Alternative fuel system

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Rotazuk
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Alternative fuel system

Post by Rotazuk »

Well I picked this section as we have no " stupid ideas" section .

My zuk is currently getting a new fuel tank as I have killed three fuel pumps in as many weeks , yes it has a filter before it and thats not the topic of discussion here anyway .

Talking today with the guys and the idea of a lg tank as a fuel tank was floated , i said hmm something like that could be good , you could pressurize it and always have a head of pressure to the pump .
On the drive back from the fun trials up in Northland today I thought why not increase the pressure and ditch the fuel pump altogether .

On my nissan the fuel pump supplies fuel at a higher pressure than needed and the outlet of the fuel rail has a pressure regulator for the return fuel . This keeps the required fuel in the rail . If you regulated the pressure going into the rail you would not need a return line .

Then if you fulled the lpg ( or some sort of ) tank with fuel , hooked it up to a pressure sorce regulated to the fuel pressure required you would have fuel :D

There are a few issues with this
The fuel would be a constant feed , ie when you turn off the engine the fuel pump normally shuts off , not so here .
Having fuel and compressed air in a tank is probably not a good idea .

To get around these you could hook the fuel pump output from the ecu to a shutoff valve and you could use nitrogen as the gas to pressurize the tank from a small high pressure bottle , but I expect most people do not have access to nitrogen , argon or co2 would also work I guess .

This sounds like a lot of hassle to get rid of a fuel pump but after changing so many you look at everything .

Just posted this as a bit of humor and disscussion so post up your comments , its all good for a laugh .
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meatc
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Re: Alternative fuel system

Post by meatc »

I like your thinking. Could it not be pressureised from an onboard compressor (ex air con pump or similar) :?: I know air and fuel can be explosive but if you exclued the fuel vapour its a bit safer.

What about a full LPG conversion? Have no idea what is involved in this with an injected motor but there are plenty of dual fuel commodores and falcons around so it must be do-able. No pump required. Run at any angle. Use whats left after a day of wheeling to have a barbie :lol: .

If you used a removable tank (barbie bottle, ex forklift or sim) there would be no cert of fitness issues for filling. Some of the US sites have guys doin it on carb motors why not an injected one :?:

When you wok out how to do it let me know. I havent sorted the fuel system for mine yet :D
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meatc
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Re: Alternative fuel system

Post by meatc »

Hmm. Did a breif bit of reasearch on LPG on injected motor. Not so easy. :cry: New higher pressure injectors, circulating LPG lines at high pressure to ensure it does not vapourise, but not so much pressure that it freezes. :roll:

Looks like pressurising the petrol may be easier.

Out of interest what sort of pumps have you been using and how are they mounted? Do you think an intank one would be any better :?: Sorry for all the :?: but building a similar truck to yours and trying to learn form others problems to avoid having them :D

Dan
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Rotazuk
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Re: Alternative fuel system

Post by Rotazuk »

Hi
I got the rear tray tacked in place today so will have some pic's of the tank mounted in a day or two .

Converting an efi to lpg would not be a good option , easier to keep replacing fuel pumps and they don't give that much trouble really .
The 413 had a custom made tank ( by me ) in it . It was about half the depth of the factory tank and only about 25 lts . As I was concerned about not picking up fuel the fuel feed line insid ethe tank is rubber and has a weight on it , as the tank leans the weight moves the tube to the fuel etc .
This worked without hicup for 5 years but since I ran it out of gas , and I mean right out of gas , it has been causing problems . Either I have picked something up in the line I can't blow out or the rubber tube is kinked inside the tank as as it falls one way it blocks off . Either way to get to it it meant cutting the tank open , so it was easier to make a new one .

The new one is narrow and tall and the fuel feed will be straight out the bottom , so nothing in the tank to go wrong . For ease maybe just get a vitara tank and run with that , they do not give any problems . Rex runs a Swift GTI tank , they are very flat as they sit under the rear seat etc , I thought it would give issues but it does not . So even that would be better than what I have .

It would be interesting to make an air pressurised tank but alas probably not worth the hassle of setting it up .

i have just been using a commodore external pump without the pressure reg as the fuel manifold has one in it . People say you need a lift pump but I never had an issue , until now and don't think a lift pump would help .

Chris
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Ryan
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Re: Alternative fuel system

Post by Ryan »

hey im having problems, running out of fuel on steep angles. i never had that problem until i put the 1600 in...any ideas?
we were thinking of replaceing the manual pump with and electric one and having a surge type tank in the engine bay that is always full so if i do get on a big angle there should be enuff in the surge tank to keep it running? the reason im thinking its the manual pump is because when it was stalling i started to get i revs and it starts running nice again??
will also be replacing the standard tank soon with a stainless lpg tank we will cut to suit.....
94 nissan terrano 2inch susp lift, 3inch body lift, 33x12.5x15 maxxis bighorns
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Rotazuk
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Re: Alternative fuel system

Post by Rotazuk »

not sure what you mean "because when it was stalling i started to get i revs and it starts running nice again "

I would not have thought the 1600 would have a significant difference in fuel flow to a 1300 . I would have guessed the cheap buggers would have used the same fuel pump , maybe not . Are you sure its starving of fuel and not a bad angle for the carb . I have not heard of the carbed vitaras having problems thou .
A surge tank would be the best option but not always the room , and not the cheapest option .

How did you come across a stainless lpg tank eh !!!

Chris
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Ryan
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Re: Alternative fuel system

Post by Ryan »

(because when it was stalling i started to get i revs and it starts running nice again) was spose to be (when i started to rev it harder!!) sorry for my bad typing....

my horder bro inlaw had it sitting in his shed!!! he was gona make a bbq out of it?
94 nissan terrano 2inch susp lift, 3inch body lift, 33x12.5x15 maxxis bighorns
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