Lpg

[simimi]

hi all

am new to these forum and wish to express my gtatitude in advance to any advice i get.

i have a ford galaxy mk1 2.3 with Lpg conversion lavota system. my problem is that every time i try to drive on lpg the car looses so much power that the cars behind me start hooting as am virtually crawling at times it would drive nearly fine on straight flat roads and at times it would completetly refuse to bulge in the middle of a roundabout or a junction. the engine does not die though, and as soon as i flick the petrol swith its running like brand new .....am like i was sleeping on the wheel...... anyone has the same problems or can help/advice....... thanks in advance.

Edited March 27, 2010 by simimi

[sparky Paul]

Welcome to the forum! :)

 

i have a ford galaxy mk1 2.3 with Lpg conversion lavota system. my problem is that every time i try to drive on lpg the car looses so much power that the cars behind me start hooting as am virtually crawling at times it would drive nearly fine on straight flat roads and at times it would completetly refuse to bulge in the middle of a roundabout or a junction. the engine does not die though, and as soon as i flick the petrol swith its running like brand new

How does the engine sound when you lose power? Is it running rough or missing? If so, I would start looking at the the ignition system first - plugs, plug leads, coils... they have to be in absolutely tip top condition to run on gas. If that's all okay, you may have one or more blocked injectors or faulty injector solenoid valves.

 

If the gas system is generally underfuelling, you may have one of a whole raft of problems, including a faulty vaporiser, faulty sensor, faulty LPG ECU, faulty sensor, etc., the list is endless. The best option would be to get the LPG system checked by a specialist with the correct diagnostic tools.

Edited March 27, 2010 by sparky Paul

[simimi]

How does the engine sound when you lose power? Is it running rough or missing?

 

when it loses power i dont get any revs and it sits there iddling a bit rough i would say but not certain btw do i need special spark plugs for lpg ?

(see am not that clever with technical stuff.)

 

thanks

Edited March 27, 2010 by simimi

[sparky Paul]

when it loses power i dont get any revs and it sits there iddling a bit rough i would say but not certain btw do i need special spark plugs for lpg ?

If you think is sounds rough, it's probably missing. Low idle is also a symptom.

 

You may be able to find out which cylinder (or cylinders) are missing if you can identify the separate solenoid valves for each of the gas injectors, and you can access the connectors on them. These could be on the inlet manifold injectors themselves, or on a separate injector bank, with pipes running to each injector nozzle. IIRC, the Lovato system can be either.

 

There will be a connector on each solenoid valve. If you unplug each one in turn with the engine running, the sound of the engine should change when each one is unplugged. If you find one (or more) that make no difference, they are your bad cylinders.

 

If you find that two cylinders are missing, then I would first suspect a weak ignition coil on those two cylinders.

 

 

Standard spark plugs are okay, but they need to be in excellent order to run properly on LPG. The ignition system is the first thing to check, but if all looks okay then it could well be an issue with the LPG system.

 

 

Hope this helps!

[simimi]

Hope this helps!

i will get to work on it staraight away......

will follow your advice and will let you know of the outcome.

 

many thanks :P

Edited March 27, 2010 by simimi

[mk2sport]

Generally on lpg you need a smaller gap in the plugs.

I would pinch each rubber gas pipe to nip off the gas when running on lpg, rather than unplug the gas injectors.Most systems will switch back to petrol if you unplug the gas injectors.

It could be your gas vapouriser as allready stated, blocked gas filter, solonoid valve. It sounds to me like it is low on gas pressure though. Is the gas tank full???

I work in a garage that install lpg systems, so have a bit of an idea.

[simimi]

visited a lpg garage yesterday to have the car checked and you wont believe

the price i was quoted......... 800 quids.... for a new system as my one is too OLD.......

since then i have learned that it's a single lavota sysem........any ideas anyone ?

Edited March 30, 2010 by simimi

[sparky Paul]

visited a lpg garage yesterday to have the car checked and you wont believe

the price i was quoted......... 800 quids.... for a new system as my one is too OLD.......

since then i have learned that it's a single lavota sysem........any ideas anyone ?

Ouch.

 

It sounds like you might have a venturi mixer system. Whilst it's old technology, it's also more simple. Most of what's been said regarding the vaporiser, gas filter, solenoid, etc. still applies, and a decent garage with knowledge of lpg systems should be able to diagnose any faults.

 

If you do have a simple venturi system, it means you cannot interrupt the gas to each cylinder to help diagnosis. You should still be able to isolate the bad cylinders by disconnecting each plug lead on later models, or disconnect the connector to each coil on earlier models - although on these each coil sparks two plugs, so it might not tell you what you need to know.

 

I would try another garage.