Calling all LPG owners...

Author
Discussion

matt21

Original Poster:

4,290 posts

205 months

Thursday 29th April 2010
quotequote all
more news.

About 1/2 a mile from work it switched to gas all ok. Then I got to a junction pulled out and it stuttered and cut out. Eventually it stuttered back into life and was fine! Airlock?!

Now on 300 miles and the low gas light is on. Sounds about right I guess. I will fill up tomorrow and see if I can get any in.

Not having much luck so far!

Hedders

24,460 posts

248 months

Thursday 29th April 2010
quotequote all
I also have an update:

I have now lost my LPG filler cap.


Hedders

24,460 posts

248 months

Thursday 29th April 2010
quotequote all
matt21 said:
more news.

About 1/2 a mile from work it switched to gas all ok. Then I got to a junction pulled out and it stuttered and cut out. Eventually it stuttered back into life and was fine! Airlock?!

Now on 300 miles and the low gas light is on. Sounds about right I guess. I will fill up tomorrow and see if I can get any in.

Not having much luck so far!
When the LPG is running low (in my car atleast) you should notice that the car will just not accelerate with any gusto.

When it is really empty, it will stutter and even 'backfire' (blew my mates airfilter housing to pieces in his VW Jetta).

So far, i am loving cruising on gas smile





Dino D

1,953 posts

222 months

Friday 30th April 2010
quotequote all
matt21 said:
more news.
About 1/2 a mile from work it switched to gas all ok. Then I got to a junction pulled out and it stuttered and cut out. Eventually it stuttered back into life and was fine! Airlock?!
I think you need to get back to the installer for a check up - perhaps they need to do some fine tuning.

I had some running issues in the beginning but that sounds a bit off - on my Prins system it was running a bit 'jerky' when creeping in traffic so it went back for an overnight visit so they could tune it from cold. They hired me a lovely courtesy car car too - a 1.4 Corsa if I remember correct - made me appreciate the 330 even more!

After that it was fine (except for one time when I was cornering very hard and the system switched suddenly switched from LPG to petrol along with the associated cut-off of the throttle as it switches over - it unsettled the car a bit is all I will say! Turns out the LPG level was low and when I slung it into the bend and the gas went to one side and therefore the system thought it was empty and switched to unleaded. Not really a fault with the system as LPG is designed for economy drivers, not hard cornering. So when going at it on some twisty bits I made sure it had enough LPG or just switched to unleaded)

wildatheart

160 posts

180 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
paintman said:
Run to empty, fill. Zero trip, run to empty.
I'm of the understanding that running to empty on gas regularly -which I realise you're not necessarly advocating here- is not great for the engine. Though when my car runs out of gas the switch to petrol is barely noticeable, so I wonder how bad is it really?

wildatheart

160 posts

180 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
said:
When the LPG is running low (in my car atleast) you should notice that the car will just not accelerate with any gusto.

When it is really empty, it will stutter and even 'backfire' (blew my mates airfilter housing to pieces in his VW Jetta).
My car will idle more smoothly on gas than on petrol, regardless of LPG level. When the LPG is very low, it will switch to petrol on hard acceleration; other than that there is no discernible performance loss, stuttering or backfiring. I'm no expert, but perhaps your LPG system doesn't switch to petrol quite as soon as it should?

odyssey2200

18,650 posts

210 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
The last car I had with LPG was an Astra Dual fuel.

When filling up you have to squeeze the trigger on the nozzel and press a button on the dispenser too.

Are you doing both?
if you don't press the button the punp will not dispense gas down the tube]


It can be a bit tricky, especially if you have parked just a little too far away.

cue standing on one leg to press button with foot hehe

matt21

Original Poster:

4,290 posts

205 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all

Just filled up and put in 70 litres into a 80 litre tank!

Car running a bit rough with the engine emissions light on and only did 19mpg on gas compared to 28mpg on petrol!

The fitter advised I change my spark plugs due to a slight misfire on cylinder 1, and if there are still issues then could be the ignition coil.

Your thoughts?

Roo

11,503 posts

208 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
The LED gauges are next to useless. In mine the next light goes out when the gas level drops below that point. In other words, when it gets to just below 1/2 full the second light goes out meaning it looks like you've only got 1/4 tank when you've actually still got nearly 1/2. They don't seem to be able to cope levels in between.

Ray Luxury-Yacht

8,910 posts

217 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
I've had LPG for about 5 years now.

The other posters are correct, the gauges are inaccurate, use the trip.

With regard to the misfire, you cannot use anything other than NGK spark plugs with LPG. Ask me how I know! So if you buy a set of these and fit them, you'll have no further misfire problems.


Hedders

24,460 posts

248 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
wildatheart said:
said:
When the LPG is running low (in my car atleast) you should notice that the car will just not accelerate with any gusto.

When it is really empty, it will stutter and even 'backfire' (blew my mates airfilter housing to pieces in his VW Jetta).
My car will idle more smoothly on gas than on petrol, regardless of LPG level. When the LPG is very low, it will switch to petrol on hard acceleration; other than that there is no discernible performance loss, stuttering or backfiring. I'm no expert, but perhaps your LPG system doesn't switch to petrol quite as soon as it should?
Mine doesn't switch automagically at all as it is an old system. Actually is more like two old systems patched together to feed the V12..






matt21

Original Poster:

4,290 posts

205 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
I've had LPG for about 5 years now.

The other posters are correct, the gauges are inaccurate, use the trip.

With regard to the misfire, you cannot use anything other than NGK spark plugs with LPG. Ask me how I know! So if you buy a set of these and fit them, you'll have no further misfire problems.
really, NGK only? Bosch?

Ray Luxury-Yacht

8,910 posts

217 months

Saturday 1st May 2010
quotequote all
matt21 said:
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
I've had LPG for about 5 years now.

The other posters are correct, the gauges are inaccurate, use the trip.

With regard to the misfire, you cannot use anything other than NGK spark plugs with LPG. Ask me how I know! So if you buy a set of these and fit them, you'll have no further misfire problems.
really, NGK only? Bosch?
Tried them, Motorcraft and Champion. All died within weeks.

The NGK's are over three years old now. To be honest the installer told me I might have to fit them, but to see how I go with the Bosch ones that were already fitted. They started to misfire about a week later. Since the NGK's were fitted it's never misfired.

I wonder what the difference is though? Must be the materials, or the way they're made I guess.


wildatheart

160 posts

180 months

Sunday 2nd May 2010
quotequote all
matt21 said:
Car running a bit rough with the engine emissions light on and only did 19mpg on gas compared to 28mpg on petrol!
You should be getting around 25-26mpg on gas in that case

Jem0911

4,415 posts

202 months

Sunday 2nd May 2010
quotequote all
I have a BRC system and the Leds are very good. But always use the trip anyway.
My car will swap of gas if it's low and I gun it.
Always run to empty.
One tank of petrol ish a month for the lube.
Can't praise LPG highly enough.
Keep working at it. It is very well worth it.

matt21

Original Poster:

4,290 posts

205 months

Sunday 2nd May 2010
quotequote all
wildatheart said:
matt21 said:
Car running a bit rough with the engine emissions light on and only did 19mpg on gas compared to 28mpg on petrol!
You should be getting around 25-26mpg on gas in that case
quite. hoping new plugs and a few tweaks will have it running around 25mpg

matt21

Original Poster:

4,290 posts

205 months

Sunday 2nd May 2010
quotequote all
I have my LPG injectors placed on top of my engine cover, so not sure how to access to change the plugs? Anyone experienced this before?

philoldsmobile

524 posts

208 months

Sunday 2nd May 2010
quotequote all
I've had some experience with LPG, and the reality is there is a huge variation in LPG systems, along with a huge variation in price.

When my Father had his chevy Tahoe (for sale, see classifieds) converted, he went with a top of the line system from prins at a cost of nearly £2800 fitted by gas4cars in Woburn Sands (very highly recommended)

a properly fitted high quality multipoint system like the PRINS one, should never stutter, falter, hesitate, pop, bang, smell, loose performance, or do ANYTHING other than reduce running costs and emissions, you really shouldn't know its there.

in Bi Fuel mode, it starts on petrol, and auto switches to LPG after about a mile (about 2 in winter) the only way you know is the green LED's come on, and the orange petrol light goes off.

the gauge is reasonably accurate (although the first LED stays on a little longer than the other three, and if the red one stays on enough to get dangerously low on LPG, it switches back to petrol. it doesn't switch to petrol under hard acceleration, and after 70,000 miles on gas, the engine is like new, the annual oil change sees the oil come out hardly any darker than it goes in.

so many people have been told 'Its just a characteristic of gas' by dodgy installers who haven't set the system up properly, or not installed it properly (i once saw a tank that was fitted with the liquid take off upside down!!!) and with no better knowledge, simply believed it.

single point systems aren't as good, but a good multipoint system should never make its presence known in any way. if you are having any kind of trouble what so ever, take it back, and keep taking it back until its sorted.








philoldsmobile

524 posts

208 months

Sunday 2nd May 2010
quotequote all
Hedders said:
matt21 said:
more news.

About 1/2 a mile from work it switched to gas all ok. Then I got to a junction pulled out and it stuttered and cut out. Eventually it stuttered back into life and was fine! Airlock?!

Now on 300 miles and the low gas light is on. Sounds about right I guess. I will fill up tomorrow and see if I can get any in.

Not having much luck so far!
When the LPG is running low (in my car atleast) you should notice that the car will just not accelerate with any gusto.

When it is really empty, it will stutter and even 'backfire' (blew my mates airfilter housing to pieces in his VW Jetta).

So far, i am loving cruising on gas smile
unless its a very basic system, there is likely a pressure sensor that is either incorrectly calibrated, or not fitted. Air locks should not be possible, as the vaporiser draws liquid LPG and turns it to gas - no air should be possible anywhere.

Edited by philoldsmobile on Sunday 2nd May 13:31

matt21

Original Poster:

4,290 posts

205 months

Sunday 2nd May 2010
quotequote all
This system is a top of the range BRC, so I will keep taking it back til all is sorted.