LPG conversions - anyone done it?

Ricochet J said:
:confused: Are you reading the same thread as everyone else? The general consensus here is that LPG reduces the MPG.
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I'm not sure, you seem to be confused? The OP mentioned being "Solely interested" in a switchable economy remap...

Ricochet J said:
Why go for a Bentley Continental GT when a Fiat Panda would do? The point is it's human nature to improve on things. A majority of people of have experience with LPG in this thread have reported quite significant savings. One poster even reported halving their costs from £30 a day to £15 in terms of fuel. I'd hardly call that "saving a few quid". Besides, he hasn't said he was going to go for it, rather, merely being curious.

I don't see the fuss.
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The OP says that he can afford to pay for the fuel so I personally do not see the fuss in potentiality ruining a perfect good car by fitting an LPG conversion. Yes, you can always improve, but at some times you have to ask "What is the point"?
 
Joshy said:
I'm not sure, you seem to be confused? The OP mentioned being "Solely interested" in a switchable economy remap...
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If you're going to quote me, at least do it properly - I said if such a device existed, then I would be sorely tempted. Partly because I'd be tempted by a remap in the future anyway - these engines respond very well to remaps, so if something existed that would give the best of all worlds, then I dont see the problem with that

Joshy said:
The OP says that he can afford to pay for the fuel so I personally do not see the fuss in potentiality ruining a perfect good car by fitting an LPG conversion. Yes, you can always improve, but at some times you have to ask "What is the point"?
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Really I was just interested in the pros and cons as it's not something I know about - it has nothing to do with my choice of car or personal finances. The way it's sold makes it sound like a total no brainer, so I'm really just curious in the real world side of things
 
Joshy said:
I'm not sure, you seem to be confused? The OP mentioned being "Solely interested" in a switchable economy remap...
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Where on earth did you fish that from when I asked (indirectly) if you were aware LPG reduces MPG, is beyond me. :confused: :confused:
Please read the thread (properly) and try again.


Joshy said:
The OP says that he can afford to pay for the fuel so I personally do not see the fuss in potentiality ruining a perfect good car by fitting an LPG conversion.
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But he's not. He was only asking. :confused: :confused:
Seriously, where are you getting these ideas from?


Joshy said:
Yes, you can always improve, but at some times you have to ask "What is the point"?
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But in this case there may be a point if he decides to pursue LPG, as it has shown to give good economy vs engine performance. Arguable more so than petrol.
 
Some idiot on the Focus ST forums got his ST an LPG conversion, after a few 1000 miles he needed a new engine as it had destroyed the liners or something like that, think he paid about £2k for the conversion, not all engines will take kindly to LPG!
 
bullit in head said:
that was for all the parts..... £50 for the check to make it legal....
all parts sorced locally and on the bay.... DIY.. the only way to go to save even more money.....should be paid back by the end of this month...

bullit
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I've considered DIY. Theres a few on the Jeep forums that have done the job themselves and claim its not too hard to do. Mounting the tank and running the hoses safely under the chassis shouldn't be a big issue. My main concern would be attacking the engine itself and cutting a big hole in the side of the rear quarter panel.

How did it go and are you handy with spanners anyway?
 
It was fairly easy to do.. I'd say a 2/3 spanners job..its all simple stuff just bolts and rivits. the bit that I dont like doing is anything tht cant be reversed like drilling holes into the intakes and cutting the loom to splice in the injector feeds.

didnt have to cut a hole in the quater panel, I've got the filler on the towbar mounting.
it took about 7 days just working in the afternoons.

with regard to accelerated wear of valve stem seals, it's only a few engines that can suffer from it, ford range quite a few, it can be stemmed(*pun) with flash lube. but most engines dont need it. hardened valves and seats etc.

bullit
 
I've read that the software needs mapping - was this the case for you?

I'm not against a DIY job and feel quite confident I could make it work. My current dilema is if I have it done for me I have two choices. A Polish dude in the Valleys will do it for £1200 but it a 250 miles round trip. Mainly good feedback fom the internet comments but one or two iffy comments. OR a local garage will do it using an expensive but well regarded Prins system for £2K.

Or I do it myself on a 6 pot engine and it will probably work out about £800 depending on system. I've heard of this flash lube but not 100% what it does and not sure if Jeeps need it.
 
yeah the ecu needs mapping to your car and equipment used. but it's self learning and only takes an hour or so of driving to pick it up.

flash lube is like a scottoiler for lpg cars, it oils the valves and seals as you drive, petrol would normally do this but as the gas is "dry" it doesnt. as to weather or not your car needs it is to ask on car specific sites, or a profesional installer he should know if it is needed or not.
you could use second hand equipment have a look on the bay an see if any fit your requirements, I would say you would get it for well less than 800 quid



bullit
 
I've had two cars LPG converted a Jaguar XK8 and a Hyundai Santa Fe, both ran without problems and without the need to flash-lube. The Santa Fe was sold and actually didn't loose any money on it in 2yrs of ownership...the XK8 is still going strong. Fortunately at the time of the conversion (2006) I was in a job that involved lots of business mileage and I covered 30k miles that financial year and the £2k conversion paid for itself.

Several comments

1) Before conversion ensure you car is optimised for best fuel economy on petrol, I had my top end fuel system cleaned and injectors calibrated, changed to fully synthetic oil (Royal Purple) had a straight through balanced exhaust fitted, change my plugs to iridium, modified the air intake, switch to Nitrogen filled tyres which maintain a constant pressure. After these mods, on one of my regular 300 mile trips, I was regulalry attaining 37+ MPG at a steady 66mpg (appreciate large stretches of 50MPH restrictions). So on conversion I could easily return 70 MPG as a straight cost comparison (then LPG was 37 ppl and now 57ppl).

2) The larger the engine the less difference you notice in performance, so rarely hit 140 MPH (except on the two rare occassions I went autobahn)

3) There are more LPG filling stations than you relaise, I lve in rural Somerset and have 5 within a 10 mile radius

4) Don't bother with the conversion unless you do high mileage (12k miles per annum) and intend to keep the vehicle for over 3 years.

5) Larger engines need a VSI (Vapour Sequential Injection) system to operate problem free

Am seriously considering a 2005 Bentley GTC and converting that, albeit that will be more for 'pose value' than practicality.

Mark
 
DiamondMark said:
If you do the Bentley, i salute you, a brave move :)
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Not sure I understand the logic of buying a £60,000 car and then LPG converting it. Surely because its quite a specialist a car and not normally bought by the sort of person for whom cheaper fuel is a plus point, it's going to significantly devalue the car, possibly by more than the fuel saving.
 
[TW]Fox;16547677 said:
Not sure I understand the logic of buying a £60,000 car and then LPG converting it. Surely because its quite a specialist a car and not normally bought by the sort of person for whom cheaper fuel is a plus point, it's going to significantly devalue the car, possibly by more than the fuel saving.
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That's why i said it was a brave move.

It will hit its value and limit it's resale audience, in my experience, people buying 70-75k cars dont want them molested.

Still who knows, i know a few people with Bentleys, but none have taken the LPG plunge as yet, so i could be wrong :)
 
Jez said:
On what planet can you buy a GTC for £60k? :confused:
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He might mean 60k when the chap comes to sell it on.... im helping you here Fox, remember that next time i say something stupid drunk :)
 
DiamondMark said:
He might mean 60k when the chap comes to sell it on.... im helping you here Fox, remember that next time i say something stupid drunk :)
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Heh, GTC's just happen to be cars i really like. They most certainly are not down to £60k sadly, i wish they were as i would be closer to affording one at some point :p
 
[TW]Fox;16548293 said:
If they are more than 60k that bolsters my point :P
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Totally, i dont think the world has ever manufactured a barge pole long enough to fit my requirements of being offered an LPG'd GTC :p
 
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