A few LPG questions

[DogsBody]

Hello everyone,
I could do with some opinions on the following scenario I have put myself in.

I have recently purchased an ST220 (53 plate with 57k on the clock)

I love this car already, so comfortable and the power is there when you need it, I think it may need a new exhaust at some point though

I am however considering an LPG conversion on it due to its not so great fuel consumption. I drive about 14k per year so I have calculated that I will recover the initial £2k outlay in 2 years time.

That is fine, I dont need that money for at least 2 years and I plan to keep the car for at least 4 (although knowing me I'll get bored of it after 3)

so my questions are

1 - Would you do it ?
2 - How long would you own the car before having the conversion done ?
(my thought process here is that if there is a major problem with the car that I haven't discovered yet it would perhaps be best not to go spending £2k on it straight away, on the flip side the sooner it is done the sooner the cost saving starts)
3 - Anyone familiar with Auto Tek in Ripley ? he has quoted me just under £2k to fit a Prins system and he is a registered PRINs dealer/fitter according to their site.


And one last little question I get the red light on and drove the car to what I beleived was pretty much empty (13 miles left on the display) and I only got 47l of fuel in it, I was led to beleiev these things have a 58l fuel tank ?


Thanks
James

 

[[TW]Fox]

So it takes 2 years to recover the cost. You will reckon you will get bored of the after 3 years.

Based on these figures you will save £1k and only in the final year. Is there really any point?

 

[Overlag]

im sure ST220's have issues running LPG too? Like melting rear pistons or something?

 

[4T5]

Personally I think the only way to run an LPG is to buy a 2nd hand motor with a certified kit fitted, At least that way it was the previous owner that took the install cost on.

 

[DogsBody]

So it takes 2 years to recover the cost. You will reckon you will get bored of the after 3 years.

Based on these figures you will save £1k and only in the final year. Is there really any point?

As I said I plan to keep it at least 4 years and hopefully will be longer than that I may get bored of it in 3 years I don't know.
I am also hoping that I have been very conservative with my fuel saving calculations (Ie I have budgeted £25 of petrol per month along side the LPG whereas reading various forums people report £50 - £60 in 6 months)

im sure ST220's have issues running LPG too? Like melting rear pistons or something?

I have heard this but there doesn't seem to be any hard eveidence of this having googled the subject quite a bit and checking on some of the mondeo enthusiast forums

Personally I think the only way to run an LPG is to buy a 2nd hand motor with a certified kit fitted, At least that way it was the previous owner that took the install cost on.

Would have loved to have budgeted an extra £1k on my intial purchase and got an ST220 with one already fitted but I couldn't find one

 

[ubersonic]

I am however considering an LPG conversion on it due to its not so great fuel consumption. I drive about 14k per year so I have calculated that I will recover the initial £2k outlay in 2 years time.

My rough calcs show it would be more like 16 months to recover the outlay.

1 - Would you do it ?

Yes

2 - How long would you own the car before having the conversion done ?

Instantly, time you wait is money burned (literally), the quicker its changed and you start saving the quicker start recovering the outlay and the quicker thats recovered the quicker your cruising at 69p a litre

3 - Anyone familiar with Auto Tek in Ripley ? he has quoted me just under £2k to fit a Prins system and he is a registered PRINs dealer/fitter according to their site.

If he can guarantee that the system will handle the cars demands that's a good price, I was quoted £1650+VAT for a BRC multipoint sequential injection system on a 400BHP Supra. My LPG'd LS400 im cruising in atm has some Itallian made system that switches back to petrol at over 5k rpm because it can't meet the demand, that's fine in a 4L V8 cruiser because you don't rev them that high.

im sure ST220's have issues running LPG too? Like melting rear pistons or something?

Generally if you can run a car on petrol you can run it on LPG, the problem is it runs a bit hotter and the LPG doesn't lubricate like petrol does, most LPG installations now will include a flashlube system which basically holds ~1L of lubricant and needs topping up every few thousand litres of LPG you use.

 

[DogsBody]

Generally if you can run a car on petrol you can run it on LPG, the problem is it runs a bit hotter and the LPG doesn't lubricate like petrol does, most LPG installations now will include a flashlube system which basically holds ~1L of lubricant and needs topping up every few thousand litres of LPG you use.

Thanks for your feedback.

I asked them about flashlube and he tells me the 3.0 V6 mondeo engine doesnt need flashlube (or the prins equivalent which he normally fits) he has priced it at £185+VAT though if I decide to have it fitted anyway

 

[Disco Boy]

Personally I think the only way to run an LPG is to buy a 2nd hand motor with a certified kit fitted, At least that way it was the previous owner that took the install cost on.

This.

Also be careful not to get one with a stupidly small lpg tank so you spend half your time filling it up.