Auto-LPG Conversion Thread

[niky]

Piston warping would be from running too lean on an improperly tuned kit.

Basically, running too lean causes heat, and heat kills the engine. Some installers using the cruder kits may tune them extra lean to combat the increased fuel consumption with LPG. With a metered kit or SGI kit that is properly programmed, you shouldn't have this problem.

[chuaa]

dochazard
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Re: LPG Conversion Thread [merged]

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Good morning! First post, doing research on LPG conversion. Thanks to bigMike for posting on the differences of between venturi and SGI. Took some backreading to find it, but the info satisfied my tech curiosity.

Currently concluding a deal to buy my first car, a 98 Camry A/T. My friend just recently bought a Cefiro (forgot the year) and had it converted at Denso (I think). Will be checking Denso out (close to home) and Greenfuel as well (close to work). Looks like there's going to be some lag time before I actually get it converted if they're doing a lot of work, so I'll be taking the car out on its paces at 7km/L of gas (ugh!).

Any experiences with having a Camry converted, as well as advice for this noob, will be highly appreciated.

Have a good one people!

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converted my 04 camry (done by greenfuel) last week...so far ok...slight decrease in power...specially on uphill...but tolerable..mike made some adjustments...am still feeling it out...will update you guys asap

on FC, filled up my second tank yesterday...so far ok...getting around 5.5/ ltr...which is actually similar to my FC on gas...(5.5 to 6)....

[paolorenzo]

It's clean GH. In fact it's brand spanking new. Still Ninoy-yellow in color. I can't wait to replace my plugs. Process of elimination ako ngayon.

Just replaced my plugs to Bosch Super plus (WR8DC+). They were pleasantly affordable, for only P419.75 for the 4-pack, in Ace Hardware (~P105 each). I made sure I chose a totally sealed pack.



Very gratifying, since it was DIY! I found out that during my last PMS (done outside casa), they fitted out-of-spec NGK plugs. NGK plugs for my Revo should have been BPR5EY-11. They fitted it with BKR6E! Sana naman they gapped it properly to 0.8mm, before installing.

Sana this solves my rough idling, and engine occasional dying during full stops.

[Djerms]

Chuaa: Do you drain your tank fully? How many liters before you did the measurement?

I've yet to achieve my best FC but last time nag improve na siya by .8km/liter. I went back to Greenfuel to have my car checked and they said that its running good.

[ezem]

Sana this solves my rough idling, and engine occasional dying during full stops.

ei pao, did it (spark plugs replacement) solved the rough idling, and engine occasional dying during full stops?

* GH

does using iridium spark plugs will make our LPG powered car run better? FC and performance wise...

[paolorenzo]

ei pao, did it (spark plugs replacement) solved the rough idling, and engine occasional dying during full stops?

Hindi eh. Kaka-sundo ko lang kay misis sa Makati, and during my 20km round trip, mga 4-5 times ako namatayan. But traffic was painfully slow though, so the lack of headwind didn't help. Yung last 2kms ko nga nag-switch na ako to gas. I'll use gas tomorrow muna, to exercise the petrol system, and rest the LPG part.

Ikaw ba, are you having similar problems with your Adventure?

[ezem]

Ikaw ba, are you having similar problems with your Adventure?

nope...none at all...ok naman yung takbo even doing a sudden full stop, di naman namamatayan. nabanggit mo na ba kay mike (tagle) yan? baka sa tuning lang pre? have them look at it...from the start ba after ng conversion ganyan na o lately lang?

panung rough idling yung sa'yo pre?

[paolorenzo]

Yung rough idling nangyayari kapag full stop. Normal idle siya at 800rpm, then bigla bababa to 400-600, so biglang manginginig yung oto. Parang na-sinok o na-sakal ng sandali. On few occasions nga, mamamatayan ako. Bad trip lalo A/T, so I need to switch to N or P, para maka-restart. Hassle.

Baka-ibalik ko next week, just to increase the idling settings of LPG (mga +100-200 rpm). Sigurado tataas consumption, but hopefully will offset the rough idle.

[tanoshi]

Thanks for fellow tsikoteers who shared their experinces in conversions, my list of shops to consider have been short-listed:

Naiads - crossed out
EROOM - crossed out

nagpaconvert ng type z honda city. i just had my EROOM kit retuned kahapon. their mechanic said, ung simota air filter ko raw ung culprit. mas malakas daw higop ng hangin so kelangan magcompensate ung feed ng LPG para raw stable? could this assumption be true? parang wala tuloy akong tiwala sa mechanic nila. would changing my spark plugs help?

Paolorenzo & cons_fy,
Thanks for sharing this, this reads BAD or STAY AWAY from shops, you see when a problem occurs and mechanics just brush away customers by pointing the blame on such things and hope customers would never bother them anymore, very encouraging-not !



Next: Contributed by kapitan88


[quote=kapitan88;1102431]
ito naman yung nilagay para sa lpg conversion ko, para matipid.

quote]
I hope this is the first & the last that they do this to a car (who ever did this to your car) you say switching back to petrol chokes the engine. geez why why why the mechanic/technician ever went down this road, it's like one step forward and two steps backward. I believe, we convert in the name of economy, progress/intelligent system, I can't see any good technology put in good use here. it's like a rubberband solution to hold my car in one piece.

[tanoshi]

in my back reading, pinaka maganda na yung SGI, sana pwede rin ito sa mga old school carb type na oto. marami paring carb type sa phils, im sure some would be willing to shell out extra cost to upgrade the carb type to become similar to EFI, para pwede SGI (kahit steel ang intake manifold), retro fitted with O2 sensors for more greener burn.

Sana nobody offered open loop in the first place, available naman clossed loop technology, retrofit all those without O2 sensors. oh well, you get what you pay for, cheap in exchange of automation comfort & efficiency.

[ghosthunter]

* GH
does using iridium spark plugs will make our LPG powered car run better? FC and performance wise...

I doubt if iridium spark plugs would give better FC or performance. It is a matter of matching the proper plugs for your engine's operation. Typically it seems most cars will operate well enough on ordinary plugs but some might require colder sparkplugs to prevent engine shake during idle.

Improved FC will still require proper fuel system & engine tuning. I am currently observing our Mazda3 after Auto-Xer has swapped the stock plugs with a colder set. He also tuned the LPG system as well. Hopefully this will cure the idle vibration problem without causing other problems.

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As of our "fleet" of LPG cars:
Mazda3 - idle vibration cured by lpg system tuning *speedlab and colder spark plugs as well.
City 1.3L idsi - bad idle initially caused by an overheating (due to a failed radiator fan), cured by replacing all 8 sparkplugs with a new stock sparkplug set from Honda.
Camry 2.0L (gen2) - running fine since conversion.
CRV 2.0L (gen2) - running well except for the "sinok" problem when starting from an idle stop, greenfuel with speedlab is looking for a solution.
Sentra 1.3L N16 - running fine since conversion.
Corolla 1.6L AE111 - running fine, lpg system slightly detuned to provide marginally better FC at cost of lower peak performance.
Expedition (gen1) - running well since conversion.

[ghosthunter]

Sana nobody offered open loop in the first place, available naman clossed loop technology, retrofit all those without O2 sensors. oh well, you get what you pay for, cheap in exchange of automation comfort & efficiency.

well, even "cheap" open loop venturi mixer LPG kits can be problem free. Take my car as an example. Generally reliable & efficient as long as you maintain the air filter well cleaned.

One major advantage of "cheap" venturi-mixer systems is the owner/driver can make adjustments to the system right on the spot (if you know what you are doing). Of course, just be careful because it's easier to screw up your LPG settings than getting it running correctly.

[JohnM]

Yung rough idling nangyayari kapag full stop. Normal idle siya at 800rpm, then bigla bababa to 400-600, so biglang manginginig yung oto. Parang na-sinok o na-sakal ng sandali. On few occasions nga, mamamatayan ako. Bad trip lalo A/T, so I need to switch to N or P, para maka-restart. Hassle.

Baka-ibalik ko next week, just to increase the idling settings of LPG (mga +100-200 rpm). Sigurado tataas consumption, but hopefully will offset the rough idle.

Have you tried checking your ATF level? Ganto usually symptoms ng AT ko kung low na ATF.

[paolorenzo]

Have you tried checking your ATF level? Ganto usually symptoms ng AT ko kung low na ATF.

It should be ok. Kaka drain-replace lang recently. And the problem is with LPG only. Engine runs fine with gas.

*tanoshi, you're a bit too judgemental. Lahat naman yata ng conversion shops dito nagka problem at one installation or another. Yung conversion ko might be slightly problematic (idling problem), but diagnosis is ongoing. For ezem's ride naman, perfect conversion. Pati yung CEL problem, na-resolve na yata ng Denso. I think CEL problems continue to happen to other installers. While problematic ang idling ko, Mike Tagle and his crew at Denso are very accommodating. We're continuing to diagnose the problem.

As for open-loop systems, as GH said, they can be the best fit for some rides. Fitting SGI to carb engines is simply overkill. You pay twice the price, with very little added benefits (if any). It's like buying the latest Nike-LeBron pair of shoes, only to use it for walking.

[aar002]

Yung rough idling nangyayari kapag full stop. Normal idle siya at 800rpm, then bigla bababa to 400-600, so biglang manginginig yung oto. Parang na-sinok o na-sakal ng sandali. On few occasions nga, mamamatayan ako. Bad trip lalo A/T, so I need to switch to N or P, para maka-restart. Hassle.

Baka-ibalik ko next week, just to increase the idling settings of LPG (mga +100-200 rpm). Sigurado tataas consumption, but hopefully will offset the rough idle.

hi paolorenzo, I am really puzzled on your problem. please continue informing us on the developments. Fortunately, I do not encounter this problem. My ride is Revo 1.8 A/T, venturi type, idling is at 900rpm both in LPG and in gasoline.

[vojdiaz]

directions please to go to greenfuel in mandaluyong thanks

[1997]

Im Using Denso Closed loop LPG kit... When Im about to change from Gas to LPG I have to rev my car to 2500 RPM... Baket laging hirap sa 1st try? Pero 2nd or 3rd try ok naman... Parang napipigilan.... What could be the culprit?

[Mile2]

directions please to go to greenfuel in mandaluyong thanks

From Shaw Blvd, take 9 de Pebrero, then go left at the first corner to your left, you will pass a public school, R. Pascual is a small street and the corner has a store named "Casao Store", you will see a big gate written with many companies and one of them is GreenFuel.

[userfriendly]

I
As of our "fleet" of LPG cars:
Mazda3 - idle vibration cured by lpg system tuning *speedlab and colder spark plugs as well.
City 1.3L idsi - bad idle initially caused by an overheating (due to a failed radiator fan), cured by replacing all 8 sparkplugs with a new stock sparkplug set from Honda.
Camry 2.0L (gen2) - running fine since conversion.
CRV 2.0L (gen2) - running well except for the "sinok" problem when starting from an idle stop, greenfuel with speedlab is looking for a solution.
Sentra 1.3L N16 - running fine since conversion.
Corolla 1.6L AE111 - running fine, lpg system slightly detuned to provide marginally better FC at cost of lower peak performance.
Expedition (gen1) - running well since conversion.

Fleet nga GH, so all your cars except the corolla were done by Greenfuel?

Is there a big difference between a kit from Italy and Turkey?

[bigMIKE]

From Shaw Blvd, take 9 de Pebrero, then go left at the first corner to your left, you will pass a public school, R. Pascual is a small street and the corner has a store named "Casao Store", you will see a big gate written with many companies and one of them is GreenFuel.

Thanks for pitching in Mile2.
Anyway if you need a map please visit our website www.greenfuel.com.ph