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Yes

30 (78.9%)

No

3 (7.9%)

Engine won't last

1 (2.6%)

Not worth the outlay

4 (10.5%)

Total Members Voted: 31

[cem_devecioglu]

i think i would personally only ever fit LPG to a Omega estate.

Because you can fit a doughnut in the spare wheel, and not a huge tank taking up half the boot in a saloon.

You loose a lot of boot space, and means you cannot put the seats down for large loads, which i have done quite often.

Estate, you get the benifits of LPG with none of the draw backs.

I've given this a lot of thought over the last few months and come to the conclusion that a spare wheel tank in either a saloon or estate is too small to give sensible range on a V6.

It worked out nicely on Marie's 2.0 but you'd be looking at well under 200 miles range with a V6. If you're doing enough mileage to justify LPG that's going to be a pain in the neck.

My boot is empty 99.9% of the time, as are the back seats if I'm pushed for space. Granted that's different if your family circumstances differ to mine but I'll be going for a cylinder.

I'd say the payback is so quick at the moment that unless the car's on its' last legs a DIY conversion is always worthwhile. It's a different set of figures for a decent professional fit though...

Kevin

If Kevin Wood spends time on LPG onversion plans this means its inevitable  for me  

However here with twice the original conversion cost (1500 £ * 2 )
I can get a already converted second hand small car..Which is also good for my wife.. :-/

[Lazydocker]

Im thinking of having a twin tank system in my estate, a tank in the spare wheel well and a removable tank in the load space. I would have to fit the tank in the load area permanently to get the certificate and then alter the tank to allow me to remove it when I want all the load space.

Thats a point where would i get a certificate from when its all finished :-/

Any LPGA approved fitter should certify it, for a price!!! I know I can get it checked and certified in Cambridge for around the £50 mark.

Pete, be careful If you go down that route... If you have an accident your insurance company will see that as a way out!!!

What insurance

Only joking

Ive considered that and will have to way up the options

Personally I only see 2 options.  Either have a certified conversion with your selection of tank(s) permanently fitted or don't bother with the certificate. There are insurers out there who don't require one!

The removable tank idea is bad news IMHO... Connecting and disconnecting 2 fuel lines will leave a pool of gas in the car. On top of that, there aren't any LPGA approved quick release couplings for a reason... They will wear over time and also they will become a weak point in the system. Imagine not connecting the main feed pipe properly and not realising it until you've filled up and are driving down the road!!! BOOM!!!  

[HolyCount]

Looks like i will be looking around for a kit then.

Jay, have you got your contact details  for the place that supplied yours please?

How much maintainence does the LPG system need, as i keep reading on here about people having running issues with it??

Once i have it 90% fitted i will need someone to do the injectors and set up the system as i really do not have a clue :-/

Speak to Jeremy on 07830302988. He doesn't seem to have items on ebay at the moment but he's very helpful on the phone. Mention OOF.

Maintenance wise, there's a vapour filter to change. No more bother than a fuel filter really. The vapouriser can benefit from being cleaned out every couple of years. Other than that, it shouldn't really need any maintenance. All the bits on the kits Jeremy sells are serviceable so you can rebuild the injectors if you have a problem, for example.

Edited to say: I'm happy to help with drilling manifolds, electrics, etc. It gets easier after doing a couple.

Kevin

Kev, what's his eBay id ?  If I get the same kit idc -- I might try to co-erce you into drilling my manifold  

[Kevin Wood]

u-fit-lpg is his ebay ID IIRC. He doesn't have any kits listed at the moment.

I can drill and tap manifolds with no problem. In fact, it would be a good idea to start collecting spare manifolds so I could get a few done in advance. That would speed the process up a little.

Kevin

[HolyCount]

Ah, yes, that's the guy I have in my seller's list, to keep an eye on  

Good to know he's a good'un  

[jereboam]

I think it makes economic sense to put an LPG conversion in if you are doing a lot of miles.  I don't do a lot of miles, so it isn't worth it for me.

However, I've never been convinced by it, if you know what I mean.  I had an LPG car about 30 years ago when I lived in Holland, where virtually every filling station had an LPG pump.  OK, my car was only a 1.6l job, but the drop in power when running on gas was huge.  I know the technology has moved on, and that the power drop wouldn't be all that noticeable on a big V6, but, as I said, I'm still not convinced.

I worry about carrying a big tank of explosive around - OK, petrol is probably just as dangerous, but the tank is invisible - out of site, out of mind.  I was once caught in one of those big motorway pile-ups in fog and an LPG car caught fire - it was very frightening indeed, but then, I've never seen a petrol car go up, so I can't really compare.  Anyhow, I'm not happy about travelling in LPG vehicles.  

Not trying to put you off or anything

[Kevin Wood]

LPG has indeed come on in the last few years. Tank valves are electrically operated right at the multivalve, so in the event of an accident, the only way gas can spill is by a rupture of the tank. If that were to happen so much gas (well, it'd be liquid at first) would be released so fast that it would probably create such a fuel-rich environment around the car that it would actually make a fire less likely. And if LPG doesn't go up immediately, it will disperse harmlessly rather than hanging around making the area hazardous as petrol would. I think it's swings and roundabouts, TBH. :-/

Kevin

[Martin_1962]

Bugger all drop in power, more power on LPG than rubbish petrol (Tesco) but quality petrol better than LPG (BP Shell)

[Jay w]

u-fit-lpg is his ebay ID IIRC. He doesn't have any kits listed at the moment.

I can drill and tap manifolds with no problem. In fact, it would be a good idea to start collecting spare manifolds so I could get a few done in advance. That would speed the process up a little.

Kevin

once i have completed mine Kevin i will pass on my current manifold, i believe they are all the same  

Given that we have a few people considering LPG it would be an idea to do them on a 'pass it forward' basis, that way the chances of keeping the car on the road as long as possible

[Kevin Wood]

once i have completed mine Kevin i will pass on my current manifold, i believe they are all the same  

Given that we have a few people considering LPG it would be an idea to do them on a 'pass it forward' basis, that way the chances of keeping the car on the road as long as possible

Injector flow rates might be different between engines but the manifolds are probably the same, so as long as the original injectors are kept it sounds like a plan.  

Many thanks for popping over tonight, BTW, Jay W. It was a great help to see your install in the flesh.   A bit of thinking to do on the tank installation but it should be do-able.

Kevin

[Jay w]

once i have completed mine Kevin i will pass on my current manifold, i believe they are all the same  

Given that we have a few people considering LPG it would be an idea to do them on a 'pass it forward' basis, that way the chances of keeping the car on the road as long as possible

Injector flow rates might be different between engines but the manifolds are probably the same, so as long as the original injectors are kept it sounds like a plan.  

Many thanks for popping over tonight, BTW, Jay W. It was a great help to see your install in the flesh.   A bit of thinking to do on the tank installation but it should be do-able.

Kevin

It was a pleasure Kevin, good to meet up with you, thanks for the coffee.

if you need to look over it again let me know  

[Kevin Wood]

It was a pleasure Kevin, good to meet up with you, thanks for the coffee.

if you need to look over it again let me know  

One thing I meant to ask.. If you route the gas pipe parallel to the fuel lines there's an area just in front of the rear wheel arch where the petrol lines curve in toward the centre of the car and upwards in fairly close proximity to the exhaust. Certainly closer than LPGA guidelines would allow. How did you route the LPG pipe in this area?

Kevin

[Lazydocker]

I think it makes economic sense to put an LPG conversion in if you are doing a lot of miles.  I don't do a lot of miles, so it isn't worth it for me.

However, I've never been convinced by it, if you know what I mean.  I had an LPG car about 30 years ago when I lived in Holland, where virtually every filling station had an LPG pump.  OK, my car was only a 1.6l job, but the drop in power when running on gas was huge.  I know the technology has moved on, and that the power drop wouldn't be all that noticeable on a big V6, but, as I said, I'm still not convinced.

I worry about carrying a big tank of explosive around - OK, petrol is probably just as dangerous, but the tank is invisible - out of site, out of mind.  I was once caught in one of those big motorway pile-ups in fog and an LPG car caught fire - it was very frightening indeed, but then, I've never seen a petrol car go up, so I can't really compare.  Anyhow, I'm not happy about travelling in LPG vehicles.  

Not trying to put you off or anything

My last car was a Classic Rangey with an ancient mixer type LPG system. I ran on LPG all the time so adjusted the timing to suit LPG, which would just run OK on petrol (but not for too long for fear of engine damage) and found that there was more power on LPG than Petrol, even with the timing correct for petrol! With the modern, multi-point sequential systems there is virtually no loss in power whatsoever. There is the slight drop in economy, but the figures speak for themselves... LPG is definitely a viable option for anyone who travels more than 10k/year and intend to keep the car for a few years.

I do about 25-30k and plan to keep my car for a good couple of years, at least, because I think it's possibly the best car I have ever owned! I'm budgeting around £1000 for the installation (DIY), which allows plenty of scope for having to replace parts which are getting tired   , and getting the system certified. I can recoup this in around 10 months, again allowing for problems, so I know that within a year I'll be saving money!!  

As for fire risk... LPG tanks are much stronger than petrol, especially as petrol tanks are now made from plastic!!! IIRC LPG tanks are tested to 10 times the strength of petrol. The chances of an LPG tank rupturing are so minimal it's virtually non existent. Especially as all multivalves have a pressure release vent which will gently release vapour to ensure the tank doesn't over pressurise. Petrol tanks, however, just melt and keep the fuel flowing... Trust me I know...

Got called to a car on fire by the police, to recover it off the motorway, and ended up having to lift the car with a HIAB to allow the fire brigade access to the petrol tank as every time they thought they had the fire extinguished it flared up again!!! The cause was a plastic petrol tank which had melted slightly and ignited the fuel inside!!

[cem_devecioglu]

Did anybody tried Teleflex GFI or Prins and any experience on them ? :-/

[lpgelite]

Have a Koltec (Teleflex) system on my Astra. Runs fine, but very expensive if a fault develops - £ silly for new injectors. Veil of secrecy regarding software, so you have to get a dealer to do anything technical and that's big bucks. I've heard a few say this system can be fragile.

I've had problems with water ingress into the multipin connectors in the past and a problem with the engine's EGR valve that upset the LPG system, but that aside it's worked well for 100k+ miles.

I have OMVL Dream XX1n sequential injection fitted to 2.5V6 auto which returns 22-23mpg on average @ 49p per litre. This works off the engine's ECU signals to the petrol injectors, so you don't get fault lamp issues.

The trip computer works properly in LPG mode as does the cruise control with this system. You can also experiment with mapping to get best performance and economy as the software is generic. Had this for 80k miles with only a solenoid failure (£25) to blemish its record.

Vogas system supposedly works well, too as it is a similar slave type system. Available from http://www.wtv-uk.co.uk.

Opinion - go for it!