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Author Topic: Gas conversion or not  (Read 1636 times)

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GG

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Gas conversion or not
« on: 24 March 2009, 20:30:24 »

What are the pros and cons on gas conversion on a 2.6 V6 ????

What is the best type

 :-/
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Entwood

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Re: Gas conversion or not
« Reply #1 on: 24 March 2009, 20:46:44 »

Can't answer for a 2.6 .. but can for a 3.2 saloon  :)

Cons .... loss of boot space - you lose about half, but as its a huge boot it rarely matters, and i've bought roof bars/top box to cover those few occasions.

Pro's ..... if you want to consider the environmental option .. you are being green ..

but in reality it is cost of motoring that counts ... on the 3.2 I have kept records for the past 9 months and it works out like this ...

Estimated cost per mile petrol, 23.65p. Actual cost per mile LPG 15.09p So I'm saving 8.56 pence every mile. Now that is over 10116 miles of mixed driving, but includes about 3000 miles of towing a pretty hefty caravan, at non-queue-forming speeds.. :)

Now the tricky bit ... cost of installing .. I had a BRC system fitted professionally for £2200, (at the time the car was worth £6500), others on the forum have gone the DIY route for £1000ish. You have to do your own maths really.

BTW .. if you have it done and register with the DVLA you get a whole £10 a year off your VED !!!

I had no problems getting insurance at all.

As to systems .. you need a SGI - sequential gas injection - system, the other type - single point - is useless on an injected car and has serious issues with back-fires

Anything else I can help with just yell.

Piccies here .. :

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1210944190/0#0

HTH  :)
« Last Edit: 24 March 2009, 20:49:48 by entwood »
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GG

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Re: Gas conversion or not
« Reply #2 on: 24 March 2009, 20:51:26 »

how about the perfomance. I have heard some horror stories about lack of power. :)
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chrisl_1960

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Re: Gas conversion or not
« Reply #3 on: 24 March 2009, 20:59:05 »

can't talk about LPG on an Omega as mine doesn't have it fited, but my 3.0 Jag did have, saved money, didn't affect performance, but the car did seem to run a bit hotter, have a 2.2 Omega, so I wouldn't consider having it done, but would on a V6
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GG

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Re: Gas conversion or not
« Reply #4 on: 24 March 2009, 21:02:03 »

I also have heard the wear and tear on the engine is less is this true :o
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Entwood

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Re: Gas conversion or not
« Reply #5 on: 24 March 2009, 21:10:12 »

Quote
how about the perfomance. I have heard some horror stories about lack of power. :)

Absolutely no difference whatsoever... mine towed the 'van up the mountains in southern France last year without any hassle at all. Click the picture link in my sig to see where we went !! The only way you know you are running on gas or petrol is to look at the warning light !!!

Engine runs at the same temperature, as that is controlled by the thermostat and cooling fans. Oil comes out looking almost as good as when it went in .. but I still change it every 5000 miles.
« Last Edit: 24 March 2009, 21:11:27 by entwood »
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Pippin

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Re: Gas conversion or not
« Reply #6 on: 24 March 2009, 21:18:04 »

I've had my 4pot converted professionally....(diy skills not good enough to try myself)... in the six months since i've had it done i have managed to save enough for my next 12months road tax, as for the loss of power, there is no noticable change, in fact i think it runs better...
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GG

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Re: Gas conversion or not
« Reply #7 on: 24 March 2009, 21:21:13 »

My diy skills not good enough either so I need to find the most competitive price for a good quality fitting. Any suggestions welcome  :)
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Entwood

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Re: Gas conversion or not
« Reply #8 on: 24 March 2009, 21:29:13 »

Quote
My diy skills not good enough either so I need to find the most competitive price for a good quality fitting. Any suggestions welcome  :)

Be very carefull and research it well !!!  Mine - BRC - took the garage 4 days to do, with 1 man doing most of the work on his own, but helped at times. so its a 4 man-day job, but you work 3 areas .. boot, pipes, engine bay.

There are folks on e-bay who will tell you they can do the job in less than a day ... I'm sorry but I don't see how it can be done properly in that time. The guys that went DIY usually worked in 2s or 3s and took a weekend to do the majority, leaving a little tidying up to finish. So again a 4-man day job.

There is an LPG forum where you may get advice on decent installers in your area

http://my90.co.uk/lpg/index.php?sid=81aab1d3cf38ada8206911d3478d618a

HTH
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Martin_1962

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Re: Gas conversion or not
« Reply #9 on: 24 March 2009, 21:45:49 »

I have a reused Romano system on mine.

Not the best system but OK, the injectors are quieter than most but over load with gas pressure a bit easily.

Prinz is supposed to be best

OMVL and Romano are MOR systems

Then there are a few cheapy systems

DIY if you are capable is recommended there are some not very good installers out there. My current car runs a lot better than the same system off a professionally converted car, I put Entwood off him!

The so called pro install put the ECU in the air box, and it took a few attempts to get a decent hot water supply.

As to power.

least to most

Tesco<-LPG<-VPower/Ultimate

This is why some people notice an improvement and some a decrease, I tested with 0-60 times.
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sassanach

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Re: Gas conversion or not
« Reply #10 on: 24 March 2009, 22:14:31 »

i have been to this outfit in south wales that fits lpg to your vehicle in one day and i am very impressed with their attention to detail and quality of there work(i did a lot of nosing around while they were sorting my motor).its run by a polish chap who knows his business inside out.you could do a lot worse than to check them out
http://www.professautogas.co.uk/
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Sir Tigger KC

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Re: Gas conversion or not
« Reply #11 on: 25 March 2009, 00:30:38 »

Mine was already kitted out with a Prinz system when I bought it and to be honest I'd be very reluctant to run a big car on petrol again!! 8-)

Definatly worth checking out especially if you do alot of miles!! :y

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johnnycboy

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Re: Gas conversion or not
« Reply #12 on: 25 March 2009, 08:22:09 »

Quote
I've had my 4pot converted professionally....(diy skills not good enough to try myself)... in the six months since i've had it done i have managed to save enough for my next 12months road tax, as for the loss of power, there is no noticeable change, in fact i think it runs better...


Have to agree with that.  

I have a 2.5 with LPG fitted, not the neatest install - but for what I paid I'm not complaining.  I will be in the near future tidying the so called professional work up because it looks a mess. All works as it should though.

I would say that if you do a fair few miles and the car is worth putting it on then it could be a wise investment :-/  IMO
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Lazydocker

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Re: Gas conversion or not
« Reply #13 on: 25 March 2009, 12:08:17 »

Mine is a DIY conversion from a known supplier, which several of us have now done.

The whole lot set me back no more than £750 in August and has already paid for itself. The car runs perfectly on LPG (excluding a strange quirk at very high RPM which I have worked around) with no loss of power whatsoever.

As for fitting... I used to work as a mechanic and know my way around the car well enough so: Took me about 2 and a half days start to finish and say another half a day for the drilling/fitting of injector nozzles and setup/tuning (which is probably OTT!)

Pictures available here

I wouldn't hesitate in converting another miggy and have plans to do so in the future!

Savings worked out about the same as Entwood has quoted, between 8 and 10 pence per mile, and TBH it's a no-brainer if you are capable of DIY. I would be reluctant to have a "professional" installation because, Entwood's excluded, I have never seen one to my standards! I looked at Johnnycboy's new beast the other day and the "professional" installation is not really to a standard I'd accept! That said, for what he paid he can't argue :y :y :y
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archermk

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Re: Gas conversion or not
« Reply #14 on: 25 March 2009, 12:33:40 »

I used to run a 2.5 Elite on LPG, before I sold it. I agree with all of the above comments.

If it is to be "professionally" converted at £2200 and saves 8p/mile - that's a 25000 mile payback. I covered twice that distance so I was satisfied. Arguably, you will get some of it back when you sell the car.

One problem in MK is a lack of gas stations. I think there are two or three at present (Shell at Coffee Hall and at Paulerspury, BP at Kingston).

If you are not going to do it DIY but want to work on other engine problems yourself you will need to at least know how to dismantle the injection system. It has to be removed to work on the cam gaskets, cam belt etc. The evaporator, filter, ECU and injection system all take up room under the bonnet.

Finally, if you are not a DIYer, be prepared to get into negotiations with the LPG fitter and your regular mechanic when things go wrong. They will both try to pass off the problem to the other.

As far as I could tell over 50000 miles, there was no loss of power, and, with a good set of injectors it was a quiet run. The ECU on mine (a BRC system) had to be replaced three times under warranty because they fitted it in the scuttle panel and it drowned! And yes, unless you DIY, be prepared to spend some time tidying up the installation afterwards.

There is a local LPG fitter just south of MK. If you want to compare notes, send me a PM, I'll let you know how he works.

Good luck.
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