LPG

[islandgun]

 Connected to my earlier thread concerning Lexus rx400h V6 hybrid, anyone have it or converted to it, pros and cons please..👍

[London Best]

I used to have a V8 110 with gas. It did less mpg on gas than petrol but cost-wise it was half as expensive. Power was, at a guess, 20% down.

[Walker570]

My 3.9 V8 Landie 90 runs on LPG and is duel fuel.  I really have not done any mileage tests. I have only one LPG outlet close to me at 75p a litre.  I also had a valve saver system fitted because LPG is very dry and burns hotter so the valves need a bit of help.  Give it a run ..15 ..20 miles occasionally on petrol for the same reason.  Yes, the engine is a bit sharper on petrol but not really noticeable on everyday motoring/towing etc when on LPG.   It pootles along nicely at the legal limit.   The saving means I can have a working motor at a sensible fueld price. I would guess I am getting around 28-29 mpg price wise in comparison.

[islandgun]

Cheers both, Im thinking about the lexus model, its a self charges electric and switches to petrol when needed, [at over 30mph or when 4wd kicks in] ive been quoted just over £1000 to convert to gas, Large petrol cars seem to be a lot cheaper than diesel to buy and my annual mileage is quite low with short journeys, which modern diesels dont like apparently.....

E.G from autrader Lexus RX 400H 3.3l V6 4x4 with LPG conversion(at cost of £1250), Very economical to run on lpg( got 80litres tank fitted underneath that gives around 450-500 on a run), Serviced at Lexus 2000miles ago with Hybrid Battery Health Check(Battery Warranty for 10k miles/1 Year), recent LPG Service as 

[Walker570]

I paid £1000 for my Landie 10yrs ago so that is a good price.   You will find you cannot get 80 litres in the tank. My Landie has an 80 litre doughnut tank and at maximum at the right temperature I can squeeze 56 litres in it before it stops loading.  It is some sort of safety measure.

I may make a 140 mile round trip once a month otherwise 12 miles there and back is maximum, so similar to you.  Had mine 10yrs now and it has only just started showing signs of needing a sevice or upgrade, so not bad at all.   Don't be fooled by the nice clean oil in the sump either, religiously do your oil changes even though the oil looks clean.  LPG doesn't produce the muck petrol does so it stays clean but chemically breaks down.  My garage man who also runs a Ford Mustang Classic on LPG put me right on this.   How much is LPG in your neck of the woods?   I have a garage which is around 60p a litre but 25 Miles away  My local is 6 but I shoot on a farm half way there so not too bad.

Edited December 6, 2020 by Walker570

[ferguson_tom]

how low is you annual mileage? if you said you got 18 mpg on petrol and the equivalent of 28 on gas you would need to do about 10,000 miles to make your money back on the conversion costs. 

LPG is becoming less and less popular with a number of oil companies removing it completely from their forecourts so before you go for it make sure you have some where within a reasonable distance to fill up.

[AVB]

I don’t know anything about LPG but do you have it in addition to a petrol tank? If so you will be carrying around a lot of weight - engine, electric motors, petrol, batteries and LPG tank. 

[islandgun]

17 hours ago, Walker570 said:

I paid £1000 for my Landie 10yrs ago so that is a good price.   You will find you cannot get 80 litres in the tank. My Landie has an 80 litre doughnut tank and at maximum at the right temperature I can squeeze 56 litres in it before it stops loading.  It is some sort of safety measure.

I may make a 140 mile round trip once a month otherwise 12 miles there and back is maximum, so similar to you.  Had mine 10yrs now and it has only just started showing signs of needing a sevice or upgrade, so not bad at all.   Don't be fooled by the nice clean oil in the sump either, religiously do your oil changes even though the oil looks clean.  LPG doesn't produce the muck petrol does so it stays clean but chemically breaks down.  My garage man who also runs a Ford Mustang Classic on LPG put me right on this.   How much is LPG in your neck of the woods?   I have a garage which is around 60p a litre but 25 Miles away  My local is 6 but I shoot on a farm half way there so not too bad.

 Thanks for the info, lpg is more expensive here but so is all fuel

 

47 minutes ago, ferguson_tom said:

how low is you annual mileage? if you said you got 18 mpg on petrol and the equivalent of 28 on gas you would need to do about 10,000 miles to make your money back on the conversion costs. 

LPG is becoming less and less popular with a number of oil companies removing it completely from their forecourts so before you go for it make sure you have some where within a reasonable distance to fill up.

I think it would fair to say 5000 per annum, im guessing being dual fuel might help re-sale if needed

 

26 minutes ago, AVB said:

I don’t know anything about LPG but do you have it in addition to a petrol tank? If so you will be carrying around a lot of weight - engine, electric motors, petrol, batteries and LPG tank. 

Good point, im still not sure about the batteries as i could only afford an elderly model, so concerned the battery may be a bit close to end of life, might just go with the straight 3 or 3.5 ltr lexus

[udderlyoffroad]

18 hours ago, islandgun said:

Cheers both, Im thinking about the lexus model, its a self charges electric and switches to petrol when needed, [at over 30mph or when 4wd kicks in] ive been quoted just over £1000 to convert to gas

Wait, the supplier of your LPG conversion has got it functioning reliably with a hybrid?

I'd be very surprised if the juice is worth the squeeze on a hybrid. 

Traditionally, LPG systems still need to be started and run on petrol till the engine is operating and then switch over.  So, you'd start on electrical, engine kicks in automatically when required, and then switch over to LPG is...manual?

Bearing in mind you're already carrying two fuel storage mediums, where would the LPG tank be fitted?  Spare wheel well?  Not sure I'd like to round around the Western Isles with only a can of foam...

If you were on the mainland, the advice would be clear: If you like the car, buy it, run it for a while and see what realistic MPG you can get, and then you can figure out if the cost of the conversion is worth it (assuming you have a supplier of LPG close by). 

Personally, in any sort of vaguely remote area I'd be getting a diesel

[islandgun]

12 minutes ago, udderlyoffroad said:

Wait, the supplier of your LPG conversion has got it functioning reliably with a hybrid?

I'd be very surprised if the juice is worth the squeeze on a hybrid. 

Traditionally, LPG systems still need to be started and run on petrol till the engine is operating and then switch over.  So, you'd start on electrical, engine kicks in automatically when required, and then switch over to LPG is...manual?

Bearing in mind you're already carrying two fuel storage mediums, where would the LPG tank be fitted?  Spare wheel well?  Not sure I'd like to round around the Western Isles with only a can of foam...

If you were on the mainland, the advice would be clear: If you like the car, buy it, run it for a while and see what realistic MPG you can get, and then you can figure out if the cost of the conversion is worth it (assuming you have a supplier of LPG close by). 

Personally, in any sort of vaguely remote area I'd be getting a diesel

Cheers yes your right ive always had diesels currently a 30yr old shogun, two landcruisers before.  all without dpf or egr [i think] usual mileage is a trip to the shop 4 miles return with an occasional trip to town 140ml  return, or very rare a trip to Wales. It was the gas converter that suggested converting an electric hybrid, there is one advertised in autotrader 

Edited December 7, 2020 by islandgun

[London Best]

My LPG conversion started from cold on LPG Winter and Summer.

[udderlyoffroad]

Just now, London Best said:

My LPG conversion started from cold on LPG Winter and Summer.

Am far from an expert on these matters, but a Rover V8 conversion is well understood by most installers.

I'd be concerned about a hybrid.

2 minutes ago, islandgun said:

ll without dpf or egr [i think] usual mileage is a trip to the shop 4 miles return with an occasional trip to town 140ml  return, or very rare a trip to Wales

DPF in my experience needs a good run once a month and is only a problem for...townies doing short stop start milage.  That 140 mile trip should do!

EGR, again, for engines that don't 'work' can be problematic.  On my TD5 Land Rover engine the EGR valve could be 'deleted' by addition on a £10 kit.  Or, a soak overnight in diesel would likely have ungummed it....

 

[London Best]

I have the EGR blanking kit on my current Puma engined Land Rover. It has totally transformed the vehicle, making it much more flexible.

[snarepeg]

27 minutes ago, London Best said:

My LPG conversion started from cold on LPG Winter and Summer.

So did my seriese 2 LWB, never had petrol in it in 10 years and never failed to start

[Walker570]

6 hours ago, London Best said:

My LPG conversion started from cold on LPG Winter and Summer.

So does mine unless VERY cold morning. The flick over is hardly noticeable anyway and the weight question is irrelevant with that big motor.  YES, it pays to hang on to a motor once you have it converted, had mine 10yrs and it is still doing the job no problem.If you want to just put money in dealers pockets then perhaps LPG is not for you.

[London Best]

And another bonus is the engine runs noticeably smoother on LPG.

[oowee]

Where do you stand with LPG in the ULEZ?

[islandgun]

1 hour ago, Walker570 said:

So does mine unless VERY cold morning. The flick over is hardly noticeable anyway and the weight question is irrelevant with that big motor.  YES, it pays to hang on to a motor once you have it converted, had mine 10yrs and it is still doing the job no problem.If you want to just put money in dealers pockets then perhaps LPG is not for you.

Thats what im after really,  I would like a good all round, even luxurious vehicle [compared to my usual] that i can do the occasional trip over the next few years to visit my children at their uni's on the mainland, it would also need to handle the highlands in the winter. i have my old shogun for trailers etc locally.. Low mileage, larger, thirstier more recent petrol motors seem to be had for a lot less money than comparable diesels !

Edited December 7, 2020 by islandgun

[Walker570]

My 'posh' motor is a Jaguar X type AWD V6 estate and if it was my main choice of transport I would have it converted to LPG but it isn't. It is mainly for high days and holidays and transport to distant driven shoots.  The cost of fuel for that doesn't worry me. It is nice to have a comfortable, reasonably powerful car, which handles like a dream to do those few journeys.  I purchased it after watching an episode of Top Gear and  Clarkson said, BMW eat your heart out and  could not fault it.   A joy to drive but the headlights are pathetic.

[Applepress]

I've had three lpg vehicles:

1 jeep grand Cherokee

2 ford explorer

3 Jeep Cherokee XJ

All three have been brilliant! All had underslung lpg tanks so no loss of boot space. The ford had the largest tank (95 litres) and kept the full size petrol tank. The Jeeps have a smaller petrol tank. Motorway or around town I've found lpg to be brilliant. Here it is 65.9p a litre. I once took the Ford to Wales from Hythe, Kent and filled up at junction 11 of the M20 (they no longer sell lpg) and then refilled up in Cardiff. 4 litre V6 engine 200+ miles and just shy of £27 in lpg!!

All my car's had the lpg already fitted when I purchased them.

 

 

[Gordon R]

Weber on here does the conversions for a living. Try messaging him. Top lad.

[figgy]

Not seen anything on from Webber in a long while Gordon. 

At 75 p a litre less mpg the savings are getting much smaller, add the cost of conversion and is it worth it 

[webber]

I'm now 65, I converted my first vehicle when I was 18.  Its a long story.

Systems have improved massively over the years.

My son now does the conversions, and has done so for about 20 years.

He has performed lpg conversions to a few hybrids, but I can't remember makes or models.

You could call my son Martin on 01744 753634 during business hours.

Please have the precise make and model that you have in mind together with the engine identifier code if possible.

Generally, direct injection engines are not possible, some supercharged engines can be converted, some can't.

webber

[islandgun]

On 19/01/2021 at 19:59, webber said:

I'm now 65, I converted my first vehicle when I was 18.  Its a long story.

Systems have improved massively over the years.

My son now does the conversions, and has done so for about 20 years.

He has performed lpg conversions to a few hybrids, but I can't remember makes or models.

You could call my son Martin on 01744 753634 during business hours.

Please have the precise make and model that you have in mind together with the engine identifier code if possible.

Generally, direct injection engines are not possible, some supercharged engines can be converted, some can't.

webber

thanks for the info..👍

[Walker570]

I spoke with his son Martin and he was very helpful.  Will be ordering a new replacment unit for my V8 in the very near future.  Darn it, noticed the price had gone up to 79p a litre this week.  That is a bone of contention because I know of one outlet but unfortunately too far distant where it is 10p cheaper than that. One wonders how that can be.