What to check when buying LPG car

[OldskoolM3]

Hi there,

I am looking to buy a car already converted to LPG, most likely it will be an oldish car and probably high mileage as I do loads of miles and cant be arsed with puttin so many miles on a nice car.

Is there anything to check on the LPG system apart from it runs on LPG? Also how will I know it is actually running on LPG and not petrol, Is there a light indicating this?

Also, do LPG cars fall under a lower tax band?

Many Thanks.

[bluespanner]

You will know if you are on LPG because the engine note will change.

Make sure the engine runs ok and if the installation is neat.

[cptsideways]

Try full throttle from idle under load, if it pops & bangs walk away.

Look for an injection system NOT a venturi system

[agent006]

bluespanner said:

You will know if you are on LPG because the engine note will change.

NOTE: This is how to tell you have a poor quality or badly fitted LPG system.

[EDLT]

There is usually a small box attached to the dash that lights up. If there is hardly any petrol in the tank then take it on a long drive, if you don't call the RAC/AA then the LPG probably works.

[OldskoolM3]

cptsideways said:

Try full throttle from idle under load, if it pops & bangs walk away.

Look for an injection system NOT a venturi system

How do I check, there is a car I am going to see at the w/e. The lady who is selling doesn't seem to know much as it was fitted before she bought it. She says she has receipts and a certificate for the lpg system so I suppose it may say on the receipt what type it is.

[OldskoolM3]

agent006 said:

bluespanner said:

You will know if you are on LPG because the engine note will change.

NOTE: This is how to tell you have a poor quality or badly fitted LPG system.

lol

[Boosted LS1]

Make sure it's gassed up

[DucatiGary]

mines going in to get done next week, make sure you have a certificate from an authorised lpg installer.

lights/buzzers/etc depend on how long ago it was installed (they change all the time) and what system was used.

just make sure its at least a multi point injection kit, the older single point ones are known to have problems every blue moon unlike the multi point ones and as such are cheaper to install where the multi point ones are quite a bit more expensive

if you try and rag a propper installed lpg car it will switch to petrol if pushed too hard (towing heavy stuff up a hill as an example) if the car has a buzzer it will buzz and change from lpg to petrol you wont notice it change though other than the buzzer (if its a newer install as the older ones where just a switch) if you do notice anything changing under heavy load other than the buzzer, walk away.

or if its cheap, take the gamble.

your call

[g_attrill]

If you are hoping to take advantage of no Congestion Charge then check the eligibility, I am pretty sure it needs to be a factory-fited system. Also check the installer is certified by a known trade body otherwise I expect insurance would be tricky (regardless of whether she has it insured, it might not be declared), the only body I know of is the LPGA:

http://www.boostlpg.co.uk/driver_industry/Second%2...

Edited by g_attrill on Wednesday 16th January 23:38

[gsfrontera]

My car runs on LPG as well as petrol. When the car first starts, it starts on petrol, and when it gets to 40 degrees it automatically switches to gas. you do not know when it changes over except you hear 2 taps, one is the lpg priming and the other is it actually changing over. There is no change to the engine sound, as someone earlier said, the car will carry on running as normal. You will not notice the difference.

As for knowing which fuel it is running on. When the LPG system was fitted, they will have installed a small switch with LED's on it. when mine is on orange, its on petrol, when the green one is lit its on gas. its that easy mate.

There are some stories about you losing power as well... sorry but no!

Hope this helps

[Byff]

It doesn't matter which type of system is fitted, venturi or multipoint - I've had both and as long as they are fitted and calibrated correctly, they'll both give years of service.

On the dashboard or mounted near the transmission tunnel, will be a small black rectangular box (about 5cm x 3cm) with a few green led's, a red and an amber led.



When the engine is running on petrol, only the red led will be shown. On gas, when the engine is started from cold, it will run on petrol, with the amber led flashing and the green leds indicating how full the tank is. When the engine switches to gas, the amber led will be lit constant and you may hear a little click.

The engine should run just as before. You'll probably not notice any drop in power in a large engined car.

The time it takes to switch over will be dependant on which system is fitted - my old venturi would switch virtually instantly where as the multipoint system waits till the water is a certain temperature and after a time delay.

If it's an older car, check the filler nozzle, signs of rust if fitted into a body panel, though most fillers are fitted into the bumper. If you get a chance, check to see how long it takes to refill the system - there are days I feel like I'm standing at the pump waiting for hours for it to click off.

Best of all though, is the smug satisfaction of getting fuel for only 49p/litre. (Sometimes even cheaper )

[DucatiGary]

gsfrontera said:

There are some stories about you losing power as well... sorry but no!

I drove a lpg'd 4.6 range rover that was on demo and nailed it from standstill up a 25% gradient hill, with bends etc, in sport mode, with 4 people in the car.

I was trying to get it to switch over (was told if pushed too hard it would) and eventually it did, didnt notice the loss of power but the guy said "you cant expect to rag a 2.5 tonne car at full belt up that hill and it not switch over"

which was good enough for me really.

thats why i went for the install.

[gsfrontera]

DucatiGary said:

gsfrontera said:

There are some stories about you losing power as well... sorry but no!

I drove a lpg'd 4.6 range rover that was on demo and nailed it from standstill up a 25% gradient hill, with bends etc, in sport mode, with 4 people in the car.

I was trying to get it to switch over (was told if pushed too hard it would) and eventually it did, didnt notice the loss of power but the guy said "you cant expect to rag a 2.5 tonne car at full belt up that hill and it not switch over"

which was good enough for me really.

thats why i went for the install.

if you rev mine hard when its on gas it does switch back to petrol, but why would i rag a 3.2 v6 4x4??, what i was trying to put across was the fact that when its running on gas, you will not notice any difference in the performance than if it were running on petrol.

[sean19]

Audi S3 (2003)

Does anyone know if its possible to convert these to LPG. Always hear of large N/A being converted but havent heard many smaller turbo engines being converted.

Also at a guess how much does it cost?

Thanks.

[lost in espace]

My RR 4.6 ran great on gas, IMO its best to get a big engine. You will notice less performance decline and economy will stay the sameish.

[sean19]

lost in espace said:

My RR 4.6 ran great on gas, IMO its best to get a big engine. You will notice less performance decline and economy will stay the sameish.

Is there much of a power loss with smaller engines?

[DucatiGary]

gsfrontera said:

what i was trying to put across was the fact that when its running on gas, you will not notice any difference in the performance than if it were running on petrol.

agreed, just pointing out if forced it will, where others said crappy installed ones only do this and thats not true.

[OldskoolM3]

Ok,

So seen an Audi 80 2.0E L reg? With a Panache Multi-point LPG system. This any good. ALso what is fuel economy going to be like? Or would I be better sticking with my 306DT.

I mainly do A Road driving bit of motorway and a bit of standstill traffic as well.