Qn about LPG conversion maintenance costs

[cewing]

Hey guys (and ladies)

Im doing industrial electronics at tafe, and somehow they've managed to get me to do a 5 minute speech on the ongoing costs of converting a fleet of great wall ute's(i know i know, but the Make is besides the point) to LPG.

i know bugger all about the nitty gritty of mechanics, i have an interest/fascination in all things cars.
Does anyone have a good resource/website or know a little something about it?

All i can think of is:
with a dual fuel arrangement-pump maintenance would be double?
running on gas alone-the fuel system would never really work again if the fuel only parts were left to dry up?

Thanks for any input!

[cameron20020]

from what i know, the lpg systems are supposed to be cleaned out, once in a while, because crap builds up in all the pipes, supposedly from the stuff they put in to give it an odour, aswell as that, i think the lpg tanks are meant to be changed every 15 or so years. and yes, i would imagine, if you stopped using petrol, all the seals would dry up and shrink, then when you put petrol back in, everything will leak.

not much info, but its all i could think of, anyone else got better info??

[ari666]

*not a helpful post but cant help myself*

LPG creates problems and cheap chinease cars create problems, so there are bound to be lots of problems...

just bear in mind LPG runs hotter, so anything affected by heat will be affected... lol. sorry.

(do they have plastic inlet manifolds?)

[Deutscher]

I don't know much but...

I run dual fuel on my calais for ~1year now. I hadn't driven much on petrol, the gas place told me to drive ~20kms on petrol for each gas fill up. Well I didn't but when I finally did drive a little on petrol, 1st my fuel pump wouldn't work (possibly just died from age :S or just didn't get used for awhile) and second, my fuel injectors were clogged!! every time I hit 80+Km's the car would shudder because it wasn't getting enough fuel. After 2x Injector cleaner and 2 tanks of fuel, I drove up and down the freeway.. it finally cleared the injectors and It's been running since. Now I drive the 20Kms every time I fill up!!

You also have to put Valve Saver in. This just lubricates. It's cheap.

Apart from that, the gas guy didn't mention regular servicing or anything in the long run.

[matty88]

Most dual fuel systems start on petrol anyway, but yes it's advised to drive it on petrol too. Say on gas 1 way and petrol on the way back

As for maintenance, the ignition system (plugs, leads, coil, distributor, etc) need to be in really good condition. As a gas mechanic myself, we gap the plugs 0.2mm down from stock. ie for a Ecotec we use 1.3mm plugs instead of 1.5mm
Vapour lines need to be inspected visually every so often to check for abrasions, hardness, cracking etc
The cooling system needs good coolant and a fully working thermostat as well

Hope this helps

[levymetal]

the vehicles should be run on petrol once a week to ensure that doesn't happen. unless of course they were converted to dedicated gas. maintenance, you'll need to add a gas service once or twice a year (frequency is up to you). this includes checking the system to ensure there are no leaks, and a tune up. parts of an lpg system: tank, lockoff valve, gas lines, converter, mixer (or injectors). the tanks need to be checked every 10 years which involves taking the tank out of the vehicle for an inspection. you probably won't keep fleet vehicles for 10 years anyway so you wouldn't even have to worry about that.

[_R_J_K_]

If you haven't seen these yet -

Welcome to LPG Australia
LPG Autogas Australia

Keep in mind these sites are run by the LPG industry, so you might have to find some other places to keep your data more balanced.

Drive is sometimes also a good place to look, articles like these -

LPG not an option for every driver - www.drive.com.au

Or, you can also try to find information about agencies that already run their fleet on LPG like the taxi industry. I found this article about the RACV.

RACV chooses autogas for fleet

[cewing]

Wow thanks everyone for your input!! I've just finished writing 600 words on the topic.
and now the hard part shortly, public speaking!!!!