Thread: for those thinking about LPG here is my feedback

Thanks mate,
the thor throttle body has a stop screw and the megasquirt ecu can control an idle stepper or solonoid. That bit should be sweet.
So its legal to use an aftermarket ecu for gas injection?

The 6mm hole for the injector fittings - are these just standard metric thread? I want to tap these before the manifold goes on, just in case .

cheers

Originally Posted by Hardchina

Thanks mate,
the thor throttle body has a stop screw and the megasquirt ecu can control an idle stepper or solonoid. That bit should be sweet.
So its legal to use an aftermarket ecu for gas injection?

The 6mm hole for the injector fittings - are these just standard metric thread? I want to tap these before the manifold goes on, just in case .

cheers

Cool with the idle control!
Aftermarket ECU will be OK for your job, AS1425 deals with the nuts and bolts of the gas install such as the component capability to handle the pressures but leaves the electronics to whatever so long as it has good emissions for the vehicle age. In your case that means hardly anything. The injector fittings I use are M6 tapped 6mm hose nipples so you could drill and tap then plug with set screws no probs. I have seen second hand injection kits on ebay that I haven't bought because of not having the software. But if you got a harness and injector set you could be on a roll.
The only thing you have to watch is that around zero degrees C the gas pressures might not be very high so cold mornings might need a good warmup before driving.

Thanks mate,

do the new style liquid injection systems also use the same 6mm fittings?

This new liquid injection looks to be the go

Originally Posted by Hardchina

Thanks mate,

do the new style liquid injection systems also use the same 6mm fittings?

This new liquid injection looks to be the go

Don't know, haven't done one yet. A mate of mine was going to get one fitted and bring it around when it was sorted. I haven't seen him yet so maybe it's stuffed. I do know that you need a special tank with a fuel injection pump built in, $$$$. Look on the web there's info out there.

Anyway your injector hole plugs should be made removable so you can fiddle with them later. One manifold I plugged the injector holes on I just tapped 3/8 BSP threads into the manifold, screwed in brass plugs.

..here's my recent experience with gas/dual fuel conversion in Tassie. I went for the Emer injection system which has a programmable ECU - more complex than the direct injection system - which I was aiming for but could not get in Tassie because the engine is D1 SE supercharged 3.9 running up to 10psi boost.

Melbourne installers would have had a go at it, but not so in Tas where the rate of conversion is very low despite the rebate (now 1750). So I had the system installed, which took over a week and cost.....5000 dollars - a lot more than I expected. Most of the additional cost over the initial 'estimate' of 4K was put down to the need for a new sub tank (nearly a thousand) and the fact that the installation was not straightforward due to the SC and the need to relocate some of the kit stuff under the hood due to space constraints.

Anyway, the engine runs fine on LPG even on full boost, with little noticeable loss of power over Premium fuel, no knocking or overheating so far with over 1500k's use. The system also has a feature that enable the engine to switch automatically to Premium if on full boost for sustained periods. Engine starts on petrol and quickly switches to gas as the engine warms (in seconds really), and switches to petrol when the gas runs out.

Downsides - loss of range with only 62L of gas, and 40L of fuel on board which is a lot less than the long range tanks previously fitted (anyone want them?).

Fuel consumption has also fallen to a new low of 8-9 mpg when towing The fuel use is usually around 10- 11 mpg on Premium when towing a triple horse float or 3t trailer, which is what we bought the beast for. But then again the red beast goes like stink, easily towing these loads to whatever speed you like! No holding up the traffic with us

Also the price of LPG has risen in Tas quite a lot to highs of 87cpl and best prices recently of 76cpl on a good day - so not the 50% saving advertised by many installers. But that's Tassie for you. Apparently it cost heaps to get the gas over Bass Straight, and the demand here is too low to start with. Catch 22!

Would I do it again? Probably not given the very high cost and marginal savings currently over discounted petrol, but then again who knows where petrol prices will go over the next few years? But at least we can take advantage of both with the dual fuel arrangement which would not be the case for direct gas injection, the system I really wanted because it provides equal power/fuel consumption to petrol, and is far simpler in design and easier and cheaper to install. And there's a bit of feel good value as gas reserves are massive compared to oil, and the resale value of the car should be improved.

Oh and the engine oil leaks have for some reason now dried up!!! Can't explain that one, but it's true - no drips anymore on the shed floor - rear main and rocker covers have magically sealed themselves, and the engine oil (replaced just prior to install) still looks like new.

Pictures please? Sounds like an interesting set-up! If you need more fuel range there's always a sill tank option, both petrol and lpg.

Originally Posted by Hardchina

Thanks mate,
the thor throttle body has a stop screw and the megasquirt ecu can control an idle stepper or solonoid. That bit should be sweet.
So its legal to use an aftermarket ecu for gas injection?

The 6mm hole for the injector fittings - are these just standard metric thread? I want to tap these before the manifold goes on, just in case .

cheers

Mate if going pure gas. Fit the Thor and replace the throttle body with a GRA unit.

Would work admirably I reckon!

Originally Posted by Tombie2

Mate if going pure gas. Fit the Thor and replace the throttle body with a GRA unit.

Would work admirably I reckon!

I've canned the straight gas idea its going to be easier to plumb up some petrol injectors for the few times a year when i need the extra range.
99.99% nof the time i'll be just gas though.

I'm running a mixer from an EL? ford - goes well, and for me (after tweaking the setup) i dont reckon going injected gas is worth while. I haven't done any country drives yet, but i think even with the basic gas setup i'll get less than 18L per hundred. I'm kind of blown away with how much a difference the Thor has made to the old girl. but have to wonder on how much of a restriction the ford mixer is and what gains would be had with a better setup.?