adding propane to gasoline engine? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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adding propane to gasoline engine?

dlk

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Joined
July 22, 2007
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City, State
Aberdeen SD
Year, Model & Trim Level
94 xlt
I have a '94 Ex and the recent cold weather is really hurting my fuel economy.
I'm not interested in converting it to run on propane alone, but I was wondering what would happen if I rigged up something to fog a small amount of propane into my intake? I'm not looking for extra power, just want to substitute some $2/gal propane in place of the near $3/gal gas. I probably don't understand FI engines very well, but my theory is that the propane would cause my engine to run rich, and when my 02 sensors detect that, my computer would lean the mixture, causing it to use less fuel. Does this sound correct or am I overlooking something?
I've heard of propane injection on diesel motors, but not on gas. Have any of you ever tried this?
 



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Boom!

Welcome! Not that I know, but that sounds rather risky... I would say unless you have some serious experience in dealing with this kind of plan, not recommended. But let's see... someone knows. :)
 






Welcome to this forum! I've tried this experiment a couple of years ago, but only to try to substitute the propane for gasoline. It had no power, and started to backfire. It should work if you try to add it the way you are describing, but use a regulator to limit the flow.
 






Petersens 4 wheel and off road recently did some reviews of a propane conversion kit that allowed the use of dual fuels and swtiching between propane and gasoline, but I think it was for carbureted engines so I'm not sure if it would work right, the company that made the conversion may offer different kits for different engines but unfortunatly the mag is at work so I can't pass on what company made it :/
 












Sounds like he'd be better off sticking with gas, and finding another area to cut back on.
 






I've heard of propane injection on diesel motors,

This is like Nitrous to gas engines from what I have read. Beside that without custom programming of the Computer i don't think the OBD-1 would be able too lean out the gas mixture that far to make it worth it.
 






Welcome to this forum! I've tried this experiment a couple of years ago, but only to try to substitute the propane for gasoline. It had no power, and started to backfire. It should work if you try to add it the way you are describing, but use a regulator to limit the flow.

I had also tried it at one point, it ran fine, but seemed to have a "throatier" sound, and didn't like idling. Couldn't tell any loss/gain with power. I want to mess with it again, sometime.
 


















I had it running directly into the intake manifold. It was one of those "I wonder what.." situations. I would like to research it more, and see if it has any type of potential, and try again sometime. More thought out, though.
 






The conversions in the UK or Australia for LPG use a separate computer with injectors. It's like a separate fuel injection system. Did you have the backfiring problem or the lack of RPM's with stalling when you stepped on the accelerator pedal?
 






I don't recall it backfiring, it just idled a little worse. I recall when I would step hard on the acceleration, the engine would have a very distinct sound, the best way I can describe it would be "more v8 like sound, and deeper" There was no power difference, but I didn't mess around with it for long.
 












Well, let me describe my setup as "ghetto"

And no, I did not take any pictures. It was a day project type thing. My "regulator" was a valve I adjusted when I accelerated...:D
Yeah, like I said..."ghetto"

I did it as an experiment. That is why I want to try it again, because I never really came to a conclusion.

What thoughts did you have on it?
 






I originally did it to mine to see if it could run through the fuel port to use propane instead of gasoline or switch back to gasoline when the propane ran out. I used fuel system adapters which are used on fuel injection cleaning kits, and connected it to a large propane tank with a regulator, filter, and a pressure gauge. It would not start on propane only. I had to first start with gasoline, then I would cut the fuel pump, and open the valve on the propane tank. It would idle irratically like it's running on 2 out of 6 cylinders, but it would never go above the idling RPM range. It would backfire, then stall if I stepped on the accelerator pedal.
 






Well, obviously your trial was much more in depth than mine. I also always had mine running on gas, too.
 






I had it running directly into the intake manifold. It was one of those "I wonder what.." situations. I would like to research it more, and see if it has any type of potential, and try again sometime. More thought out, though.
Was it connected to the vacuum tree? This would bypass the MAF sensor, and the IAC valve on the front of the intake.
 






Yeah, I had it running into the intake at the vacuum line. I really want to try this again now. I think it should work fine.

I was just looking at this:
http://theepicenter.com/tow102899.html

I am assuming the concept is the same. I think I will do more research and try again sometime.
 



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Before, doing it in addition to gas was my theory. I think this time I want to go in substitute of gas. The only downside, is I am not sure how easily it would work with fuel injection
 






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