gas for p38

[wpalmo]

Hi All on the P38A forum,

I own a 2001 HSE 4.6 and have done for the last 6 years. I have been thinking of putting the girl on gas. I own a Series 3 Stage One V8 as well and she runs on LPG and runs great. Best thing I ever did with the Stage One. The 3.5 V8 with a Holley 350 two barrell carb loves the gas and runs like it is injected.

Can people who have converted their P38's to gas please give me some feed back on best systems, possible problems, best location for gas tank, size of tank, etc. Really appreciate the feed back as I know there are a heap of cow boy gas converters out there and I don't want to mess the vehicle up with a dodgy instalation.

I live in Perth Western Australia so any owners in the west who could advise me would be greatly appreciated, but any feedback will be gold as I have had a few people tell me that it can't be done successfully due to the complex injection system on the P38.

Regards Warrick.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

The good injection systems run off the cars ecu, and are undetectable in use.

You need to decide how much ULP/LPG you wish to carry.

Beeutey in the LPG Forum would be a great person to ask;)

[33chinacars]

Firstly no I dont have a LPG P38.( Have had a number of other cars on gas. ) But having read lots of threads on this subject I would say that gas injection is the only way to go. A few on here have imported their own kits from UK. Search threads. Most people put the gas tank in where the spare wheel is which leaves you the problem of where to put the spare wheel. Some stand it up in the back . Others have a rear bar carrier mounted. All the best. Search is your best freind

Gary

[glenhendry]

Going out on a tiny limb here, but my non-sequential system that came with the care from the PO is very good. I dont suffer from backfires except it doest run well cold. I run on petrol until warm and then switch manually. It also has a quirk where running it on LPG creates an ECU fault saying that the O2 sensors are not working, then I have to clear ECU faults via ODBII otherwise when I turn back to petrol, it is stuck in open loop and the fuelling can get stinky.

My main lesson would be to get bigger than a 55 litre LPG tank if you can. I can only get 45litres in mine and it doesnt last too long and you will always be at the bowser.

[bee utey]

Budget gas tank is out of a Commodore VT-VZ wagon (60 litres of LPG), wrecking yard purchase and retested:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/


Biggest gas tank that fits here is a 72 litre usable donut tank from Manchester Tank or Blue LPG. Rare second hand, about $900 new.

Spare tyre can be mounted above the hatch (See spare holding bracket in pic above), needs to be unscrewed to lift the cover. :

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

Gas injection works really well on those, the P38 petrol system isn't the issue, its the coil packs weakness that causes problems with budget gas systems.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

If you do run a budget mixer system, use a metal air cleaner, robust intake hoses, a significant change in spark plug specs, and it can be quite reliable:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

[wpalmo]

Thanks for the feed back on my questions from all the contributers.

Bee utey is that your P38 that the photo's are from? Did you do the instalation or have it done by a gas fitter? What is the brand of gas injection system that you would recomend to not end up with coil pack failure. I am prepared to spend the money to get a top shelf system as I have no intention of selling the Rangie. Thanks again for your help Bee utey as it is information that I have not been able to get over in WA.

Regards Warrick.

[bee utey]

Thanks for the feed back on my questions from all the contributers.

Bee utey is that your P38 that the photo's are from? Did you do the instalation or have it done by a gas fitter? What is the brand of gas injection system that you would recomend to not end up with coil pack failure. I am prepared to spend the money to get a top shelf system as I have no intention of selling the Rangie. Thanks again for your help Bee utey as it is information that I have not been able to get over in WA.

Regards Warrick.

I am a gas fitter, these photos are of 4 different vehicles I did to illustrate various points. As for brand, first find a gas fitter in your area, show him the pics, then I may be able to advise. Coil pack failure isn't something a particular brand of injection causes, its more about set-up of the injection software. All injection systems should control gas mixtures better than simple mixer systems, but all are subject to idiocy on the part of the installer.

Bosch do a direct fit platinum LPG spark plug that is very suitable for the P38, it is part number WR7KI33S.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

interesting bosch plug stuff here--
http://www.bosch.com.au/content/language1/downloads/Spark_Plug_LPG_A4_Brochure.pdf

[wpalmo]

Thanks Pedro and Beeutey for the advice.

Beeutey where abouts do you work from as in location? I really appreciate your time and expertise in answering my questions. Do you know of any reputable gas fitters in WA through your industry contacts. I used a very good installer who converted my Stage One but he has since retired and is happy fishing and kicking back now. The Stage One is a very simple set up due to being a carbie set up.

I have talked to a few fitters over here but haven't felt that there was much knowledge and experience working on the P38A Range Rover. I have seen quite a few Disco's of the same year being 2001 with gas instalations. Are they similar in the set up to the P38A with gas injection etc? I know that most of the Disco's are 4.0 litre V8's but the Rangie is a 4.6. Is there a differece in gas set up due to the engine size?

I just want to be as knowledgeable as possible before speaking to gas fitters in WA so I can get a feel if they are aware of the issues you have raised.

Thanks again.

Regards Warrick.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

You may be better asking a general question in the WA Forum,, ;)

[bee utey]

I am in SA.

For a WA installer I suggest you look on this list of recommended liquid LPG fitters from Orbital Autogas. They have at least enough IQ to attend a seminar on liquid LPG although this won't be the only system they can install.:

FIND AN INSTALLER - Orbital (http://www.orbitalautogas.com.au/find_an_installer.html)

The D2 uses the same engine management as the P38 (post 1999) and the lpg injection systems would suit all LR V8 engine sizes.

[jsp]

put the car on the train and come over for a holiday :)

bee utey is a fantastic gas fitter and knows the P38 intimately, I couldn't recommend a better LPG installer in the country.