lister engine noise, petter ac2 better?

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guyd

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bossingtonhall.co.uk
I have a lister SR2, weighing in at 650 pounds or so...(300kg) a massive 12hp. and its incredibly noisy. I spent a small fortune on rubber engine mounts and a rubber drive system, and its no quieter. I think the whole hull is vibrating.

would a AC2, which is a similar power, but tiny, and 176lbs (80kg), be quieter? I would like some extra cabin spadce too, as the boat is quite compact (colvic 20).
 
AC 2 is an ancient engine and unrefined. If you are going to re-engine then buy a modern engine of around 20hp. Quiet, refined (by comparison), even lighter than the Petter and will outlast any old engine.

Why invest time and energy in fitting an engine that is 30 or more years out of date - and by today's standards, woefully underpowered.
 
Those Petter engines were / are terrible things, noisy liable to through a con-rod through the casing, poor cold start. As Tranona says spend the £s on a modern (Japanese ) engine, the problem will be that a new engine will be a high % of total boat value
 
guyd said:
I have a lister SR2, weighing in at 650 pounds or so...(300kg) a massive 12hp. and its incredibly noisy. I spent a small fortune on rubber engine mounts and a rubber drive system, and its no quieter. I think the whole hull is vibrating.

would a AC2, which is a similar power, but tiny, and 176lbs (80kg), be quieter? I would like some extra cabin spadce too, as the boat is quite compact (colvic 20).
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You may find that even a new, relatively silent, engine makes little difference on a propshaft driven, small, older boat because a lot of the cockpit noise resonates through the hull and stern gear. I grant you it would be an improvement below decks. In any case a new, or even used newish, engine would be hopelessly uneconomic given the probable value of the boat.

The Petter Mini Twin makes a very distinctive hammering rattle as it does it's work, I always liked it but you would not call it quiet. There are a number of video clips on YouTube that may be worth listening to. It would only be worth swapping if you had access to a very cheap and known to be reliable engine. Even then you would want to be sure of it's condition. A common fault was the waterways corroding through to the cylinder bores causing head gasket failure. Sometimes this can be repaired, somtimes not. New heads are/were a silly price and usable old spares are getting hard to come by.

It may be worth toughing it out with the Lister and putting the savings into your next boat maybe?
 
So what small cheap engine is viable for a 4 grand banger? I keep looking on fleabags but have yet to see something at a decent price. The ac2 I saw didn't look 'old', and was only 675 quid uric. Yanmar my series seem to start at be. 1.5k for a rough looking engine.....
 
The Petter was pretty horrible to start with and is now ancient. You might be swopping noise for occasional silence, or worse...
Sail as much as possible and grit your teeth when the wind don't blow.
 
DownWest said:
The Petter was pretty horrible to start with and is now ancient. You might be swopping noise for occasional silence, or worse...
Sail as much as possible and grit your teeth when the wind don't blow.
Click to expand...
It was fitted to all sorts of static ( read didnt want to start ) plant in the 70s. A real bad starter in the cold & liable to through a con-rod, best let a n other buy it
 
I'm surprised people say the Petter is hard to start. I have an AC1 in my Achilles 24, which I've owned for 10 years or so. The AC1 is the single cylinder 6HP version. Underpowered, sure, but it starts first time, every time, without glowplugs or any other help, winter or summer. If anyone has one which is hard to start, it's probably got low compression. Mine was rebuilt with new piston/valves etc before I bought the boat, which probably explains it. If you've got a second-hand engine on the bench, it'd be sensible to do the same before installing it.
 
My Petter AC2 stood for 10 years untouched, I took a new battery down, primed the cylinders with oil, decompressed it and turned it over by hand for about 8 turns and then turned the key, it started first time and ran perfectly, as noisy as usual but otherwise no problems and the diesel fuel was about 15 years old in the tank as well, that was about 10years ago and it has also started first time every time since.
 
guyd said:
So what small cheap engine is viable for a 4 grand banger? I keep looking on fleabags but have yet to see something at a decent price. The ac2 I saw didn't look 'old', and was only 675 quid uric. Yanmar my series seem to start at be. 1.5k for a rough looking engine.....
Click to expand...

In general there isn't. Even if you can find a cheap engine, the cost will mount up when you fit it, such as modifying engine beds, new propeller etc. if your Lister is still working, just use the boat or sell it and buy something with a good modern engine.
 
I also have an AC2W mini twin and it runs well. However, I am puzzled by the fuel return pipe which appears to re enter the engine at the rear through what the manual describes as 'injector fly wheel end' Do you have any other return pipes?
 
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