Autogas conversion

[Jojo]

Hi all,
after arriving in this beautiful place (and studying some indigenous motor magazines and adverts as market research in order to find myself a vehicle) I learned that many vehicles with petrol engines are equipped with an autogas conversion, presumably because of the cheap gas prices. I also heard rumours and opinions that the LR engines, and here especially the V8, don't like this kind of treatment very much.
I'd like to hear your opinion and experiences on this issue. (Not that I am tempted to buy one, I'm a Diesel guy :wink:, but to broaden my knowledge)

[Rovernaut]

Jo Jo wie jehts es ihnen?
welcome to Oz, I have a Efi Discop on dual fuel, It is very ecomonical to run on gas. As long as it's properly tuned and all the electricals are spot on and you get good sparks it runs very well. performance is a drop and fuel and you use a bit more fuel but at 39c per litre compared to 80c odd for ULP it can save you $. I travel 350 kms each week to work and get about 350 kms to 78 litres of LPG gas in stop start city driving.

[Jojo]

Hallo Rovernaut!
Danke, mir geht es gut, und Dir?
Thanks for the update on autogas. I learned that the valves, especially of the older LR engines, would suffer from using autogas instead of petrol. your Disco seems to have less trouble (I hope anyway) and you won't experience any nasty problems.
Keep on rovering!
Best regards from burning Brisbane

[snailbait]

HI WITH THE LATER MODEL PETROL ENGINE THE CONV TO GAS IS NOT A PROBLEM IT IS ONLY THE COST OF CONV IS THE PROBLEM YOU HAVE TO COST IT OUT TO THE KLMS PER YEAR TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK ON THE CONV IF YOU DO SOME 25000 PER YEAR IT IS A COST BENIFIT BUT IF YOU DO 10000 PER YEAR IT COULD TAKE 3 YEARS TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK

[one_iota]

Snailbait,

Good advice but not so loudly.

[matbor]

just going though some old posts on LPG, my disco has done 130,000km's now and i'm thinking of putting it on GAS, don't mind losing the boot space, because if i need more room i'll just put the gear on top or in the trailer. Just wondering how much a conversion costs and what is the biggest tank i can fit in the back of the disco !! And after any feed back on experiences people have had with Disco's and lpg ?

Matt.

[bigbugga]

Why not look for a gas tank mount for under the rear,
I have seen them advertised andI think they replace the fuel tank totally.

But

You could add in sill tanks, these sit under the frount seats on either side and you can have two for fuel or keep one for water.

I know the outlay would be higher but I think it would be worth it.


And sorry I am not sure on price, have been putting off asking about gas for mine.

[Baggy]

Hi All

Re LPG Conversion, I had my '96 Disco done (132,000 Kms)
2-3 months ago, and my wallet appreciates the rest (opening and
closing it)

Here in WA conversion cost 2,500.00c less government rebate $500.00c.
Most popular conversion for Disco's is (3 x cilinders similar to scuba
tanks) fitted in the inside of vehicle, mainly because fuel tank underneath
rules out fitting it underneath.
Price includes Flash lube kit which lubricates valves, stems seals etc.
63 usable liters (however never been able to squeeze close to that on
any refill.
As Rovernaut says, keep it tuned, Ive replaced leads (to stainless steel)
and run it on petrol for short period its sweet. Next improvement will be
to fit NKG vee groove plugs whiich they say gives a better spark.
(had New spark plugs fitted just prior to conversion so havent bothered)

My opinion, best move you can make, all write ups on V8i I've read
says they (V8 3.9) well suited to LPG conversions.
In Perth LPG hovers around 32c a litre and with Coles or Woolies 4c litre
off (thats now 28c litre)
We used to use approx $90.00c per week on petrol, we now use about
max 3 tanks LPG . The LPG guage is not accurate, however we run on
LPG till on red light (then switch over to petrol) so never really run it to
empty and get approx 180 KMs to tank (off trip meter)
Filled up today (LPG) cost $14.44c plus added $10.00c Premium
fuel, with discount $25.05c. 3 xTanks LPG thats$43.32c
(5 x tanks $72.20c for 900 Klms) as good if not better than diesel at
current fuel prices.
We don't fill tank with petrol as our LPG installer says petrol goes off,
so we fill in small amounts and use it between LPG tanks.
I've not noticed any real power drop, used to be careful on the pedal
proir to conversion, not so much now.

Only downside is LPG is not available the further out you go, but there
are more being added everyday. but its still increased our range if we
ever get to go away, plus Id fit long range fuel tank(petrol) anyway.
I had board fitted over tanks covered with carpet like fabric and fitted
pull out drawer under that. LPG installer thought was really good and
photographed it, I will post it here (if I can ever work out how to do so)

Hopes this helps out

Cheers !!!!!!!!

[matbor]

I would like to keep my petrol tank, all 89litres of it, because as u say there isn't any GAS in the bush, espically when i go up into the high country !!!

Would like to however put a large gas in the boot of car, just wondering what is the biggest available 150 litres maybe. As I would like to keep the cost of the conversion down and also to get the most out of a GAS tank, can't really be bothered running to the GAS station every four day and when doing long drives it can be a problem finding GAS !!

Will give a couple of places a call today and find out the conversion costs !!

[-Macca-]

Originally posted by matbor

Would like to however put a large gas in the boot of car, just wondering what is the biggest available 150 litres maybe.

My old man scammed a 160L lpg tank for other purposes, but I sussed it out for my rangy before he did anything with it. Problem was it was too wide to fit widthways across the rangy, and it definitely won't fit longways. style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif It'd probably fit across the tray of an F150, or something that size.

I always run the gas to dead empty, then flick to petrol until I get to a petrol station, and then fill back up. I've got maybe 10L of petrol in the rangy unless I'm off on a trip.

[Michael2]

I've fitted the under car LPG (twin tanks) to my '88 Rangie. They have a combined capacity of 80 litres (the AFL cuts out at 70, but I can get an extra 10 in slowly for a long trip).
I've got a rear quarter panel mounted tank which uses the original petrol filler. This tank holds about 40 litres. Then I've got a couple of sill tanks which fill in under the wheel arches and I've mounted an early Rangie fuel pump with an electric 3 way switch to transfer fuel to the main (quater panel) tank. Each sill tank holds 33 litres (depending on the angle the Rangie is parked at when filling).

This gives me 80 litres LPG and 100 litres ULP. On highway travel that equates to :
80 x 4.5km per litre = 360 + 100 x 7km per litre = 700
Total 1060 km Range -10% safety margin is 950km between refills for highway touring.

I picked up the tanks 2nd hand in the Trading Post and the LPG system from a Range Rover wrecker. No body wanted to fit the LPG because it's a long and tedious job with no profit margin. Eventually I got a mechanic who did it at mates rates, but the teething problems weren't worth the savings.

If you plan it out right you can extend your range without encroaching on your cargo capacity.