A few LPG questions and opinions.

[fkford]

Hi all. I have a 96 Vs ecotec with dual fuel... now when i drive on gas it runs like shit and is heaps slower. petrol is great it runs nicely and is alot faster. I have been told if i get my car 'tuned' to gas it runs alot better and is a bit quicker than normal.. is that true? is it worth getting it tuned to gas? .. also another quick question.. how much does a gas setup weigh? mines just the very basic gas setup .. i think the brands Impco or Belkin or something.. cheers for ur help much appreciated.

[fkford]

common people.. someones bound to know something lol

[hoots]

howdy,

I notice hardly any difference between gas and petrol.

If its tuned properly yours should be the same.

[HamaTime™]

howdy,

I notice hardly any difference between gas and petrol.

If its tuned properly yours should be the same.

Tuning on gas will bring the power up, but it won't match petrol, particularly if you only have the airmixer system rather than the direct injection system which is double the price when installing it. Economy will never be as good as petrol around the city. Highways are LPG's best friend, but you still lose out becuase the further away from a main city you get, LPG gets more expensive, and it's particularly more expensive in other states apart from VIC. I went to Merimbula over New Years, paid 81c a litre for LPG in Eden (south east NSW) and then paid 52c in Bairnsdale (back into Victoria)

[hako]

My limited knowledge gained on this subject tells me this: you probably have the old system which is basically like a carburetter - newer systems use injectors. The best ones will use 20% more fuel and suffer a slight drop in performance. The tank in the back must weigh about 100KG when full I'd guess.
I don't think they can be 'tuned' so they have more power than a petrol one.
If it was me, and the system is old and playing up, I'd weigh up whether it's worth spending $$$$ on questionable repairs/tunes or just run it on petrol with no hassles.......so I'd probably ditch it....but that's just my opinion.

[fkford]

hmmm.. well it is the old system like a carbi. just annoyes me how when its cold etc i go to start it and it doesnt kick over for a while and is exceptionally slower. But i guess its already installed and will keep the value of my car up a little so im going to see what the go is on getting it tuned.

[levymetal]

take it to a gas mechanic and get the gas tuned. the mixtures are probably way out which may be why it's running so badly. tune usually costs $60-$90.

also, you're not doing yourself any favours by trying to start it cold on gas. without the engines heat to vapourize the gas, it's always going to run like shit when cold. i've owned 2 cars on gas and i always start on petrol when cold, and switch over after a minute of driving.

[Ron41]

Mine runs on duel fuel, only recently it started backfiring and carrying on like shit when on gas but went fine on petrol, I was told that gas needs more spark than petrol to run right, so checked DFI, coils, plug leads, but turned out to be the plugs, they appeared to be ok but when I replaced them it fixed the problem and now runs real good on either fuel, so my be worth while to check all the ignition and get the lpg serviced as well because apparantly over time they build up a wax that has to be cleaned out.

[Dinwoodie]

Hey mate i've got a 5.0L VS On Gas and when i got a reco motor put in the car the gas had to be tuned for it beacuse it was running like shit.

I took it to gas research and they have it running as well on gas as petrol i can't notice the difference between the 2 untill i go and fill up at the petrol station!

It cost me a few hundred but it's the best coin i've ever spent on the car!

[v6lux]

I have been told if i get my car 'tuned' to gas it runs alot better and is a bit quicker than normal.

With the right money and tuning, anything is possible and you could easy get 350 HP from gas, but I don't think that's what your on about

I been running a VR V6 on STRAIGHT gas for 14 years. NO petrol starts ever. Standard VR MANUAL ECM with no memcal mod.

Spark plugs MUST be NGK - 1 heat range cooler than standard. Leads MUST be The most expensive SS wound Top Gun Gas leads. Spark gap must be set to 60 thou or 1.2 mm I think.

The inline filter must be clean. This sound like your issue. Have you ever had a gas system tune up? The old systems get richer as they get older.

Also, as your engine wears, the vac is less and the fuel leans-out = backfires.

Air filter has an impact too with old system. Dirty will help rich-en the mix, no filter makes it leaner (I was told!).

I just had to replace that old engine, suspect burnt valve or head gasket, but vac has been low for years. I will say it was NEVER a problem when cold. I could start it and it would perform dead-cold the same as at normal operating temp, except on the very cold mornings, where I would get freeze lock in the convertor, but not using the cabin heater helped to prevent that, as the water is shared.

[Paiste402]

ive got an EB falcon and if anything LPG runs alot nicer for me. Idles better, better throttle response and high end power is the same. and ive got standard plugs at standard gap, old spark leads, god knows about the coil and the distributor cap and rotor button and i still think the LPG is outta tune a little bit.

So LPG is supposed to be damn good and the same if not better than petrol but then again ive had a VN-VR commodore on LPG and it didnt take as well as my falcon has

[v6lux]

LPG is also great in Manuals, as the engine stall speed is very low compared to petrol.

Towing with my VR V6 engine with fully loaded tray and heavy trailer is great in heavy traffic and coming up to red lights. I just approach slower and just don't touch the clutch and crawl along with my foot on the brake at idle (unless I have to stop). Also, no load on, taking-off from a start and getting to 5th gear is easy without using the accelerator.

GAS is the BEST!

[hako]

LPG is also great in Manuals, as the engine stall speed is very low compared to petrol.

Towing with my VR V6 engine with fully loaded tray and heavy trailer is great in heavy traffic and coming up to red lights. I just approach slower and just don't touch the clutch and crawl along with my foot on the brake at idle (unless I have to stop). Also, no load on, taking-off from a start and getting to 5th gear is easy without using the accelerator.

GAS is the BEST!

Just for interests sake, what is the final drive on your Hilux and what are your revs at 100kph?

[fkford]

interesting... everyone has diff opinions on gas, alot of my friends HATE it they say it wrecks your engine. The verdict is im going to get a general LPG service and good tune. will report back and tell how it goes. cheers for ur help guys

[BT1-355]

interesting... everyone has diff opinions on gas, alot of my friends HATE it they say it wrecks your engine. The verdict is im going to get a general LPG service and good tune. will report back and tell how it goes. cheers for ur help guys

Mate i have been dealing with GAS for over 10 years, as long as it has been fitted correctly and well looked after (tune etc etc) it will not let you down. Make sure you take it to a gas shop, that knows how to tune your car correctly, i've seen alot of crappy tune

[v6lux]

Just for interests sake, what is the final drive on your Hilux and what are your revs at 100kph?

Not sure of final drive, it could 5th gear 0.8:1 (???) . I got 4.3 diff ratios, but the speedo cog is for 4.88:1. The speedo is showing about 10 - 15% less than actual.

Anyway, my installed VN tacho shows about 2600 at incorrect speedo reading of 100 kph.

[Paiste402]

interesting... everyone has diff opinions on gas, alot of my friends HATE it they say it wrecks your engine. The verdict is im going to get a general LPG service and good tune. will report back and tell how it goes. cheers for ur help guys

well another beautiful thing about LPG is that is very clean as well and doesnt leave carbon in the oil. This means all the engine internals are far better off and there is no sludge build up because of this. I left oil in my old VN for 10,000kms and it was still honey coloured. Its a magic fuel damnit!