LPG worth it?

[Lpgc]

A few observations having had LPG conversion 5 months ago;

MPG 18 - about 10% less than petrol which is par for the course. Petrol is used during initial heating up so you will still need to buy small amounts.

Some outlets are a bit awkward to get in and out of.

70 litre tank is quite deep - exhaust silencer is lower but you still have to be careful not to scrape it if driving onto a lower verge, etc.

Fuel gauge (series of LED lights) is hopeless - you get used to resetting trip meter and looking for refill after 200km.

The installer didn't replace the plastic engine cover - apparently since the engine can run hotter - the increased noise is noticeable so I am looking at sound deadening to stick under the bonnet.

The filler cap is not attached to the vehicle on a wire, etc, so you need to remember to replace it.

On mine the filler cap is in the rear bumper - not ideal if you have a bad back.

I didn't fit your conversion but...

I fit a 93 litre tank that is no deeper than your 70 litre tank, it is wider not deeper, I angle it so it is 'deeper' toward the front but no lower than the diff, which means there is more ground clearance at the rear than on yours.

Sounds an un-neat job if the installer didn't refit the engine cover.

99% of my 700+ Elgrand customers chose to have a hidden filler fitted, hidden behind the petrol fuel door, no holes made in the bodywork or bumpers and no chance of losing any cap.

200km is only 124 miles which woul be pitiful range. The 93 litre tanks I fit hold 84 litres of LPG because I modify them to fill to 90% of rated (93L, 18.48 UK gallons) capacity instead of 80% of 70L capacity. Which even at only 18mpg gives over 330 miles (over 500km) of range if driving steady on a long motorway trip. I fitted a 2nd LPG tank that is easily detachable / refittable using quick fit fittings... and doubles on board LPG capacity and range when fitted I can drive 700 miles on LPG with my 2nd tank fitted. I've also set up the same system for a few of my Elgrand LPG conversion customers but only for my conversion customers or people who have bought a vehicle that I converted to LPG originally.

Then we can talk about how soon after starting the engine on a cold morning the system switches to LPG (obviously affecting the ratio of petrol to LPG you use) and how correct mixture on all 6 cylinders is better than a bit richer mixture on some cylinders than others (affecting efficiency and engine life) during average driving and how correct mixture when you put your foot down is far better than too lean or too rich mixture when you put your foot down (affecting efficiency and engine life and max engine power). Life of the system (with accurate fuelling), installer backup such as 100% being able to fix any LPG problem 1st time, possible future upgrades from the installer such as extra tanks, maybe a pump to pump gas from red bottles, etc.

 

[Ommadon]

A few observations having had LPG conversion 5 months ago;

MPG 18 - about 10% less than petrol which is par for the course. Petrol is used during initial heating up so you will still need to buy small amounts.

Some outlets are a bit awkward to get in and out of.

70 litre tank is quite deep - exhaust silencer is lower but you still have to be careful not to scrape it if driving onto a lower verge, etc.

Fuel gauge (series of LED lights) is hopeless - you get used to resetting trip meter and looking for refill after 200km.

The installer didn't replace the plastic engine cover - apparently since the engine can run hotter - the increased noise is noticeable so I am looking at sound deadening to stick under the bonnet.

The filler cap is not attached to the vehicle on a wire, etc, so you need to remember to replace it.

On mine the filler cap is in the rear bumper - not ideal if you have a bad back.

My main observation is the reduced power compared to petrol, but then I always use E5 V Power, so maybe it's that. The acceleration difference is noticeable. That's my only real quibble. It might be in my mind, but I feel reduced power on LPG is exacerbated in winter, especially in very low temperatures.

I haven't noticed mine running any hotter and my engine cover is intact. I agree the tank is low, like a pot belly big, and my Elgrand is already lowered, so speed humps are really not my friend, most the time I scrape the back box.

The gauge isn't very accurate, but doesn't really bother me. I just tend to wait till it's on red, then I know it's going to start beeping at me soon.

My filler cap is attached, but sometimes difficult to get out! It might be cause I got my installer to paint the cap white to match, so maybe that extra paint has made the difference.

 

[Lpgc]

My main observation is the reduced power compared to petrol, but then I always use E5 V Power, so maybe it's that. The acceleration difference is noticeable. That's my only real quibble. It might be in my mind, but I feel reduced power on LPG is exacerbated in winter, especially in very low temperatures.

I haven't noticed mine running any hotter and my engine cover is intact. I agree the tank is low, like a pot belly big, and my Elgrand is already lowered, so speed humps are really not my friend, most the time I scrape the back box.

The gauge isn't very accurate, but doesn't really bother me. I just tend to wait till it's on red, then I know it's going to start beeping at me soon.

My filler cap is attached, but sometimes difficult to get out! It might be cause I got my installer to paint the cap white to match, so maybe that extra paint has made the difference.

I can notice a very slight drop in power on LPG compared to running on petrol but it's not seat of the pants and most people would not notice it, it's probably only because I'm into tuning fuelling systems and kind of hyper critical that I notice it.... because we're talking around 1% difference in power. Normally engines are more powerful in cold damp weather - If you can easi;y notice a drop of power when running on LPG in cold damp weather then I think it likely your system is running too lean (but maybe too rich) and you should have me look at it to correct it because its unlikely your local LPG guy could/would. Lean mixtures will damage a VQ engine at an earlier point than they would damage other engines and rich mixtures would damage Elgrand cats before correct mixture (if you still have cats fitted). But incorrect mixture when you put your foot down will cost you more for same performance regardless, and also detract from maximu performance, and can cause other problems.

If your tank is low, like I said above, I didn't fit it and it will be angled poorly. I could fit a bigger tank and you'd have less problems with ground clearance... But I'd charge you over £700 to remove the tank some other installer fitted to fit the 93L tank I modified to have working range of 84L. To give you some idea on tank prices, it costs me over £40 to buy the 93L tank over the cost of a 90L tank and a 90L tank costs more than an 80L tank and an 80L tank costs more than a 70L tank. But I only fit the best and in terms of tanks big capacity is always what you want over smaller capacity.

There are 2 commonly available types of 70mm bayonet filler housing. One type is the original decent quality type that usually fits well, there can be issues with the plastic line that attaches the cap to the 'back housing' getting trapped between the brass bayonet fitting and the cap that attaches to the bayonet fitting but they're generally good fitting an decent quality. Or the installer might have saved themselves £5 by fitting a cheaper Chinsese copy. Could paint a standard 70mm round black housing white but to do a proper job you need to apply plastic primer and wait for it to dry, apply the white paint and wait for it to dry, since the white paint is metallic so is laquered to get the same sheen you also need to wait for white paint to dry then apply laquer. I used to offer colour coding of 70mm filler housings years ago but I did the painting properly so it wouldn't flake off, used a proper paint colour matching company and made sure the colour matched when it was dry. But these days few customers want a 70mm housing when they can have a hidden filler or towbar mounted filler instead... Or just buy a white 70mm filler housing (available in black plastic, or white plastic off the shelf).

Not all LPG conversions are the same, far from it. I used to tell people a week if they wanted a colour coded 70mm housing because it takes that long for the 3 separate coats of paint to dry to do a proper job..

 

[Ommadon]

LPG is now available again at Ashington. (March 24)

However, the price has increased to 89.9p.. so not all that far behind Morrisons. At least it adds, or re-adds, a location.