LPG Conversion, any thoughts ??

As I mentioned in last post, am looking for another Disco to tow a mobile climbing wall, I have considered getting a V8 with LPG conversion as towing a 2Tonne wall with Petrol V8 would likely bankrupt me. There seems to be some reasonably priced ones out there but again don't know much about it.. do they really give 'V8 performance with deisel consumption (or better as some claim)' ? have heard conversion can cause all sorts of issues if not done by reputable / certified specialists..
Anyone have any thoughts/experience appreciated..

Cheers

Kev :beer2:

Depends on your interpretation of V8 performance it's a 2.5 ton brick, it's hardly going win the traffic light grand prix. That said as std its 3.5sec or so faster than a TD5 although a chipped TD5 will run one fairly close. No matter what you do though a TD5 ain't a V8 and will never sound as good. Fuel consumption on LPG driven sensibly will be about the same as a TD5 cost wise.

Its not the conversion that necessarily causes problem but the LPG itself (allegedly). Some claim that LPG runs hotter and causes cooling problems and slipped liner issues, others say it merely finds out poorly maintained coolant systems and the problem would have occurred running just petrol.

Mogwyth said:

Depends on your interpretation of V8 performance it's a 2.5 ton brick, it's hardly going win the traffic light grand prix. That said as std its 3.5sec or so faster than a TD5 although a chipped TD5 will run one fairly close.

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Yeah, meant Landrover V8 performance...
Good to know, worth considering I think, will have to see if I can get a test drive, there's one not far from me up for grabs, anyone had any probs with overheating ?

Yep... after a bunch of monkeys at the garage we bought it from 'did' the headgasket under terms that it wasnt fit for purpose... they used k-seal.. went again, got repaired again... now sounds like there's a liner tapping - morale of the story, dont buy one from middlesborough, and if you do and it goes wrong.. dont let them fix it :doh:. Dont let that put you off, we had a D1 v8 on lpg, and we did over 40,000 miles and it never went wrong once - pulled a 3ton minidigger a few times, aswell as a few farm trailers and horse boxes for mates...

If you can get one off an enthusiast thats cared for it and serviced it religiously on time/at the right intervals, then it'll probs run for a fair while.

To be honest for the problems that a bodge gas conversion can cause don't have it fitted!
Have just taken a v8 apart for high oil conversion found all the oil rings glued to the pistons causing the high oil consumption engine has only done 80,000 miles from new

are you sure thats gas fault and not short journeys and lack of servicing

James you are doing a good job of gunning for me it is a well known fact that due to the running on gas but as always you will try to rubbish me and what I have said!
To clarify for you the car has done 100,000 miles and was converted at 30,000 miles and as soon as the owner can switch to gas he has done so!
The heads were rebuilt last year and the customer was advised there was a heavy depositing of oil on the piston crowns and as the valve stem seals had not failed but the valves were lapped in and the seals replaced.
The engine had suffered a miss fire very recently and the spark plugs were removed and found to be heavily oil fowled! Removing the heads the valve stem seals were checked and found ok the engine was removed and stripped to find the oil control ring gummed to the piston.
The vehicle has been serviced by me for the last 8 years 1 year after it was converted and the current owner bought it

Snigger is there enough room for the ego's

im not honestly trying to,i have respect for your opinions/posts,just trying to expand debate

Don't know what the best mpg you can get on petrol is, but I'm getting the equivalent of 29mpg on lpg.
Got a problem on the petrol side with the fuel pressure regulator so can't do a performance/economy comparison but there's enough performance for me on lpg. I'm not towing though, it's just local runs.
Only thing that bugs me sometimes is the lack of boot space.
Engine temp sits in the middle of the gauge, and it doesn't use any oil.

Wookie said:

Don't know what the best mpg you can get on petrol is, but I'm getting the equivalent of 29mpg on lpg.
Got a problem on the petrol side with the fuel pressure regulator so can't do a performance/economy comparison but there's enough performance for me on lpg. I'm not towing though, it's just local runs.
Only thing that bugs me sometimes is the lack of boot space.
Engine temp sits in the middle of the gauge, and it doesn't use any oil.

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lets be honest here which most people do not when it comes to mpg figures on gas really if you are getting gas at half the price of petrol then really you are getting a lowly 14.5 mpg!

while i on petrol only get 22 mpg on a run and 18 round town or 4 when i thrash it with the way fuel tax is going it will only be a matter of time before gas costs the same as petrol and there is no saving much like the diesel petrol prices of the late 1990's

James thanks for the honesty on forums these days plenty try to rubbish or pad out satements and when they don't know what they are on a bout they tend to sink away from a topic quick or revert to abusive coments to try and big them selves up

fanatic i treat you with the contempt you deserve

I have a 4.0 D2 and pay 64.6 pL for LPG. I get 12 around town and 16 on the motorway. When towing the 3.5t trailer it's more like 8 mpg.

I'd no idea what a decent RR would do on petrol, can't test mine at the moment.

Actually works out at about 15-16mpg on lpg which is about right for short journeys.

5 years ago lpg was 50p, petrol 99p which is why I converted my camper, the ratio isn't quite as good now but it's still a hell of a saving.
Considering that a converted RR isn't any more expensive s/h, it's a no brainer as far as I am concerned.

If you average 20mpg on petrol it will cost around £3000 in petrol, and say £1700 on lpg to do 10K.

Who knows what the robbing sods will do to fuel duty in the future, petrol has gone up about 35%, lpg about 40% in the last 5 years.

vougese39 said:

lets be honest here which most people do not when it comes to mpg figures on gas really if you are getting gas at half the price of petrol then really you are getting a lowly 14.5 mpg!

while i on petrol only get 22 mpg on a run and 18 round town or 4 when i thrash it with the way fuel tax is going it will only be a matter of time before gas costs the same as petrol and there is no saving much like the diesel petrol prices of the late 1990's

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But then in all likelyhood he is only getting 16mpg on petrol. My 4 litre would on a run do 17ish on petrol and 16ish on gas and that was at 60mph. If your motor ran gas then on a run you would probably get 20mpg.

Sticking rings?

Sounds like an oil specification problem, or oil change frequency problem. Top spec fully synthetic oils don't give ring sticking, but then if the engine metalurgy/design is poor, even allowing for proper lubrication, it's not surprising that the V8s have to be rebuilt at such low mileage/frequency.

On the cooling, it depends on how much you use the power. If you drive reasonably, LPG doesn't generate more heat than petrol. The thing with liquid fuels is that you get surface cooling due to fuel evaporation. On older engines, you could run them rich to keep them cool, but doesn't work with lpg as it is a gas (dry fuel as they say).

LPG doesn't give ring sticking as a general fault. It's the suitability of the engine design, lubrication and cooling as to whether it can cope with the different properties.

rover V8's don't do well on fully synth oil, they run alot better on mineral oil and they require a high zinc content too. LPG causes all sorts of problems on rover V8s most notablity burnt valves

Raving Man said:

Sticking rings?

Sounds like an oil specification problem, or oil change frequency problem. Top spec fully synthetic oils don't give ring sticking, but then if the engine metalurgy/design is poor, even allowing for proper lubrication, it's not surprising that the V8s have to be rebuilt at such low mileage/frequency.

On the cooling, it depends on how much you use the power. If you drive reasonably, LPG doesn't generate more heat than petrol. The thing with liquid fuels is that you get surface cooling due to fuel evaporation. On older engines, you could run them rich to keep them cool, but doesn't work with lpg as it is a gas (dry fuel as they say).

LPG doesn't give ring sticking as a general fault. It's the suitability of the engine design, lubrication and cooling as to whether it can cope with the different properties.

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I have used range rover LPG's for towing for years with no problems, don't run hot, never had clued piston rings (that's a new one on me) don't listen to the scare mungering

Let's be honest here Raving Man you are quoting info on a vehicle you seem to know about!
15/40 mineral oil is all I use in these engines.
This the 15 engine I have seen in this condition and every time it is a gas converted vehicle never seen it on a petrol only engine!
Another thing running a v8 over rich will induce bore wash then you have a fubar engine!
Further more if you had read my previous post it actually states the service has been done and is done twice yearly using 15/40 fuch engine oil

axbreck said:

I have used range rover LPG's for towing for years with no problems, don't run hot, never had clued piston rings (that's a new one on me) don't listen to the scare mungering

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petrol cools lpg does not - if timing or fueling not spot on then you can get hot cylinders which might not show up as an increase in engine temp as the engine is well cooled to start with. Its not an instant process but happens over time.

Having owned a V8 disco on LPG and now my softdash on straight petrol.........I wouldnt bother with LPG after owning both and will leave the classic on petrol.