Discussion
I have a, XJ6 which I bought for pennies, I just want a comfortable barge I'm not afraid to bend. The plan even before purchase was to convert to gas, but I'm having trouble finding a price I like. I'm mechanically minded and would have no real upsets about fitting it myself, but perhaps someone could give me an idea as to the cheapest prices they have found, problems with fitting etc? Thanks dudes. Its a 4.2 injection straight six
(XK engine, not the more modern crud
)
(XK engine, not the more modern crud
)I've just had my 4.0 Jeep converted.
I've worked out that I have to cover 21,000 miles before its paid for itself, using normal forecourt prices(39p/litre) or 14,000 if I use the conversion place tank (32p/litre)
Cost us £1300 for the conversion and for all its cheaper, it's 14mpg for gas and 18mpg for petrol.
Buy the biggest tank you can fit in, its uses it fairly rapidly.
Dunno about fitting it yourself, but if you want some comparisons drop me a mail.
I've worked out that I have to cover 21,000 miles before its paid for itself, using normal forecourt prices(39p/litre) or 14,000 if I use the conversion place tank (32p/litre)
Cost us £1300 for the conversion and for all its cheaper, it's 14mpg for gas and 18mpg for petrol.
Buy the biggest tank you can fit in, its uses it fairly rapidly.
Dunno about fitting it yourself, but if you want some comparisons drop me a mail.
I had my V6 Cavalier recently converted to run on gas and it's still not properly sorted after 2 months - am only getting 15mpg FFS! From what I've heard speaking to other LPG owners at the pumps, setting up problems are very common.
At least I haven't had any problems with backfires blowing my induction system to pieces!
There's also noticably less top end power than on petrol.
At least I haven't had any problems with backfires blowing my induction system to pieces!
There's also noticably less top end power than on petrol.
marki said:
Its a 4.2 injection straight six
(XK engine, not the more modern crud
What bollox ,, if you have ever tryed the V8 you would understand how ridiculous you sound
Read more carefully monkey boy. I specified that the car has the XK engine because the later XJ40's had a straight six derived from the V12. It wasn't a patch on the earlier engine (as someone who has worked on and driven a few I know what I'm talking about). I agree with you, the V8 is something special. (makes growling noises to self badly mimicking V8)
Researched quite a lot as I am intending to buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee and have it converted - interested to hear any comments Byff, feedback on the Jeep?
As for LPG - dont do it yourself. This is for one main reason - insurance. Your insurer may (read probably) take the view that unless it was correctly fitted by a LPGA company, they will not insure the car. So you can fit it yourself with a DIY kit, but either you have to be pretty proficient and get it tested, or you get it done professionally.
Know someone in a village not far from RPI (the V8 place) and they are currently doing a roaring trade on Land Rovers that have been DIY converted to LPG. They spend a couple of days re-fitting it and getting it setup right. Easy money and in the end the person who did the DIY ends up paying anyway.
Expect that a reputable fitter will give you the car for 1000 miles and expect to see you again to tune it properly and iron out the bugs. Its not perfect and getting better all the time, but it isnt as simple as some DIY kits might make out...
Cheers,
Paul.
P.S. Byff - if you have any comments that cant be aired on PH then please email via my profile.
As for LPG - dont do it yourself. This is for one main reason - insurance. Your insurer may (read probably) take the view that unless it was correctly fitted by a LPGA company, they will not insure the car. So you can fit it yourself with a DIY kit, but either you have to be pretty proficient and get it tested, or you get it done professionally.
Know someone in a village not far from RPI (the V8 place) and they are currently doing a roaring trade on Land Rovers that have been DIY converted to LPG. They spend a couple of days re-fitting it and getting it setup right. Easy money and in the end the person who did the DIY ends up paying anyway.
Expect that a reputable fitter will give you the car for 1000 miles and expect to see you again to tune it properly and iron out the bugs. Its not perfect and getting better all the time, but it isnt as simple as some DIY kits might make out...
Cheers,
Paul.
P.S. Byff - if you have any comments that cant be aired on PH then please email via my profile.
Now I hate to be a pesamist but as soon as a large amount of people get their cars converted I bet the goverment will slap a large Tax on it (the fuel that is ).
What about running your diesel car on used cooking oil? aparently it's about 4p a litre and then if you declare it a further 27p tax!
edit to say - obviously don't use the preview function
>> Edited by guysh on Monday 3rd February 09:15
>> Edited by guysh on Monday 3rd February 09:16
>> Edited by guysh on Monday 3rd February 09:17
What about running your diesel car on used cooking oil? aparently it's about 4p a litre and then if you declare it a further 27p tax!
edit to say - obviously don't use the preview function
>> Edited by guysh on Monday 3rd February 09:15
>> Edited by guysh on Monday 3rd February 09:16
>> Edited by guysh on Monday 3rd February 09:17
These are the results I got from the Jeep.
Jeep Petrol
Miles 50.70
Miles/gallon 18.44
Litres used 12.50
Value £9.46
Price/litre £0.76
Jeep Gas
Miles 50.00
Miles/gallon 14.13
Litres used 16.09
Value £6.26
Price/litre £0.39
I drove exactly the same route, in exactly the same style so there was no difference for motorways/heavy footed driving.
If I averaged my driving milage for the year, I got 7800 miles which meant a running cost of £1459.62 for petrol or £976.41 for gas, presuming prices remain constant.
Obviously, prices will not remain the same, but as long as there is a greater than 23.5% difference between the price of petrol and gas, gas will be the cheaper option.
Please note that my maths is crap - it took me ages to figure that lot out and it still might be wrong.
What would make a big difference would be if you have somewhere to keep your own tank, then you can get the gas cheaper by buying in bulk.
Pity you can't hook up to the kitchen cooker.
>> Edited by Byff on Monday 3rd February 14:14
Jeep Petrol
Miles 50.70
Miles/gallon 18.44
Litres used 12.50
Value £9.46
Price/litre £0.76
Jeep Gas
Miles 50.00
Miles/gallon 14.13
Litres used 16.09
Value £6.26
Price/litre £0.39
I drove exactly the same route, in exactly the same style so there was no difference for motorways/heavy footed driving.
If I averaged my driving milage for the year, I got 7800 miles which meant a running cost of £1459.62 for petrol or £976.41 for gas, presuming prices remain constant.
Obviously, prices will not remain the same, but as long as there is a greater than 23.5% difference between the price of petrol and gas, gas will be the cheaper option.
Please note that my maths is crap - it took me ages to figure that lot out and it still might be wrong.
What would make a big difference would be if you have somewhere to keep your own tank, then you can get the gas cheaper by buying in bulk.
Pity you can't hook up to the kitchen cooker.
>> Edited by Byff on Monday 3rd February 14:14
Pity you can't hook up to the kitchen cooker.
Now there is an idea - any technical reason why this isnt possible? Know that it is different gas to the natural gas that is part of the supply to the home, but couldnt it be possible to use that with a relevant kit?
Just a though... :illgetmycoat:
Cheers,
Paul
pbrettle said:
Pity you can't hook up to the kitchen cooker.
Now there is an idea - any technical reason why this isnt possible? Know that it is different gas to the natural gas that is part of the supply to the home, but couldnt it be possible to use that with a relevant kit?
Just a though... :illgetmycoat:
Cheers,
Paul
Read my thread on the CNG (domestic gas) powered Elise. Its entirely possible and could just be the ticket to cheapo commuting.
Andy
You can hook up a cooker to LPG, in fact a lot of rural places without mains gas use stored LPG (more common in France I believe). My (French) hob unit came complete with a kit for converting it to LPG. The kit consisted of different diameter nozzles to let a diffrent flow rate of gas through.
Edit: my experience of converting a car was pretty unhappy and I wouldn't be in a hurry to do it again, even though I'm now doing 50-100 miles a day in a 22mpg guzzler. If fuel costs began to bother me I'd get a diesel in preference (or a cheaper petrol car).
Also, most sources say that an LPG coverted car will end up being worth less than an unconverted one, although I have to say that when I sold mine I got perhaps £500-£800 more than I would have expected to get if it had been just petrol.
>> Edited by JohnL on Thursday 20th February 12:11
Edit: my experience of converting a car was pretty unhappy and I wouldn't be in a hurry to do it again, even though I'm now doing 50-100 miles a day in a 22mpg guzzler. If fuel costs began to bother me I'd get a diesel in preference (or a cheaper petrol car).
Also, most sources say that an LPG coverted car will end up being worth less than an unconverted one, although I have to say that when I sold mine I got perhaps £500-£800 more than I would have expected to get if it had been just petrol.
>> Edited by JohnL on Thursday 20th February 12:11
Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff