Thanks.

As I say on site, the Lister is a real conundrum. I love the thing. It
will run forever, even on three cylinders. Absolutely rock solid
dependable. It has three ways of cooling (three pumps have to fail to shut
it down) and two ways of providing lube oil pressure, can run either wet or
dry sump. It has a nice sound. It has temp gauges on every cylinder -- full
instrumentation both below and in the wheelhouse. I have an exhaust valve
sitting on my desk -- 3.5" diameter x 10" tall. It's a wonder.

To start it, you go down in the engine room, turn on the lube oil (remote
dry sump), the seawater main, and the 24v to the starter, spin a wheel on
the front to decompress, bar the flywheel over a couple of times to make
sure everything's free, and push a button on the "Motormatic" box. Relays
start clicking, the prelube pump (24v) starts, and oil pressure comes up.
When oil pressure hits 50psi, the starter engages. After a quarter turn or
so, you spin off the decompress and it starts. The prelube pump stops. You
turn off the 24v to the starter and let it warm up for a few minutes. You
can shut it down from the wheelhouse, but you have to go down and shut off
the lube oil.

Now, this is a wonderful sequence, particularly the Motormatic (in this age
of computer everything), but can you imagine trying to sell it as a yacht
over here in fifteen years?

It has a number of little open catch basins for fuel that leaks off. It's
hard mounted to huge engine beds, so the whole boat vibrates when it's
running -- four huge pistons, and while you can practically count the
strokes, they're very present. The official RN manual says that you
shouldn't run the boat between 7.5 and 10 knots, only faster or slower (top
is 10.3), because of various resonances. Parts are beginning to be a problem
(new starter $4,000).

And, as also shown graphically on the site, it's huge (see
http://www.mvfintry.com/pix/erplan800.png) -- the Cat 3406 is no little
thing, but look at the difference. While the engine room is 20 feet square,
I've got a lot to go in it and removing the Lister helps.

And so forth. I'm sad, though. I'll miss it, except when trying to sleep.




--
Jim Woodward
www.mvFintry.com


..
"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
I found all the pictures. What a beautiful project!

Why would anyone with a great-running Lister diesel one couldn't wear
out in a lifetime, ever think about replacing it with a truck engine
bound to die? God will get you for that, some day.....

What a beautiful engine. 750 RPM. Who could wear that out?! Just
leave it idle if you don't want to crank it!....(c;

Thump......Thump......Thump......Thump......What's idle, 80 RPM?



Larry W4CSC

"Very funny, Scotty! Now, BEAM ME MY CLOTHES! KIRK OUT!"