How to get best out of your LPG kit

LOSS OF POWER / LOW MILAGE , LOSS OF COOLENT, KNOCKING WHILE FILLING-IN THE GAS, BEST TIME TO FILL-IN GAS... Read it here. . .

LPG Friend or Foe

Drive A Car Using LPG - Turn It Over Regularly

Reports of possible valve sticking on vehicles using liquid propane gas (LPG) have come to the notice of the Motor Vehicle Repair Industry Authority.

The Authority warns that if such vehicles are not run for more than two weeks, valves can seize in the head. If this happens the valve train, pistons and possibly the head can be damaged.

In a situation where the engine has been left for an extended period without running then it should be turned over by hand to make sure everything works before the engine is started.

Alternatively, run the engine for a few minutes at least once a fortnight.

LPG -Friend or Foe?
Liquefied petroleum gas is considered by some motorists to be a dangerous fuel.

But LPG-fuelled vehicles in NSW are subject to extensive fuel system safety checks at each registration renewal, says the Motor Vehicle Repair Industry Authority. In some countries vehicle insurance rates are lower on LPG-fuelled vehicles than on petrol-fuelled ones.

In NSW, installation, repair or service of LPG systems can only be carried out by motor mechanics who have completed a two-week full-time course and who hold an LPG mechanic certificate issued by the Authority.

Vehicle owners are not permitted to touch their LPG system and face severe penalties if they attempt to do so.

There are not nearly as many accidents with LPG cars as there are with petrol-powered vehicles.

LPG and the Travelling Salesman
There are many misconceptions surrounding the installation, use and effects of LPG, the Motor Vehicle Repair Industry Authority says.

A travelling salesman wrote to the Authority saying he had fitted LPG to his car because of the distance he travelled in his job. It had proved very economical. But now he needed to replace his car and all the suitable replacements had fuel injection instead of a carburettor, like his old vehicle.

"Many people do not realise that LPG can be fitted to a vehicle with fuel injection very successfully," says Authority spokesperson Colin Brown. "There are two types of normal fuel in use, diesel and petrol. All diesel engines are fuel injected and they use a system of LPG fuel enrichment, whereby both the diesel fuel and LPG are used together to provide power and economy.

"In a petrol engine you use one fuel at a time, either LPG or petrol, not both. "There is a difference in the ignition settings and with the older cars, it required a modification to the distributor resulting in a compromise between the best setting for each fuel.

"In terms of electronic ignition and fuel injection, it is easier to get maximum performance from either fuel because the electronics can be modified to get maximum power from either fuel."

Mr Brown advises motorists to make sure a licensed LPG mechanic fits and maintains the equipment to ensure long life and maximum performance. read more . . .

Converting Petrol Car to LPG

Running your car on LPG
By: suresh_ponnan

A whole lot of LPG conversion kits are available in the market to convert your petrol car to LPG. Most of these kits are made in Italy. Italians are the pioneers in using LPG in automobiles and they have been using it in Public Buses for the last 30 years or so with a single mishap.
Unfortunately a lot of duplicates of these Italian brands are now available in the Indian market. Basically there are 2 models. The electronic model and the vacuum model. the vacuum model is the most common. Costs about INR 7000/- for an all imported kit (Italian Solenoid valves and vaporiser and locally made control panel switches, plumbing and pressure gauge). If you settle for indian solenoid valves and Italian Vaporiser it would be about Rs 1000 less.

The conversion involves provision for belting down a LPG cylinder horizontally in your boot. Plumbing the gas to the vaporiser via a copper tube running either under the car or under your carpet to engine compartment and into the vaporiser via a solenoid valve. Another solenoid valve is fitted on your petrol line just before the inlet to the carburator. The vaporisor does what the name suggests, vaporiser the liquid gas and releases it as gas in the air intake of the carburator. It takes the heat input from the hot radiator water (coolant is re-routed through the vaporiser for this) to vaporise the gas and regulates the flow using the engine vacuum as the input in the case of the vacuum model or the unregulated alternator voltage as an input for the electronic version. read more. . .

Pros: Economical

Cons: Very Unsafe when done unprofessionally