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[Entwood]

I've been doing some t'internet research but can't find the answer to this one .. probably using the wrong words in google ..

LPG (UK) is a mixture of propane and butane

GPL (France) is also a mixture of propane and butane ..

The question is .. are the mixture ratios different to any major degree

The reason for the question is relatively simple ... running a 3.2 it is said that it is not a matter of "if" a fault code 0420 or 0430 occurs but "when" ... however since the LPG conversion I have only had this error twice in 18 months, and each time it has occured one week into our French holiday.

Easily corrected using the resetter, but I find it a tad too coincidental that just a few days after refuelling in France I get the error again.

It can't be French petrol as we didn't use any, we have towed similar distances, and more, without the problem in the UK, so I'm just wondering if a difference in the "mix" could upset the calibration of the lamda's ??

If it does then this might give a clue as to why some 3.2's get the problem on petrol and others don't ... comes down to fuel quality ??

Any knowledgeable folks care to add their thoughts

[Radar]

After a quick google - i found th following:
There appears to be alot more butane in the french gpl referred to as the summer mix.

Also from :
Fuel Composition:
The proportion of propane and butane in the fuel varies across Europe. The European Standard allows for different proportions but these are selected on a national basis so there is no differentiation at the pump and there is no “choice”. Your car will probably cope quite happily with all of them but you may notice differences in performance and driveability.


I lost the link i got it from (time to go to bed)
HTH!

[Lazydocker]

I am led to believe that LPG/GPL isn't regulated as closely as petrol so there is a variation in quality. Can't remember where I heard it though :-/ :-/

I know that Teilo said that if I was travelling through Europe a lot I should change the vapour filter a little more frequently than pure UK LPG use.

[feeutfo]

just wondering, do you tow your pikey box mostly in France? Is it possible the distance, from your home, across the channel and well into France,  and lower speed involved would give the fault time to occur at roughly the same time?
Personally cant help but wonder that, depending on the severity of the cat problem, more enthusiastic driving helps keep the code at bay. However if borderline, which your sounds like it is, then slower less revy driving may bring it on.
Until we get to the bottom of the cat code issue tho, guessing i would think...?

Mine and Kevins cars have a hic up, only at high revs and well over legal speeds. I feel quite sure that the severity of this hic up varies from tank to tank. Some weeks it seems not as bad as others. Used to suspect bp over shell but now not so sure but it does seem to go by the tank full, so wonder if the fuel varies over here, but getting off topic a bit now.

[Entwood]

Pikey wagon is towed most weekends throughout the year ... and it certainly does NOT result in lower RPM driving ... just the opposite in fact ... I don't hang about and the miggy works quite hard when towing. ( quite a few folks get a tad surprised when the unit sticks at 60 up some of the hills !!!    )

As an example we towed wilts/lake district for the OOF meet 18 months back without any problems .. but 2 months later got the 0420 problem 6 days after arriving in France. The next 0420 was last week .. also in France.

I don't think towing is the cause .. I actualy think it might help reduce the problem due to the system working harder ... I might be wrong .. probably am ... but its the coincidence of both occurences 6 days after re-gassing in France thats getting to me..

[JamesV6CDX]

Pikey wagon is towed most weekends throughout the year ... and it certainly does NOT result in lower RPM driving ... just the opposite in fact ... I don't hang about and the miggy works quite hard when towing. ( quite a few folks get a tad surprised when the unit sticks at 60 up some of the hills !!!    )

As an example we towed wilts/lake district for the OOF meet 18 months back without any problems .. but 2 months later got the 0420 problem 6 days after arriving in France. The next 0420 was last week .. also in France.

I don't think towing is the cause .. I actualy think it might help reduce the problem due to the system working harder ... I might be wrong .. probably am ... but its the coincidence of both occurences 6 days after re-gassing in France thats getting to me..

I can't offer a firm explanation Nige, but reading your posts, I do see where you are coming from.

Just to comment on fuel quality. In Cardiff there are 2 BP garages that do LPG - White Dove, and Tudor Motors.

White Dove - usually quiet, can't imagine they sell much LPG. If I get a tank there, I generally notice poor performance. Often accompanied by hesitation, juddering, and stalling when dipping the clutch on the over-run.

Tudor motors - always full of taxis filling with LPG, due to being cheap and central.

A tank from Tudor motors is usually faultless. No hesitation, no stalling, as smooth as petrol.

I have been convinced for ages it's just my imagination - but every time I experiment with both garages, results are consistent.....

[mathewst]

Ratio of propane and butane can vary much.
Propane is more expensive (butane is almost useless).
In some countries lpg is almost pure propane ( great) and in others it is about 50/50 mix even sometimes less propane than butane (very bad).
So I guess the butane ratio in France may be high

[charlie]

This is nothing to do with lpg,went to france, filled car up at sunderland,used 60l to get there, filled car up in france it took 90l to get home there was no difference in the weight nor driving cc all the way.  :- [smiley=undecided.gif] [smiley=undecided.gif]?