Most reliable and smoothest diesel ever?

[dieseleverything]

Lister diesel engines are likely the most reliable diesel engines ever made. They are 1, 2, and 3 cylinder LOW RPM engines made in England. They are extremely well balanced and extremely heavy. Many of them are in South America and other third world countries running 24/7 powering generators for 20 years straight, stopping only to have their oil changed.

Unfortunately they stopped making them in 1965, so the good Listers can only be had used. An Indian company makes cheap, unbalanced knock-offs called Listeroids, but they require a lot of work to get them up to the standards of an old Lister.

This is a new Listeroid two cylinder.



This is an old Lister single cylinder.

[Dave Brand]

The old-style Lister engines may no longer be made by the original company, but the company still exists as Lister-Petter on the old Lister site in Dursley.

When I was a kid a lot of both makes were in use on farms - Listers were generally considered the better engines than Petters but both thrived on neglect!

[Ken]

The old-style Lister engines may no longer be made by the original company, but the company still exists as Lister-Petter on the old Lister site in Dursley.

When I was a kid a lot of both makes were in use on farms - Listers were generally considered the better engines than Petters but both thrived on neglect!

A quick look at their website shows they still manufacture 46 different engines in the range 1.34 to 360 BHP covering a variety of applications.

Ken.

[Eric]

Extremely cool! I'd never heard of these before. That first video was a lot like the flywheel start technique for a WWII-era fighter!