Solved NIC#232 - Commer TS3 diesel motor

[nicanary]

Something different - who can recognise this engine?

[Allan L]

I can, but I'll have to wait. . .

[nicanary]

I can, but I'll have to wait. . .

I deliberately selected a puzzle photo of it in a "distressed" condition. I have other images of the engine in "cutaway" form to show when the puzzle is solved. I just love this engine.

[nicanary]

Experts?

[richard cuyler]

Commer TS3 diesel?

[nicanary]

Commer TS3 diesel?

In one. I wonder from time to time, whenever this engine crops up, just what possessed the powers-that-be at Rootes to decide that "this is the engine for us". It was an era of 4 and 6-cylinder "sluggers", slow-turning load pullers that could climb Pennine passes in "crawl" gear all day long. Rootes were looking for a new engine for the post-war boom in truck sales and the "never had it so good" economy. And they chose this, of all things - as far as I know an abandoned design for a tank motor. Bonkers, yet wonderful.

[qwaszx]

a Rootes Compressor, but where are the pistons...

[nicanary]

a Rootes Compressor, but where are the pistons...

Well, it was spelt Roots (nothing to do with the Rootes Group), and here's a picture of the innards. I note that Wikipedia claim the design was used by Rootes because a) they had taken over Tilling-Stevens whose design it was , and b) they wanted a "cab-forward" truck and it would be necessary to have an engine which would fit beneath the floor. Other manufacturers fitted the engines in the middle of the cab under a cover.

It was a 2-stroke, 3 cylinder diesel engine with six pistons using a complex crankshaft/conrod arrangement, and it was supercharged. Complex doesn't begin to describe it. And the noise!

[richard cuyler]

Commer TS3 diesel?

a Rootes Compressor, but where are the pistons...

Well, it was spelt Roots (nothing to do with the Rootes Group), and here's a picture of the innards. I note that Wikipedia claim the design was used by Rootes because a) they had taken over Tilling-Stevens whose design it was , and b) they wanted a "cab-forward" truck and it would be necessary to have an engine which would fit beneath the floor. Other manufacturers fitted the engines in the middle of the cab under a cover.

It was a 2-stroke, 3 cylinder diesel engine with six pistons using a complex crankshaft/conrod arrangement, and it was supercharged. Complex doesn't begin to describe it. And the noise!

As far as the general public was concerned, the most noteworthy thing about this engine was its unique exhaust note. No use trying to describe it, but it's really, well, interesting. Have a listen on You tube by searching for 'Commer T3 running', or something similar. I recall hearing these lorries as a kid and the sound is unforgettable!

[nicanary]

Commer TS3 diesel?

a Rootes Compressor, but where are the pistons...

Well, it was spelt Roots (nothing to do with the Rootes Group), and here's a picture of the innards. I note that Wikipedia claim the design was used by Rootes because a) they had taken over Tilling-Stevens whose design it was , and b) they wanted a "cab-forward" truck and it would be necessary to have an engine which would fit beneath the floor. Other manufacturers fitted the engines in the middle of the cab under a cover.

It was a 2-stroke, 3 cylinder diesel engine with six pistons using a complex crankshaft/conrod arrangement, and it was supercharged. Complex doesn't begin to describe it. And the noise!

As far as the general public was concerned, the most noteworthy thing about this engine was its unique exhaust note. No use trying to describe it, but it's really, well, interesting. Have a listen on You tube by searching for 'Commer T3 running', or something similar. I recall hearing these lorries as a kid and the sound is unforgettable!

Ditto. I lived on the outskirts of Norwich, and a brand new livestock market was built in the vicinity (at the time it was the largest in Europe). In those days smaller herds were still taken to market by walking them, but the more affluent farmers used livestock hauliers, and one of them, based at Snetterton Heath airfield, went by the name of Foulgers, and used Commers. They went past my house every Saturday to the market, and I could hear them from inside my house.

It's quite clear why the engine is known as the "Knocker". Just extraordinary.

[Carnut]

I think the nearest you could get to describing it is breaking wind in a very large empty uncarpeted room with no windows...

[qwaszx]

check on youtube: great great noise!
and what a ridiculous section of the block thanks!