LPG Dilemma - any ideas or is my Jag a write off?
Discussion
Hello guys my name's Scott and I'm a first time caller.
And my 1988 Jag XJ6 is the subject of the discussion here.
I bought this car off eBay - it’s my second Jag, I loved the first but it was thirsty. But as classic car insurance is so cheap, it made sense... even more sensible was an LPG dual fuel conversion, so bought this LPG Jag to make for happy motoring. I can claim back from my company at 40p per mile, and as the company director I do a lot of miles now.
The car had a professional LPG conversion about 2 years ago; I have the certificates and all. But since I got the car about a week later I found a few problems, and these are racking my brains. They are so weird to me I think it would cost a fortune to just diagnose the problem, so your advice is much appreciated;
I have a switch in the arm rest to flick from petrol to LPG. When in LPG mode, if the transmission changes up (auto gear change) the car lurches and the revs drop by about a thousand, and to stop the car conking out I have to switch to petrol for a few seconds. When slowing and the gearbox is changing down (remember its an automatic) the car if in LPG often just conks out - the red battery light comes on and I have to pull over, on with the hazard lights and start her up again.
Every where I go I say I spend about 70% of the journey on LPG. Yet in 3 months I have only put 30 litres in, but boy do I buy a lot of petrol!
Now here's where it gets even more interesting... in an experiment to see if the problem was just the electrics on the switch, ie to test if it was really running on LPG when I switch it to LPG, I filled up for the first time ever right to the stopper with LPG to use up until the car expires. And I started it on LPG every day (I know you should start on petrol, but I wanted to see if the problem was to do with the switch)
During this time the car used no petrol only LPG and had no problems with the auto changing up or down. Then after 5 days of this and a day of not driving we had a heavy snow, and I thought it was too cold for starting on LPG (they say you should always start a cold engine on petrol) and the problem is back again.
It sounds crazy to me, but it seems that the LPG works fine providing that’s all I use and providing that I fill it up to start with. The tank is about 80% full, could it be that the tank is only collecting LPG from the top, like there is a blockage in the tank?
Is it more likely to be the electrics?
I can't take it back to the previous owner because it was a private sale, and seen as how he diddled me with the wheels (he swapped them for bald tyres the day I bought the car, the day after it got its 12 month MOT) I'm likely to hit him with a hammer.
Any ideas forum? I'd hate to write this car off, but its 3 times more expensive than it should be to drive it at this rate. If the LPG worked fine, this worked out to be the 2nd cheapest option from a range of about 40 cars I looked at (I have no NCB, so car insurance is really pricey) the cheapest was a Mondeo diesel and that seemed a bit boring, even a Pug 306 Diesel worked out more per year because of the insurance...
And my 1988 Jag XJ6 is the subject of the discussion here.
I bought this car off eBay - it’s my second Jag, I loved the first but it was thirsty. But as classic car insurance is so cheap, it made sense... even more sensible was an LPG dual fuel conversion, so bought this LPG Jag to make for happy motoring. I can claim back from my company at 40p per mile, and as the company director I do a lot of miles now.
The car had a professional LPG conversion about 2 years ago; I have the certificates and all. But since I got the car about a week later I found a few problems, and these are racking my brains. They are so weird to me I think it would cost a fortune to just diagnose the problem, so your advice is much appreciated;
I have a switch in the arm rest to flick from petrol to LPG. When in LPG mode, if the transmission changes up (auto gear change) the car lurches and the revs drop by about a thousand, and to stop the car conking out I have to switch to petrol for a few seconds. When slowing and the gearbox is changing down (remember its an automatic) the car if in LPG often just conks out - the red battery light comes on and I have to pull over, on with the hazard lights and start her up again.
Every where I go I say I spend about 70% of the journey on LPG. Yet in 3 months I have only put 30 litres in, but boy do I buy a lot of petrol!
Now here's where it gets even more interesting... in an experiment to see if the problem was just the electrics on the switch, ie to test if it was really running on LPG when I switch it to LPG, I filled up for the first time ever right to the stopper with LPG to use up until the car expires. And I started it on LPG every day (I know you should start on petrol, but I wanted to see if the problem was to do with the switch)
During this time the car used no petrol only LPG and had no problems with the auto changing up or down. Then after 5 days of this and a day of not driving we had a heavy snow, and I thought it was too cold for starting on LPG (they say you should always start a cold engine on petrol) and the problem is back again.
It sounds crazy to me, but it seems that the LPG works fine providing that’s all I use and providing that I fill it up to start with. The tank is about 80% full, could it be that the tank is only collecting LPG from the top, like there is a blockage in the tank?
Is it more likely to be the electrics?
I can't take it back to the previous owner because it was a private sale, and seen as how he diddled me with the wheels (he swapped them for bald tyres the day I bought the car, the day after it got its 12 month MOT) I'm likely to hit him with a hammer.
Any ideas forum? I'd hate to write this car off, but its 3 times more expensive than it should be to drive it at this rate. If the LPG worked fine, this worked out to be the 2nd cheapest option from a range of about 40 cars I looked at (I have no NCB, so car insurance is really pricey) the cheapest was a Mondeo diesel and that seemed a bit boring, even a Pug 306 Diesel worked out more per year because of the insurance...
Thanks for the prompt reply - the only Jag specialist round here says start with a Diagnostic which is around £300 + VAT and may not reveal the problem anyway. LPG specialists? I don't know any that do trouble shooting and problem solving, only a few fitters who don't do repairs. I'm guessing (but it is only a guess) that if a diagnostic is £300, an LPG specialist wil want similar just to investigate.
The car was only £800 to buy, and as it needs new tyres already I think its only worth around £400 at present.
The car was only £800 to buy, and as it needs new tyres already I think its only worth around £400 at present.
Yeah, but like all private sales it was sold as seen we paid cash. Wish I had gone through eaBay and paid PayPal - would have some comeback then.
I had it serviced 4 months after buying it and we found a huge hole (5" diameter) in the chassis, so it might be a really dodgy MOT guy who , er, MOTed it.
Whatever, I send the guys bad karmas. But legally, thats all I can do.
I had it serviced 4 months after buying it and we found a huge hole (5" diameter) in the chassis, so it might be a really dodgy MOT guy who , er, MOTed it.
Whatever, I send the guys bad karmas. But legally, thats all I can do.
I did a bit of work with a guy who was doing gas conversions a few years ago. IMHO, he was dangerous, and didn't know what he was doing.
The guy I met who really did know, was a fellow in Wales named Peter at WAS autogas.
If you need his e-mail address, send me a message - I haven't contacted him in years, but he is still in my Outlook Express contact list.
It really is worth talking to someone with xperience, and with all due respect for the Jag dealer, if it isn't a factory Jaguar conversion, he is probably not going to be the guy to sort it
The guy I met who really did know, was a fellow in Wales named Peter at WAS autogas.
If you need his e-mail address, send me a message - I haven't contacted him in years, but he is still in my Outlook Express contact list.
It really is worth talking to someone with xperience, and with all due respect for the Jag dealer, if it isn't a factory Jaguar conversion, he is probably not going to be the guy to sort it
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