Hello
Havs anyone had there Astra (or any other car) converted to LPG.
If so, would should I look out for?
I have a quote of about £1900 to do the work. This is reasonable?
Thank in advance
|
|
You would have to do a lot of miles to get your money back.
|
|
I wouldn't touch one unless it was manufacturer-approved or -fitted.Have a look at some of their work and if you see jubilee clips and Scotchloks,run away.Most of your boot will be filled with a tank unless it's a toroidal which is smaller and replaces your spare wheel.
|
It sounds expensive.
My conversion was done in Poland for £300. It equates to paying back about £500 every 15,000 miles or so on a 2.0 litre car.
In England, I think you can get it done for about £6-700, and so it should take about 30,000 miles to pay itself back.
|
|
When I lived in Australia LPG cars were really popular, but most of my friends who had them didn't look upon them favourably. It's good if you doing a lot of driving, but takes a while to make your money back. Also you lose what little boot space you have, more appropriate for an estate.
|
|
|
|
|
mate....thought of doing it yourself? I have just ordered the kit to do my Scooby do 2.0T - £700 all in......
|
You would definitely have to do loads of miles to get the installation costs back. But you might want to take a punt against the future resale of the car at a private sale - well converted LPG cars have a specialist market, and *can be* in demand.
This was in discussion a while back, and may be useful:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=41364
|
|
I'd rather run on petrol than have a bomb installed in my boot. Imagine a nasty accident involving an LPG tank! LPG has been popular out in Australia for a long time, and accidents which result in tanks exploding are not unheard of.
|
Most of what you need to know is stated here:
www.go-lpg.co.uk/hints.html
I think some of the cheaper DIY systems don't come with the evaporator. Multi point LPG injection systems (sometimes refered to as G3) give better economy. LPG is best on simple/agricultural/american type engines as it runs hotter and gives no valve seat cushuning SP, cylinder head life is reduced. Your oil stays golden when you use LPG.
|
There is one point in the above link which i posted, that i don't nessecarilly agree with. The link states that you should warm your LPG car up fully on petrol before switching over to LPG. That is a good idea for the functionallity of the LGP system evaporator. But one advantage of running LPG is that engine wear is reduced because LGP does not wash the oil from the bores during the warm up period, like a petrol car on choke does. Swings and roundabouts.
Personally: i run a '96 VW Golf mk3 estate 1.8 Spi 90 bhp LPG car. It had a NECAM Mega G3 LPG system fitted when it was new, it's now done 250K. The first head only lasted 80K. The compression is currently down to 150 psi on all cylinders, but spare heads for my car are cheap and easy to replace, there's a spare in the garage ready to go on.... I got the car last September and had to rebuild the LPG instalation before it would work, however good the installation, it's never as good as the manufacturers wiring. One of the beggest problems was corrosion on the relay and wires that switch the lambda probe signal between the two ECU's.
I get 34 mpg on petrol and 31 on gas. The car saves me 50% of my (130 motorway miles a day) fuel bill compared to my petrol 2.0 '99 VW Bora which does 41 mpg, but YMMV (will vary) because i live in the Netherlands where the LPG type and prices vary from the UK.
|
Why not sell the petrol car and get a diesel,and then you could go down the veggi oil route,I know a few guys who put ASDAS cheap oil in thier cars about 30% veggi 70%diesel. But I think when weather gets cooler the veggi may have to reduced as the oil gets thicker as it cools,
But more mpg on diesel plus the extra you save on the veggi oil should see a good saving on fuel bills..
Without the need for paying a fortune on conversions.
I dont have any links,but loads of sites on web with info on this......w.j.
|
|
And get your car impounded and crushed by Customs if they catch you, which won't be hard, as your exhaust will smell like a chip shop....
|
|
Cushed,,,,,,,I have asked a few "experts" and they seem to think that a 30%mix is fine as it would pass as "bio fuel".its only the dyed agricultural diesel that will get you in trouble??
|
|
|
|
