Engine 2.0
Tuesday, March 10, 2015 at 11:37AM Shortly before Christmas I was browsing ebay and came across the remains of a Lister JK4 engine, basically the block and crank for little more than scrap value. For those that don't know, this is an uprated 4 cylinder version of the 3 cylinder Lister JP3 we have in Misterton. Although still based on the same 1930's design, it will rev to 1500 instead of 1200 rpm, therefore will produce 62 horsepower instead of the 30 we currently have. I know this doesn't seem much but it should make a difference and I like the old engines.
So my original plan was to gather the parts over time and use our existing engine to build a new 4 cylinder version.
However, more valuable internet surfing time (note, Mary may disagree as to the 'value') looking for spares, led me to find and purchase a complete Lister JK4. This is from a standby generator from Dover docks, and had been sitting covered for a number of years up near Doncaster. This has been duly delivered and has now joined the other one, taking up space in the workshop.
Of course, these things don't always go smoothly, and I discovered it would only rotate 180 degrees. A few stuck valves were fixed, but no difference. I started eliminating things and discovered that the fuel injection pump was partially seized (and luckily I was able to find a brand new one on ebay for less than the cost of reconditioning the old one). This has now been removed, and I can get almost 360 degrees of rotation, so now my thoughts are there is a second blockage, possibly above one of the pistons. A USB endoscope has been ordered to investigate......
Reader Comments (1)
and so it begins the collection of engines........so you are safe with just the two spare engines for now , and they look good too......you have some way to catch my 9 spare engines.........