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LPG. Anything I should know?

nik

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Location
Oxford,UK
City, State
Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK
Year, Model & Trim Level
2000, North Face
As you may have seen from my previous thread I have just got an LPG Ex. My last two explorers didn't have LPG. Is there anything I should know or be looking out for?

Oh it's a multipoint if that helps or makes a difference.

Cheers
 



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You need to make sure that spark plug gaps are no wider than 35 thou if you don't want any nasty inlet back fires, and just to be on the safe side some descent backfire relief valves on the inlet manifold.

Mine below:

img00052201007032044.jpg


jim
 






Cheers Jim. Much appreciated.
 






Had a BRC system fitted by Kenny at Oxford Autogas with no mods to the motor whatsoever.

I have done 25k miles on it in 1 year and the engine hasn't missed a beat, (even if the LPG system has knackered its own solenoid once...)

Best thing you will ever do !

Neil
 






Not wishing to be a [sole] dissenting voice Re: LPG...but I have a dislike for that fuel and really don't see it as a viable replacement for petrol.

In my experience, having run a factory built LPG 'dual fuel' Vectra back in the early 2000's, I have found that although LPG costs around half the price of petrol, it also delivers half the MPG. So what is the actual benefit?

LPG systems will invariably burn out seals and gaskets within an engine and cause premature wear and tear of its [internal] components. And these days LPG is running circa 60-5% cost of petrol, it still delivers about half the MPG. It just doesn't make sense to me.
 






Interesting points.

My Ex has run on LPG for over 160k miles now and has not suffered (so far :)) any of the issues you describe,

I average 20mpg (actual) which is not bad for a truck of this type - especially as she runs an old single point vacum system and when I switch back to petrol there is no noticable improvement in performance - I have too much mechanical sympathy the thrash the arse off a 14 year old car :D

If I didn't run LPG I could not afford to run it with the miles I do (did) I only retired the EX from my daily company vehicle about 2 months ago, due to my company changing the rules on how old my vehicle can be.

My wife now uses it daily, clocking up an average of 300 miles a week

regards

Jim
 






Not wishing to be a [sole] dissenting voice Re: LPG...but I have a dislike for that fuel and really don't see it as a viable replacement for petrol.

In my experience, having run a factory built LPG 'dual fuel' Vectra back in the early 2000's, I have found that although LPG costs around half the price of petrol, it also delivers half the MPG.

Sure that wasn't a Spitfire you were running? ...I mean the winged type ;):D

Sorry, but your argument is factually incorrect. For sure there is an inefficiency associated with LPG, but making a statement that petrol is twice as efficient is very misleading.

LPG is approximately 20% less efficient than petrol.

But here are my figures. Over the 'payback' period which I calculated to be around 15k miles, I noted every fill, mile and cost. I am in sales (although this taking notes pedantry would suggest I am an accountant!) and a lot of my work is blasting up the motorway with a lead foot. I have a 4.0 V6 SOHC

Picking two lines entry out of my pages of data at random:

18th July 265 Miles 71 lit LPG £41.14
25th Sept 274 Miles 72 LPG £45.64

Mileage readings taken from full to empty.

The economics seems to support why there is an industry based around it. If it were only a 50% quid pro quo; why would anyone bother!?

Neil
 






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