LPG for idiots ?

[pcn1]

There seems to be too sides to the story of having LPG or not.
Is it to do with bad installations, or the way it effects the cars performance ?
Would you pay a premium for a jeep that had it ?

Some seem dead against buying a jeep with it but there are always a few up for sale with it.
I was told by a spanner man who did installs that a decent system with a hidden tank was £2K (from memory...) and that was some years ago. It never took of the way they thought it would ?

Thanks

[klimakool]

all we ever experience is poor performance from them and that the engine kills itself from the inside out, lpg carbon deposits naturally corrode alloy so common heads these days rot away from the gas

[jmb88]

my dad's K-reg Range Rover runs brilliantly on LPG, and he's got 3 tanks, so 140 litres capacity. It's the only way he can afford to run the 3.9 V8. Very reliable, consistent mpg, and costs the same as my 1.8 petrol to run pretty much.

mum's ZR also runs on LPG - it's also a 1.8, although my car's the K-series VVC, so she's ~30bhp down on my car, and it costs her half the amount to run. there's a problem with one of the regulators, which is a tt to get to, so it's not been changed, and as a result the car only revs to just shy of 5k on LPG; does mean you drive it economically though. again, no problems with the car, other than the regulator, or whatever it is, the part name's escaped me for the time being.

I'm going to be converting my car soon as well, I can get the necessary parts for around £500, fit them myself (dad runs a garage), and then I know someone who can certify the installation. On the mileage I do, that'll pay for itself in 6 months

LPG exhausts are always a lot cleaner than petrol ones as well, in our experience, so not sure on the LPG killing engines; the ZR's done 120k on gas, and the Range Rover 200k on gas.

[sinizter]

Done properly it can be good.

Palmer Motorsport run all their cars on LPG, including an E92 M3 which is 5hp down after conversion and custom remapping by Evolve (IIRC).

[camel_landy]

The main things that cause problems are:

• Carbon deposits - Very normal for an older engine but cause havoc when converted to LPG. The hotter burn turns the carbon into hotspots and damages the alloy. Best to convert a new or a recently re-built engine.
• Poor quality HT components - LPG takes almost twice the amout of 'oomph' to start the burn. Only use the highest quality HT leads, coil packs & spark plugs otherwise you'll be constantly getting mis-fire problems.

HTH

M

[pcn1]

So if your looking at a late 90's Cherokee 4.0 thats been converted (at some point in its life) whats the feelings on that ?
Im not that fussed as id only do say 3K miles a year in it.

[Rum Runner]

My old Disco runs sweet on LPG, done 112,000. Oil never gets dirty and this is flip side to hot combustion temps is that the engine is like new inside. The oil galleries are as new, which means good oil flow to hydraulic tappets, cam and the rest of the motor.
Certainly I would not be running it if I had to pay petrol prices.

[downthepub]

I thought about looking for a Cherokee with LPG for a while, however,

• Converted Cherrys go for about £500 more than non-LPG equivalent. Didn't think my low mileage would make it worthwhile.
• Fitted in the boot, the tank robs space and back there is already constrained with the spare.
• Fitted underneath is pretty useless for me as mine is taken off road.

Admittedly the placement was more of an issue than the £££ saved. My 4.0L does about 23/24mpg on a run, and bit less around town. Pretty poor, but not murderous.

[stuwalsh]

I ran a Mitsubishi Outlander 04 plate with Mitsubishi UK LPG conversion. No problems with consumption or performance. However, from cold it always started up on petrol and was supposed to auto switch over to LPG when up to temp. prob lem was the serv os to change over used to stick and unless you noticed an impossible to see small light on the bottom of the dash...............you were running on petrol @ 18mpg!

[bozmandb9]

There seem to be many more horror stories about LPG than realities. Most people have heard of problems, rather than experiencing them. Also most of the problems are engine problems which may or may not have occurred without the LPG installation.

Only problem I've had is with a converted Range Rover, which suffered camshaft damage, but this was due to oil starvation which was down to a blocked oil breather, nothing to do with LPG, though many people would be blaming the LPG.

I had a converted Supercharged Range Rover, and I'm just about to buy another and convert it. All the 'experts' say never convert a supercharged Range Rover, it'll be nothing but trouble, but I ignore them and just enjoy 400 bhp in luxury 4x4 at equivalent to 25-30mpg!