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Go LPG


jassi_hayre
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As per the title.

 

I've had a number of pm's regarding my lpg install. So here goes -

 

When: March 2002

 

 

Where: Go LPG (see http://www.go-lpg.co.uk/)

 

 

What: Cant remember exact system except it is a closed loop single point system. It has a 40 litre tank against back seat. It gives me a range of approx 160 miles driving nicely and 130 not so nice. I wanted to keep some boot space for carrying equipment for job and back seats for the odd school run. It would be possible to use a larger doughnut tank (on false floor) but it would use up nearly all of boot space and you would have to loose spare wheel.

 

I also had the lpg gas inlet hiddeen behind the number plate instead having it put under the rear bumper or in rear wing as most cars have them. Its good as you cannot tell car is converted, but a bit of a pain having to bend down to attach gas nozzle at filling stations.

 

 

How Much: It cost £1200 back then

 

 

Problems:Not much of a problem at all apart from initial couple of weeks touch wood. I was told to expect a few problems by Steve ( Mr Sparrow proprieter of go-lpg) when the lpg system was first installed. This was to let the lpg system especially the vapouriser wear in.

 

The problem I had was that the car used to cut out / stall when the revs would fall below 2000. So after a couple of revisits to go-lpg where the system was found to be running lean it has been running without any further problems.

 

 

Performance: I've not had it dyno'd on lpg or petrol. But there is a definate drop in power when on lpg. I once tried to time a 0 - 60 run and from what I can remember (was alone in car) on petrol it was about 7 secs and on gas it was about 9 secs. But I just switch to petrol (super unleaded) when I want to have some fun.

 

 

Savings: Well for me quite a bit lately. Bought the car for commuting back in Feb 2002. It paid back for itself within the year. Then became a weekend car and now back to daily driver. It doesnt quite save you 1/2 the cost of petrol especially if you have a tendency to put your foot down. As an example I am currently travelling Bham - Dunstable and back approx 180 miles. In Jan this year on lpg it cost approx £30 (now about £35) and on petrol £45. But again this is with my foot down. Tried the trip in my wifes Saab 1.9 tid and it was approx £30 too for a trip. So comparable to 2.0 diesel is about best way to put it.

 

I guess the only way to do a real comparison would be to fill up with £20 lpg and £20 petrol and see how many miles you get on each in real driving conditions. Unfortunately my car got vandalised and both trip computers are out of action. Plus I dont get chance to try it as I'm commuting so dont want to run out of juice half way through trip. May try it later on though.

 

 

Overall: Its been good for me as I now do a lot of mileage and I've had the car for six years. Main problem is the tank size which forces me to fill up every day.

 

Most Shell and BP petrol stations on motorways / dual carriageways now have lpg and you can download list of all lpg stations in country to help plan fuel stops. You can also get gas quite cheap from some places like industrial gas supplies and farms.

 

 

Advice: The systems like mine were not generally regarded as suitable for turbo or supercharged cars (why I bought an NA) because they could cause backfires as they were only single point systems (gas comes out of single hole in tank to single point which feeds injectors). Though I remember even back then go-lpg were converting a twin turbo Maserrati.

 

The newer systems are multi point and the control units are much better programmed but cost more (around £1800 I think). I've heard of a couple of scoobies and other cars being converted without probs. Steve Sparrow proprieter of go-lpg has a supercharged Jag converted at present. These systems do not have an impact on performance and are better on returning mileage. I've thought about upgrading my system but cant justify cost as current system is good enough.

 

The cost of LPG is going up but it is still pretty much half the cost of unleaded. Most local stations are now selling at 55.9 and motorway stations 61.9. But unleaded is 113.9 locally and 123.9 on motorways. Super unleaded is more.

 

Its worth it if you are going to do a lot of mileage and keep your car.

 

Pictures: See attached (gas tank has silver stripes to reflect sun rays. It was covered by a fibre glass enclosure which was damaged when car was broken in to. I'm also half way through reinstalling ice so ignore those bits (will be a thread in ICE section soon).

 

 

Hope this helps

Jas

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Edited by jassi_hayre (see edit history)
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This install looks very similar to mine. I hardly use it as there is apparently a problem with the vapouriser and it won't tickover properly and cuts out. One of the air intakes is also blocked with what looks like black silicone......WTF?

 

When the car runs on petrol it is great. I can only think that they restricted the air intake to balance the LPG. I didn't get that much range on my tank but I am not sure if it was full or not as I have never re filled it.......:blink:

 

I have been thinking about ripping the whole LPG system out as I can't really use it and the car only does 5K a year (if that.)

 

H.

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Havard

 

If its not ticking over on LPG properly then sounds like the system may be running lean. Go-LPG did not do anything to my air intake at all so not sure why yours is restricted / has silicone in there.

 

You must have paid a fair bit to have it installed so you should probably have it seen to before ripping out.

 

 

Unfortunately there are lots of different types of LPG systems out there. Some are more suited to certain cars. Some work well on large engines and some on small. Make sure you check out / research the system your installer is recommending (most installers will only use systems from one or two suppliers / manufacturers) before going ahead.

 

 

Jas

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