of the alphas series manual.  

the Cauliflower tap is the thing just on the side of the thermostat housing.  I think the return tees into the long pipe running down the side of the block to gearbox oil cooler. skin tank flow is from end of the manifold water jacket thru skin tanks and into the far end of the oil cooler on mine IIRC. 

[Peugeot 106]

If you’ve just fitted the calorifier can you disconnect it and try again. If all is well it would indicate a problem with the calorifier plumbing

[Tony Brooks]

1 minute ago, Peugeot 106 said:

If you’ve just fitted the calorifier can you disconnect it and try again. If all is well it would indicate a problem with the calorifier plumbing

 

From what I remember from a previous post, it is not just disconnecting a couple of hoses, It involves a kit with a T piece. This could well be a load of nonsense, but I don't think it is that straight forward.