Lpg Deisel

[lingsim]

;) Has anyone converted there TDI PD to run LPG

 

Is so how much?

Where is the tank?

Is there a change in performance?

And where did u get it done?

 

Thanks

[morticiaskeeper]

AFAIK you would have to run a mix of diesel and LPG.

 

LPG on a petrol works out about the same running costs as Diesel - 45mpg on Diesel at 90p/litre against 25mpg on gas at 40p/litre.

 

Maybe a slight saving, but never enough to cover the conversion cost.

[johnb80]

Diesel / LPG conversions work by leaving the diesel pump injecting tickover amounts of fuel, this then fires in the normal way which in turn ignites the LPG which has been fed into the system. There are all sorts of claims of 200% increase in torque (as if the diesel was short of that) and power gains etc. A friend of mine had 2 astra vans converted about 3 years ago, it took 2 years and a court case for him to get his money back and compensation, non of the claims were met.

 

Regards - John

[matt1e]

They are not dis-proven either........................

 

The theory works, as the mix correctly done is similar in properties to nitrous.

 

I am tempted to give it a whirl when my warrantee runs out.

[johnb80]

They are not dis-proven either........................

 

The theory works, as the mix correctly done is similar in properties to nitrous.

 

I am tempted to give it a whirl when my warrantee runs out.

mmm, how can that be? They claimed better performance and lower fuel consumption, the case went to court and he was awarded a refund, compensation and costs.

 

That to ME would be case proven, but I suppose to some people it's all bo**ocks.

 

Let us know how you get on and how much compensation you get.

 

I think more than anything, the popularity of Diesel / lpg conversions speaks for itself IF it was as good as the manufacturers claim don't you think there would be a mass move over to it ? especially HGV's etc.

 

Regards - JB

[Guest vr6galaxy]

mm Jb's on his anti LPG horse again :rolleyes: what is it that gets to you about LPG Jb? the fact that we pay less than half the price you do for deisel? the fact that our engines run cleaner and dont need as much serviceing as your smelly old oil burner :P the fact that my oil stays the same colour for longer and doesnt need changeing as regular due to lack of crap being added to it every time the clean burning fuel is ignited, the fact that we can pass the MOT emission tests easily every time :P

yes the initial cost of coversion can be a big hurdle to cross but in the long run depending on the length of time you keep the vehicle and the mileage you do this can be recouped, so far we have done 65000+ miles on LPG without a problem :P so by my reconing we have recouped the outlay and saved a bit in the proccess, also I get the pleasure of a VR6 under the bonnet :D that way I'm happy and the mrs is happy that it's cheap to run as well :D #

the reason hgv's dont convert is the cost and the size of the tanks needed would take up to much room! plus if its mounted on the trailer the regs about flexible fuel pipes would cause a few problems!

tdi conversions are expensive and complicated! the fuel mix needs to be spot on and monitered full time!

sounds like you friends installer made one to many promises! one of the problems with LPG is the amount of cowboyinstallers and the lack of regulation of the so called pro's, plus you are able to do diy installs! all ok if done properly and checked by a registered installer, but then again how do you know he's any good?

it's about time the governing body stepped in and started to regulate installers better and stamp out fly by night cowboys out to make a quick buck!

till that happens the amount of wild claims and complaints about bad installs will continue to breed a bad opinion of LPG as an alternative fuel for vehicles

 

# the money saved is going into the replace the timing chains fund :P

[Masked Marauder]

The company I work for trialed both Dual Fuel and LPG trucks about five years ago. We now use niether. I don't know the reason for the decision though, the work we do range would only be an issue on about 20% of routes so it must be something more than that.

[seatkid]

I would have thought that technologies behind LPG and diesel are basically incompatible. Diesel relies on a (vast) oversupply* of air which ignites the fuel when its temperature is raised by compression. LPG powered engines on the other hand use spark ignition principles, as the gas/air mixture will only burn over a limited range of fuel/air ratios. So basically LPG would never ignite in a diesel engine unless you've got a vast amount of LPG going in, and without a throttle plate, the engine would just run away and break. (Unless you managed to inject LPG in a way to get a highly stratified charge, which would be beyond any LPG convertors capability.)

 

I also belive that LPG burns so slowly that, in a high speed engine, it has to be ignited many tens of degrees before TDC, so using diesel to ignite it would be too little,too late, you'd need a spark plug!

 

*This overlooked aspect of diesel engines is making me feel somewhat anti-diesel of late.

[johnb80]

mm Jb's on his anti LPG horse again :rolleyes: what is it that gets to you about LPG Jb?

Thats it gloves off outside with you :P

 

Did you hear the one about the agrophobic skinhead, said to the guy "oy you....inside"

 

LPG I know all of the benefits, if you remeber I had a 4.2 V8 Range Rover, fitted the tanks underneath and ran it for about 48,000 miles or so with very little in the way of problems.

My viewpoint is quite simple, why go to all the hassle of conversion, the tank inside, no spare, poxy little tank that has next to no range when you can have a TDi with SIMILAR running costs. No matter what you say, I'd rather risk it with a TDi on fire than an LPG bomb in the back. And yes, Iknow you'll get to 60 a few seconds quicker but by the time you've refuelled more times our journey times would be very similar.

 

Moving onto TDi / LPG conversions, it's essentially a simple process, little more than defeating the diesel throttle and piping LPG into the inlet manifold. The diesel LPG conversions rely on still having diesel injected to effectively keep the engine ticking over, adding gas then makes it rev up. Quite a few of the oil rigs I have worked on use this technique for power generation running huge diesels. The installer could not get the performance or fuel consumption improvements nor could the manufacturer, it went of for ages so I don't think the cowboy scenario is appropriate here.

 

Enjoy what you have, I still like my good old oil burner.

 

Caio - JB

[JDF]

Just to throw another thought in the works - has anyone thought about running their diesel on cooking oil?

A friend of mine had a go at running his non-turbo diesel van on veg oil.

He had a small can of cooking oil in the back which fed to the main fuel pipe via a 3 way liquid switch (diesel on/oil off & Oil on/diesel off).

He ran the van for a few miles on diesel until warm, then would switch over to the cooking oil.

It seemed to work well.

He doesn't use the system anymore as it was only an experiment & you can run into problems with the tax man due to him not getting the fuel duty.....

 

J B)

[Masked Marauder]

I have thought about it but that is as far as I got due to problems sourcing Methonol at a suitable price. But the way fuel prices are going the gap is closing.