LPG Conversion

penetrator · Post by **penetrator** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 10:15 pm

Hey guys no doubt the rising fuel prices are pissing you off aswell :twisted:

I have a 92 surf with a 3.0l V6 petrol engine and the bitch can drink so am wondering if a conversion to a dual LPG / Petrol fuel system would be worth it?

Has anyone here got any idea what it would cost, what the fuel consumption would be if converted etc???
Cheers

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Sat Aug 13, 2005 8:33 pm

As long as its better than mine (3 km/litre) on lpg then you should be fine.

Seriously mine should be getting about 8-9km/litre of lpg when i finish mortgaging the house to fix the faulty regulator, tune the reciently overhauled holley and fuel pump. (long story)

I thought the chev was thirsty but never was able to compare figures to anyone else to see how thirsty. seems that it was haemoraging fuel into the carb.

With todays figures I dont know how long it would take to break even but there are calculators about on the web somewhere.

Heath

nzhunter · Post by **nzhunter** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 6:53 pm

Hello, I am looking at buying an LPG kit for my old mans V6 terrano. I see theres some on trademe one certain one comes with lavato mixer and regulator but whats the deal with installing it does it need be certified? Is it easy to install? Does the LPG require a test goin into another vehicle? Have any of you installed it?

Cheers for any help,
DAN

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:43 pm

tanks must be in date (10 year cycle) and the system must be checked yearly.

Best bet is to talk to an installer. They can give you the real deal on costs and setups etc. They may even tell what to look for in second hand kits.

Buying cheap may just result in a compromised setup (like mine was) and end up costing more to get right ($1000 for mixer and hoses and condenser setup)

I am getting 4km/l now and am still having issues with hoses etc but will have them sorted soon I hope. And then will get a final tune done.

Heath

krawlr · Post by **krawlr** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:28 am

it would cost you a fortune to convert propane to a aspirated late model efi engine....

prob cheaper to convert to a 3l 2.8 diesel engine

then again once i think more it would serriously be cheaper to buy a factory 4 runner diesel truck.

but hey i could be wrong........

SupraLux · Post by **SupraLux** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:29 pm

Drive-in Drive-out here in Chch is about $2500 for an EFI engine. Its not that much more tricky than a carb one... just need a cutoff relay on each bank of injectors to stop them firing when running LPG. Its actually better with an EFI motor, as you can fit a wee LPG computer that feeds back info and self-tunes the gas using several of the petrol sensors I believe.

Payback? Several years... or several months... depends on the motor and the vehicle... but hey... its a smoother power delivery than petrol, and better for the environment, and if you're dual fuel then you get more range.

My 2 litre petrol Hilux used to get $65 petrol into the tank and go 350km. It would get $35 LPG into the LPG tank and go... 350km! You do the math!

Also, you can fit most of it yourself... IF you do it to the regs... which if you don't know them you will almost certainly have the installer having to pull things out and do them himself again.

The one thing you CAN NOT DO is install the actual fuel lines... they must be run by a qualified installer. Best bet is to go to an LPG installer and ask a few questions... I did, and in the end it got too hard, although I still have 2 70l tanks sitting here for one day

(Yes, tanks need recertified every 10 years which costs around $80 per tank)

Lovato is italian gear from memory, and quite good mostly... its what my Hilux had and the installer said it was ok.

Hope that helps some

Steve

SupraLux · Post by **SupraLux** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:31 pm

SupraLux wrote:(Yes, tanks need recertified every 10 years which costs around $80 per tank)

Mike - what the hell are these stupid purple smiley things that have appeared??? I was trying to say eighty, 8 0, $ 8 0

Grrrr...

De-Ranged · Post by **De-Ranged** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 9:50 pm

I was wondering what that was..... I was wondering if it was a really scarry number, noticed different places charge differently for this sorta stuff

Theres one other cost you have to bear with LPG other than the tank cert and there is a bastard with that, it has to be removed from the car to test and reinstalled by approved installer :roll:

but who cares it only happens once in the life of the vehicle

The other cost is your yearly Alternate fuels WoF.... depending on compition (how many guys in your area can do it and how busy they are...) you might just get a fright :shock:

but still worth it if your doing big K's :wink:

Oh and there are ways round the WoF or lack of

Cheers Reece

rowinz · Post by **rowinz** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:02 pm

I have had LPG in my old 40 series and now my 70 series. The old 40 (carb 2F, 4.2l) ran 22l/100km on LPG if you were light footed, but slightly better on petrol. They say LPG uses about 10% more fuel than petrol cos of the lower energy density. I have just got the 70 on the road last week, so not sure on efficiency on that.
You can install some of the parts yourself, but will definitely need an installer to run the liquid lines and to certify the whole thing (and to give youa guiding hand).
The installation cert is valid for the life of the installation and is needed every year for the Alternative Fuel Cert (basically LPG WOF). The WOF I got last week cost me $35, and the recert cos the original was lost by last owner cost $85.
I work in the LPG industry and know that the installers are pretty busy atm, but as others have said, most are pretty happy ot have achat and go over how you could reduce costs - it give them some work and helps you out too.
Minor changes to timing and spark temp are recommended but they're no biggie.
Cheers
Rowan