Am I being unfair?? An LPG question

Ok I've owned my 4.6 for a matter of months. It's had it's problems but nothing I wouldn't of put down to normal wear and tear. However I've just had to lift both heads and have the valve seats recut. Now I've put this down to the car running on LPG. Going by the documents the car has covered 90k miles on LPG since the kit was fitted. I can't say exactly how many miles how been covered on gas but you would think the majority of it's travels were on gas. So am I being unfair on the car to expect it to do many more miles without incident? Has anybody else had LPG induced problems. Car has covered 130k miles from new and the gas kit isn't a cheap one costing well over 2k when fitted being a multipoint set up. TBH I'm not really complaining. It cost me 200 notes and just my time to put it right, I was just curious what's happened to others.

I have the same car on LPG. but my install is new, so it's too early to tell if I'm loosing my valve seats.

I've never heard of valve seat recession being a problem for Rover V8s. In fact just the opposite, they are a really good engine to convert.

Someone will be along soon to warn you of slipped liners and cracked blocks soon, but these problems are just as common in countries where LPG isn't even available, so I don't think we can really put it down to that.

Maybe you just got one with **** valve seats? I don't think any of them are bomb proof!

greetings I have just sold a old p38 1998 s reg which had done 154k miles and mostly on lpg ..its used every day .but a couple of intresting points he rekons it doing about 11 miles to a gallon on lpg and 18+on good ole dead dinosaur ..I also just got a newer Westminster 4.0 no ;lpg I thought about it but the cost £2000 + I wouldn't really get me moneys worth so for me its dead dinosaur all the way and had a trip to Essex recently and said I was getting 28mpg so happy with that .

Mine was converted at 60k miles just after a new full engine was fitted. I've now done 134k (so 74k running LPG approx 90% of the time). Mine is a Tartarini sequential & my mechanic commented on what a good install it was - cost was approx £2300.
I've had both head gaskets fail within a month @ around 117k, about 10 months ago but no problems since. I never could get to the bottom of the failure - no overheating etc. I was running on petrol for a week when the second failed - not that this means that much.
Apart from that my LPG system has been spot on.

tridentbus said:

greetings I have just sold a old p38 1998 s reg which had done 154k miles and mostly on lpg ..its used every day .but a couple of intresting points he rekons it doing about 11 miles to a gallon on lpg and 18+on good ole dead dinosaur ..I also just got a newer Westminster 4.0 no ;lpg I thought about it but the cost £2000 + I wouldn't really get me moneys worth so for me its dead dinosaur all the way and had a trip to Essex recently and said I was getting 28mpg so happy with that .

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Your trip computer is broken.

tridentbus said:

greetings I have just sold a old p38 1998 s reg which had done 154k miles and mostly on lpg ..its used every day .but a couple of intresting points he rekons it doing about 11 miles to a gallon on lpg and 18+on good ole dead dinosaur ..I also just got a newer Westminster 4.0 no ;lpg I thought about it but the cost £2000 + I wouldn't really get me moneys worth so for me its dead dinosaur all the way and had a trip to Essex recently and said I was getting 28mpg so happy with that .

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Sounds like your LPG has lost its tune worth getting that checked, i get 19mpg on petrol 18ish on lpg should only be 10% less on lpg realistically. My cars done 165k mostly on LPG. I have just rebuilt engine as cam needed doing so thought may aswell do bottom end and heads. But there was no problems with the heads. I am a big supporter of LPG think its great on rover v8s. Going to get mine changed from single to multipoint as mines lost its tune and is a crappy system and no one has software for it. But LPG is the way

I'm getting an average of 15-16mpg on LPG. On a good run this can be 18mpg (i get approx 300 miles from 80ltrs LPG).

Seems I maybe a bit unlucky or my gas kit needs a retune. The engine machinest said the damage was done by lpg and it was only the inlet which were damaged. Two badly and two had minor damage.

PS, when i had both my heads done my mech said that apart from the gaskets the heads were looking very good for nearly 60k miles. Valve seats were good.

Mine is a DIY BiGas multipoint system fitted by me only a year ago.

I get about 18 on petrol and about 16 on LPG.

This might change because I've just done it's yearly tune up, and as I have a Nanocom now I can tune my LPG perfectly to my petrol system.

It now runs even better on the LPG, and my fuel trims are almost the same no matter what fuel I'm running on.

MrGorsky said:

Mine is a DIY BiGas multipoint system fitted by me only a year ago.

I get about 18 on petrol and about 16 on LPG.

This might change because I've just done it's yearly tune up, and as I have a Nanocom now I can tune my LPG perfectly to my petrol system.

It now runs even better on the LPG, and my fuel trims are almost the same no matter what fuel I'm running on.

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I bought my P38 a few months back, it feels rough at idle. Where is the best place to get it tune in London? I was told by a local garage not to run LPG if possible as it produce extra heat and can damage engine etc etc :doh:

BensonP38 said:

I bought my P38 a few months back, it feels rough at idle. Where is the best place to get it tune in London? I was told by a local garage not to run LPG if possible as it produce extra heat and can damage engine etc etc :doh:

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Bit of an old wives tale. It's just as likely to go bang running on liquid gold

The Range Rover P38 must be one of the most converted cars out there and lots of em cruise around all day on LPG no problem.

Before blaming LPG for rough running, how's it going on petrol? Gas often gets the blame when the good old ignition system is what needs the attention.

BensonP38 said:

I bought my P38 a few months back, it feels rough at idle. Where is the best place to get it tune in London? I was told by a local garage not to run LPG if possible as it produce extra heat and can damage engine etc etc :doh:

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Whereabouts in London are you and what LPG system do you have? If you can download the software, and get the correct lead to talk to your LPG ECU I'd recommend doing it yourself. It's very easy. You'll need a laptop though.

In my experience, if it's lumpy at idle, it's because it's too lean. A lot of systems "auto calibrate" to get the mix right, but they can't get it right at low revs so it helps if you go in through the software and increase the mixture a bit.

I'm afraid I can't suggest anywhere in London to use, because I always do the tuning and servicing of my LPG stuff myself.

Not running on LPG due to the extra heat is a load of cobblers. It runs a bit hotter on LPG sure, but if your cooling system is in working order it shouldn't be an issue. There are hundred of thousands of P38 miles run on LPG without any problem at all.

BensonP38 said:

I bought my P38 a few months back, it feels rough at idle. Where is the best place to get it tune in London? I was told by a local garage not to run LPG if possible as it produce extra heat and can damage engine etc etc :doh:

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Don't know about P38s but my 1.8 freelander is coming up on 100,000 on LPG
NOW if ever a engine is said to be fragile its a K series.
Have a look on the LPG Discussion forum there are many independent LPG installers who are always happy to give advice

The Rover V8 converts well to LPG and rarely suffers Valve Seat Regression...but that is to say it is not impossible...

Get a Flash Lube system fitted to keep the valves lubed and coated just to be on the safe side...I can't think it would be too expensive to retrofit...

Saint.V8 said:

The Rover V8 converts well to LPG and rarely suffers Valve Seat Regression...but that is to say it is not impossible...

Get a Flash Lube system fitted to keep the valves lubed and coated just to be on the safe side...I can't think it would be too expensive to retrofit...

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About 30-40 quid for a manual one. If I can get the beast running right I may well invest in one but at the moment everything is going pete tong

I based in Orpington, to be fair the petrol side is little bit rough at idle but the LPG side is quite noticeable.

MrGorsky can you point me to the right direction in terms of the lead and software? I will do some research, if too complex I will just hand it over for a annual check up

You need to find out what system you've got fitted. I expect it will be either in your drivers handbook (should have been given to you when you bought the car) or printed on a sticker on the top of the LPG ECU.

From there you'll be able to google the brand and type and see if (a) the software is available to download, some are for professional use only and (b) what the correct lead you need is.

Where do I start

I have been busy and just done a 190 miles round trip to centreprac and back, I am impressed with the range ability to carry extra luggage. Seats folded up and it is like a Van. However, I managed to broken one of the cable holding up the lower tailgate, I guess I am too heavy for that cable