2004 Discovery V6/ V8 LPG - Good idea?

peacefulmovements · Dec 16, 2014

Hi looking at getting a disco, pref early 04 shape before they started getting poncey! A friend suggested a V6/ V8 lpg converted one, apparantly 50 odd mpg, still good power... No idea myself but sounds too good to be true!

Any advice on lpg pro's con's etc or 2004 disco in particular, common faults etc?

Would really appreciate any help and advice, cheers!

Jim

Littelwill · Dec 16, 2014

That is far to good to be true! I guess your freind might mean that the cost of running it compared to a diesel will equate to that sort of MPG if diesel is 1.20 and lpg is only 60p the saving is there but only just... V8 is a faster engine however but personally id always have a diesel..

W

MJI · Dec 16, 2014

LPG is around 70p a litre now.

You would be getting high teens MPG at best so similar costs per mile to a TD5

wil2813 · Dec 17, 2014

56p litre by me

Oldfogey · Dec 17, 2014

The price of LPG varies much more than petrol or diesel, perhaps because in many cases the tank is not refilled very often.

Check out the cost at your local suppliers, and near anywhere distant you visit regularly.

On my V8 softdash I found that LPG cut my fuel bills by around a third, however that was an elderly single point system. Using a multipoint system of more recent vintage should improve on that.

Personally, I love that V8 (I've had 4 so far), and LPG helped keep the cost of running it in bounds. As for performance, the only way I could tell which fuel I was on was to check the lights on the control unit.

cooltide · Dec 17, 2014

There is no v6

The rover v8 always wins for me, I love them but you've got to bear in mind this is a 1950s buick design. 2 valves per cylinder, single pushrod camshaft. Ancient

You will not get 50mpg equivalent, but there is a lot of bull**** in car sales as. Just about every LPG system for this year will be injected so let's say 14mpg @ 65p per litre. Running on petrol getting a bit more say 16mpg. You work it out, low twenties equivalent.
The rv8 loves LPG. Many engines' heads do not and suffer valve seat recession, even with flashlube added to lubricate intake charge, eg jeep 4.7, Nissan 3.5, volvo 4.4, Subaru 3.0.

If you are looking at autos, the td5 does not suit its auto. The torque converter allows revs to climb to 3000 when you floor it, way past its torque peak. Better suited to a v8.

listerdiesel · Dec 17, 2014

A D2 V8 on a trip will return very good figures on LPG, but it is not so good round the houses and short trips where you are on petrol and warming up.

We get 150 - 180 miles out of a 48 litre fill, exceptionally we went even further than that on an A-roads run this week.

Peter

cooltide · Dec 18, 2014

listerdiesel said:
A D2 V8 on a trip will return very good figures on LPG, but it is not so good round the houses and short trips where you are on petrol and warming up.

We get 150 - 180 miles out of a 48 litre fill, exceptionally we went even further than that on an A-roads run this week.

Peter

So it does get better with multipoint injection 14 - 17 mpg

With single point induction I would get 150 miles from 58 litres open loop and 180 miles from 58 with lambda control

MJI · Dec 18, 2014

My last car was LPG.

Consumption by litre is about 10% worse than petrol due to less energy per litre. However you will need SGI rather than single point.

But per kg it is better.

But price is per litre!

As to V8 vs TD5, both are nice engines, the TD5 is one of the best Diesel engines I have driven.

Try both and choose what you can find.

listerdiesel · Dec 18, 2014

cooltide said:
So it does get better with multipoint injection 14 - 17 mpg

With single point induction I would get 150 miles from 58 litres open loop and 180 miles from 58 with lambda control

Multipoint is much better, both in engine running and in economy.

If the engine has it on the petrol side, you can usually adapt for multipoint LPG, ours is Zavoli, but there are other makes/brands, many sharing the same control electronics.

The other point is that all of the existing sensors are used, MAF, Lambda etc.

I would recommend LPG as long as the engine is in good condition.

Peter

peacefulmovements · Dec 18, 2014

Thanks all so much for your advice! Sounds like if I go for LPG there are some risks, and overall the MPG between that and the 2.5D is roughly the same?

Any other major problems or common faults with the last of the 2004 early shape? I know they changed them in late 2004, is this when they sold to Ford? Love that old shape

Any common spots I need to look at for rust etc? Can't wait to go on some expeditions ;-)

MJI · Dec 18, 2014

Not mpg but miles per penny

LPG on a D2 MUST be multipoint, mixers are evil on fuel injected cars

2004 Discovery V6/ V8 LPG - Good idea?

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