thoughts, advice & theories please

[twitchy]

Just wanted some thoughts on Gas, and I don't mean the baked bean created one.
Thinking of either gassing the fourby or buggering it off. So who runs gas on an 8 & what did ya find bonus negative type thingies??

My thoughts, to gas it I will be running straight gas with dual tanks & a Gas research setup, Knock a bit off the heads for higher compression & better bang for my buck. Make it a gas happy engine...
Fire away!!!!:D

[V8Landy]

Mine was on gas when i bought it.I would like more range on it but unsure if i like the idea of straight gas.If you are going to keep it a long time then i would say go for it.Cheers Brett

[LoveMyV8County]

With an 8 cyl motor I reckon gas is the only way to go if you do enough kms to justify the expense.

I share V8Landy's uncertainty about straight gas. If you run out of fuel it's a tow truck for you, and petrol is less fussy about perfect ignition systems.

Pros
- cheaper than a diesel to run.
- less bad for the environment
- low maintenance

Cons
- less power (usual estimate 20% less)
- on dual fuel vehicles tuning (timing, ignition advance) is a compromise
- loss of load space due to gas tank(s)
- can experience backfiring if out of tune, with possible damage to sensors and fuel injection components (non-carby vehicles)
- ignition system needs to be in a good state

What's the vehicle - Disco?

[3 Lions]

Bought my 2000' V8 Disco in May last year, had a Range-Rov Automotive sequential gas injection system fitted. Have now done 44,000kms with it, no problems, starts on petrol then automatically switches over to Lpg, has been really good, no power loss either.:)

[mcrover]

With an 8 cyl motor I reckon gas is the only way to go if you do enough kms to justify the expense.

I share V8Landy's uncertainty about straight gas. If you run out of fuel it's a tow truck for you, and petrol is less fussy about perfect ignition systems.

Pros
- cheaper than a diesel to run.
- less bad for the environment
- low maintenance

Cons
- less power (usual estimate 20% less)
- on dual fuel vehicles tuning (timing, ignition advance) is a compromise
- loss of load space due to gas tank(s)
- can experience backfiring if out of tune, with possible damage to sensors and fuel injection components (non-carby vehicles)
- ignition system needs to be in a good state

What's the vehicle - Disco?

Not quite correct im sorry.

- Cost roughly the same to run (in fuel only) than a Diesel.

- About the same for the enviroment as a diesel other than diesel puts out more NOx and carbon particulate but LPG puts out more CO2 and And what ever Carbon monoxide is but both are better for the enviroment than a catalitic converter choked petrol engine.

- Not at all low maintenance as you have to be very carful with plug gaps and ignition leads as well as LPG burns hotter so some cooling systems can suffer so maintaining your cooling system is also essential.

- Dedicated gas is a pain in the bum, I had an AU ute that was dedicated and it seems that you spend your entire life at servos and one of the previous posts was correct about the tow truck thing unless you set up a decanting tank......Which is actually illegal in a registered car.

Now for the so called cons -

- The new vapour injection systems generally give as good if not better performance than on petrol

- If used in conjunction with an ignition computer which can adjust ign. timing and air fuel mixtures to get the best out of the LPG but these systems are at least twice what a standard system is worth so you would be wanting to keep the vehical for a while for it to be worth it.

- The load space can be a problem in some vehicals but say on a disco you can put sill tanks in both sides and then about 80ltrs in scuba tanks where the OEM tank was, Gives you a fair range......not that of a Diesel but good for an inferior petrol engined vehical :angel:

- Backfiring etc is only a problem if it is not installed and tuned properly, if you spend the money and go to a recomended fitter and not just joe blow down the street then you wont have any problems.

- Ive already covered the Ignition system in the so called Pros.....The so called Low maintenance.

Sorry LMV8C but there have been 1 or 2 developments in LPG technologies in the last 5 years or so that you may have missed.

I love LPG, I recon it is about as good as diesel as a fuel but is only good if you dont venture too far off the beaten track or atleast not to far from a servo.

Just for instance, on a trip earlier this year that I did with a mate in a 4.5ltr 80 series on duel fuel.

We did 240kms to get to Mansfield,
The Disco wasnt completely full when we left (probably about 10 to 15ltrs off full) but took 33ltrs to top up.

The 80series which filled up in Hallam took 65ltrs.

Not bad, about a perfect double that of the diesel and cost about the same but only a usable >85ltrs.

220kms of off road, I drove back to melbourne and to work all week and still had 1/4 of a tank and he was on petrol at the 180km mark...which he was happy about off road in low range.

He rolled into Mansfield and filled both up.

We had only done 40kms since he switched over on Mt Stirling and only did about 10kms at the most in low range but it still took about 30ltrs of petrol and a full tank of gas......and then wouldnt start on gas due to some mud in a connection on a solonoid.

So by that, the diesel was much much cheaper off road than both on petrol and LPG but on the road the LPG is about the same.

In some cases like driving in sand I have heard that it is the other way around due to power band differences between the 2 types of engines but again you will chew the LPG anytime you are putting it under load.

I hope that helps and doesnt upset too many of the petrol boys but it was a cruiser and not a rover so that may be a saving grace.

The answer to your question though is :

Yes go get it converted to an LPG vapour inj system if your going to keep it, if not then get rid of it and buy a Diesel :D

[scarry]

hi
do a search there has been heaps of posts & threads on this site about gas & all its problems recently....my main advice would be get it done by someone who knows what they are doing or you will have heaps of grief


i have been running my work vans on lpg for the last 18 years or so & if it is fitted properly we go around 200thk's no backfires&no problems.saerch through some of my posts u will find some good info on lpg......will me save writting it out again:)

cheers

[twitchy]

Idea of direct or gas only was to shave the heads to raise the compression as gas likes the squish a bit more, more power. Gas research make gas kits for high performance vehicles so the have got it nailed pretty well. Dual scuba tanks underneath should take care of a fair range as I won't be doing a zillion k trip any time soon.
OR
Bye, bye Landy Hello Sierra....:o

[mcrover]

Idea of direct or gas only was to shave the heads to raise the compression as gas likes the squish a bit more, more power. Gas research make gas kits for high performance vehicles so the have got it nailed pretty well. Dual scuba tanks underneath should take care of a fair range as I won't be doing a zillion k trip any time soon.
OR
Bye, bye Landy Hello Sierra....:o

Dont worry about the squish, it doesnt make that much difference unless you are going to run high revs.

Gas research (unless have updated their systems recently) used to be good but have rested on their lorals with their twin converter standard mixer HP gas set up which has now been around for 20 years and they still sell it as the best system around, it's crap in comparison to vapur injection/sequential injection.

If your not going to spend the cash on a decent system then personally I wouldnt bother as there is no gain and would take forever to regain value from it plus you get all the negatives theat were discussed.