LPG Conversion Advice / suggestions please ?

[EuroTrotters]

Hi

I know quite a lot of RV owners on here run there motorhomes on LPG Gas conversions.

From what I’ve seen, few report major issues with the conversion.

I had a car converted a couple of years ago to LPG. Within less than 1500 miles, it developed issues.

*loss of power
*miss-fire
*stalling (automatic gearbox).

Running it on high octane petrol almost cleared the issue.

Due to Covid and the car being in Spain and the fact the converter is in a different county to us. It’s taken me some time to get it back to the converter.

Yesterday, my wife took it back to the installer/converter. I spoke with him on the phone and he mentioned some kind of “valve retarding” and the fact the ECU was trying to compensate by adding more fuel on the intake.

He said he would increase the idle speed manually, that it was a pain to do and sent my wife away for a couple of hours. £100 later, she came home and said it’s just the same.

I think he has just manually adjusted the throttle, 5 min job.

Any suggestions or recommendations for an LPG converter in Manchester/Cheshire.

Garages say they can’t fix it as the ECU / Diagnostic port is too old.

 

[Steve and Denise]

Best keep lpg for cooking and fork lifts a pal of mine started converting years ago fine with carb engines old style but he packed it in after electronics came in almost every one was a problem in one. way or another.

 

[runrig]

Can you say what ECU unit is on the car and is it a fairly new car or an older one. The lpg side of the engine has a separate ECU to the petrol side. Best suggestion is to have an valve oiler fitted as lpg burn hotter than petrol and has no lubricant.

 

[paddymcc]

Is the valve retarder Flashlube? We added that to our LPG conversion and it worked ok. It stops the valve seats (?) getting too hot.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Can you say what ECU unit is on the car and is it a fairly new car or an older one. The lpg side of the engine has a separate ECU to the petrol side. Best suggestion is to have an valve oiler fitted as lpg burn hotter than petrol and has no lubricant.

Toyota, 21 years old. No Valve lube )see below)

Is the valve retarder Flashlube? We added that to our LPG conversion and it worked ok. It stops the valve seats (?) getting too hot.

When the system was fitted. I was told no oil/valve line was required as pellets have been put in the tank which last a lifetime ?.

So there is no separate valve line. Just these pellets which sit inside the tank.

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[EuroTrotters]

Well, I have replaced the HT leads and spark plugs.

It appears when someone has had a look before me, they broke the retaining lugs on the distributed cap. So that looks like it will have to be replaced.

Replacing the distributor cap is a real nightmare. The engine is in the middle, in its side. Access is from underneath. Lots of shields, trays and sensors to move. Along with ET hands required.

All good so far runrig paddymcc

 

[dunnah01]

Some pictures of the installation may help. I've fitted a few LPG systems and the ECU usually allows plenty of fine tuning of the programme to improve driveability. It's quite common to have to adjust things after a couple of thousand miles to refine the initial map but the systems are pretty simple so any major faults are more likely to be with the original fuel or ignition systems.

 

[paddymcc]

If you go down the Flashlube route I have a bottle of it sitting unused in the garage which you are welcome to have.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Some pictures of the installation may help. I've fitted a few LPG systems and the ECU usually allows plenty of fine tuning of the programme to improve driveability. It's quite common to have to adjust things after a couple of thousand miles to refine the initial map but the systems are pretty simple so any major faults are more likely to be with the original fuel or ignition systems.

I will take some photos.

ive just put the drivers seat and engine cover back on. That’s how you access the top end

 

[cmcardle75]

I had a Toyota Celica 190 VVTi converted by Leeds LPG and it worked flawlessly. If anything, it ran better on gas than on petrol. However, most Toyota engines definitely need extra lubrication as they are known for soft valve seats. You absolutely need to fit a valve lubrication system for Toyota engines. "Pellets in the tank" sounds as scammy and effective as wrapping your water pipes in magnets to stop scaling.

It is possible the valve seats have already been damaged and would need regrinding (if you're lucky).

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[EuroTrotters]

Some pictures of the installation may help. I've fitted a few LPG systems and the ECU usually allows plenty of fine tuning of the programme to improve driveability. It's quite common to have to adjust things after a couple of thousand miles to refine the initial map but the systems are pretty simple so any major faults are more likely to be with the original fuel or ignition systems.

Hi and thank you

here are some photos. I have to take the seat out and unbolt the cover to get to the manifold.

I have emailed a couple of companies for a quote to fit a flashlube system, no replies so-far. So may have to make some calls.

I would'nt mind having a go myself if I have to. Am I correct in assuming i would need to fit a multi-point lubricant somewhere on the manifold?.

Other problem I can envisage is sighting the Lube Reservoir as the engine is under the car.

 

[bobandjanie]

Many years ago, we had a out the factory duel fuel Citreon xantia, we run it and then let daughter number 2 have it for 6 years, they always recommended running it on petrol every now again, but Janie always got paranoid when the gas run out, so she never used much petrol but it was never any problem, we also had a duel fuel astra maybe you might need some more pellets and run it on petrol sometimes.

On an old metro when you could only get unleaded we put a bag of lead balls in the tank to lubricate it, before that we put a lubricant in the tank I was forever having to clean the carburetor, our girl were probably putting more than they should in, but the lead balls cured that, never anymore problems.

https://fuelcat.co.uk/ Bob.

 

[MisterB]

I have found that Polish mechanics are far more experienced than UK 'trained' mechanics when t comes to LPG powered vehicles.

 

[cmcardle75]

I have found that Polish mechanics are far more experienced than UK 'trained' mechanics when t comes to LPG powered vehicles.

Yes, the Leeds LPG guys I used were Polish. Not sure they're still going, but they were very good, yet extremely cheap.

 

[EuroTrotters]

I had a Toyota Celica 190 VVTi converted by Leeds LPG and it worked flawlessly. If anything, it ran better on gas than on petrol. However, most Toyota engines definitely need extra lubrication as they are known for soft valve seats. You absolutely need to fit a valve lubrication system for Toyota engines. "Pellets in the tank" sounds as scammy and effective as wrapping your water pipes in magnets to stop scaling.

It is possible the valve seats have already been damaged and would need regrinding (if you're lucky).

These are the pellets

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[cmcardle75]

These are the pellets

If only car manufacturers had worked out for themselves that they didn't need lead or carcinogenic aromatics and expensive hardened valve seats to improve octane rating, they just needed to tip some ball bearings into the fuel tank.