I don't agree with your claims. A propane system, as any other should be maintained regularly. If you just use it forever without any maintenance, of course it will break down. The evaporator needs to be cleaned and overhauled once the membrane is old and everything else should be regularly observed : solenoids, hoses, tubings, valves, etc.
1978 chevy flatbed, 100,000 miles, still starts up and goes perfect. My dad has a 1994 chevy 4x4, had propane its whole life, still runs perfect, not to mention his entire business fleet, most about 20 years old or more, ran exclusively on propane, with nothing more than normal maintanance.
From what I saw of your vehicle, you had some of the best Automotive LP gas equipment. Cars running on "petrol only" can have problems. Regular service of a vehicle, (like getting your teeth checked every 6 months) will postpone if not prevent major and costly work. To be honest, I agree that they saw you coming.
I have a 1991 Suburban and run it on pure LPG. I went 47k miles before needing any work done to the LPG system components. $95 in used parts and a couple trips to my mechanic to fine tune it for towing purposes. This change has saved me thousands, and the only thing I sacrificed was a little cargo room because I wanted the tank better protected.
@prancingdog Ive been there done that with LPG - over the long term ( 350,000 km ) i don't think LPG would be worth it after down time and money spent. My LPG system blew up one morning under the hood. I don't get why we in Australia will soon be paying to pollute but there is no alternative - i don't pass any electric cars on the road and very little hybrids ( there is no real alternative ).
i have a subaru ute that i personally converted to dedicated LPG under the (very) rough guidance of a certed lpg installer ( i got given a list of how thing needed to be done and things NOT to do and off i went and did it)....that was 210,000km ago.
your complaint seem to come down to lack of basic vehicle maintenance...the LPG blowing up under the hood is always due to a weak or mistimed ignition system causing a backfire up through the intake manifold...NOT an LPG caused issue.
@austpom333 thats because electric cars dont properly exsist to speek, because 1. the technology isent rely there! they are only running on whats practically laptop battery's, and not only that but, where (this is mainly focusing in the uk, cus thats where im from) dose the power come from to charge the battery's? .... power stations!!! and that do they do to generate power?....burn fossil fuels!! like i sed the technology just is not there and even if it was its too exspencive.
@Ryankerry95 Battery development is the key, from what i know it doesn't take much energy to charge a battery - Youtube Life initial fusion energy system, there are other projects like it - believe me we will eventually move on from fossil fuels. Don't forget the fossil fuel industry thumps these new technologies down. God save the queen.
@Ryankerry95 I have been building and driving electric vehicles for 5 years. Yes, the technology is there. I use the poor mans lead acid batteries, and my first truck costed $900 including the truck to convert. Every day I travel 40-50 miles with out fuel, our electricity comes from a hydroelectric dam. My family owns a Propane company and has 4 trucks using it as primary fuel. They have been running this way since the 70's. Haters are who are keeping this from taking off.
LPG and Natural Gas are quite cost effective and cheap to maintain if you pay attention to what you're getting charged for fixing. We run irrigation pumps and generator sets on natural gas and have several units over 12,000 hours (dodge/chrysler, chevy, and ford, v8's and inline 6's). Thats near 1 million miles if it were driving around. Granted they do operate at a fixed RPM 99% of the time and receive oil changes regularly, but the worse we run into is dirty plugs or mixers.
I'm a hobbyist mechanic and have not had any trouble with my propane set up and install. I will agree, however, that we need to move toward electric as batteries that are viable become more affordable.
My dad had a Holden VL V8 that he and a friend converted to gas themselves, ran fine for about 330,000kms without a problem, car was sold on with no problems. 10 or so years on gas, worked out well for us. I've got a Ford EL falcon on gas, runs great, only problem is that it doesn't run so well on petrol... probably just a dirty fuel filter though or dirty injectors. Got 50,000 kms on gas out of it so far, save AU$1,000 each year its! :D
your mechanic saw a sucker coming when he decided to start learning all about LPG conversions on your car at your expense. I would suggest you tell him you want a tax deduction for sending him to school to learn by using your car and you paying the bill for his ignorance. Your video shows yu don't know any good mechanics. .
I used to ride school buses powered by LPG. They had V8 large displacement engines which ran smoothly. There was little valve tap and the motors revved pretty high (could've been the driver's habits more than the fuel it burned). The exhaust had a distinctive odor to it and there was a slight hiss to the engine. The exhaust would let out a white puff of vapor when shifts in gears.
@divisioneigh I have an engine with a rattling piston ( worn bore or piston ) when the LPG was working there was no knocking or rattling of the piston.
Having owned 5 LPG vehicles in Australia, I suggest your case of an expensive repair is an isolated one. I found servicing reasonable. This site describes the same (RN105) Hilux with 1 million km on the clock! If I heard your commentary correctly, it sounds like you have put 250 000km on your Hilux, by which time the LPG savings would have more than paid for the whole vehicle.
I wholly agree with moving on from fossil fuels, however LPG emits by far the least CO2 / litre than petrol or diesel.
Lpg systems are very simple.On a carburetor car There is a solenoid on the tank which lets the gas to the mixer, another in the fuel line that turns off the petrol , simple wiring to the dash switch box and a safety wire to the coil which shuts off the gas when the engine stops. On fuel injected cars there is a small computer box the fools the cars computer shutting down the petrol function while allowing the ignition system to run. The most I payed for a mixer was $350, tank test $175.
In holland the Lpg system is widely used and the distribution of the Lpg is therefore very well arranged.
My 1996 volvo s40 has a Lpi system which is the cleaner system without loss of power.
It has done over 300.000 km now without any trouble regarding the use of Lpg. Some people say that the higher burning temperature of the gas is harmful for your engine, the valve's in particular. No such problems have occured and the engine temperature is always perfect.
"An LPG system, is a system and systems break down"
I'd hope you realise that petrol delivery by EFI or carburettor are also 'systems', and they can also give a lot of grief.
I've got the same car as you, old hilux running on lpg, except with the 2y engine. LPG or carburettor, either is a fair bet on running up some big bills when they get old.
You said it broke down a few times and was very expensive, but you didn't say what broke down exactly. Can you give a little more elaboration to that,
not all systems are expensive, mine totaled about $400CAD, Installed myself, inspected locally, and requires two hoses, one tank, a filter, converter, and a mixer. voila. but I do agree about moving on to electric systems, it is definitely a huge step that must be taken
with that amount of money (1700 USD) u could have buy a new LPG system (at least in my country) or u could just deactivate the LPG and run on regular fuel (and buy gasoline with that money)...
@austpom333 Hey Mate i got the same hilux as you but i have the 2y engine and 192,000km on the dash see when i start mine and switch it to gas it chugs till it stalls did yours ever do that? And when i manage to run her on the gas it drives until i start slowing down and my engine turns off where i have to switch it to petrol? If you have experienced such problem and found out the cause please let me know Cheers.
All things mechanical are a gamble mate, they'll break down electric,petrol or lpg depending on how they were treated and chance. Ive had 4 Ford Falcons (3 conversions and one factory made) in the family run entirely on LPG and never had a problem with the LPG systems breaking down. The service to the LPG is included to where I take my cars and they do use a special oil designed for LPG.
I have a 4.6 v8 tbird and i use it with Zaholi LPG system, without any problem, maybe the compresson must be corrigated, but naything can we do with a laptop. The car need 18L / 100 Km. in city, 15-16 on highway.
Reply cas018 LPG is still contributing to noise and pollution and canser causeing fumes. Taxi companys can maintain LPG systems for next to nothing, they have the same car and LPG systems, the first time my LPG broke it cost $1600.00 it would cost a lot of money to fix now. A lpg service for $ 85? and the rest. An electric car would need no maintainence of fossil fuel ( like a electric screw gun ).
@austpom333 the batteries in an electic car are very bad for the involvement. also, you can't just fill it up. It takes at least 2+ hours I think. The capacity of batteries are not that high that means you can't drive long distance. It's very expensive as well.
I think patrol cars are being used until the oil runs out and we will have a big big crisis!! Because the oil companies are too powerful and greedy to let big change happen!
@TheFutureIsTomorrow Oil will eventually run out, but there are still companies out there such as honda that care a little more than just making a quick buck. Ever heard of the honda clarity? It's the first production car to run on hydrogen.
Hydrogen cars still have a long way to go before they go mainstream and become competitive with petro/diesel vehicles. Hopefully those vehicles hit mainstream before we have a real crisis.
Why do taxis still use LPG? Depending on where you are living there may be a shortage of LPG certified mechanics so they up the price of the repairs and do a crappy repair job as well.
If LPG was not cost effective over the long term taxi company's would not use it! You must service the LPG system every 20,000 kms this involves setting the mixtures and cleaning the convertor, or it will break down short of it's life cycle. Not normally more than $85 depending on where you take it.
Hydrogen in tanks traveling at 100klm doesn't sound safe to me and still uses old engine technology. I just think it's for the common good to support electric car technology, when electric cars are established the technology will rapidly improve, soon the only cars allowed on the road will be electric, then trucks. It's only stating the obvious.
But it cost like 30 cents to the gallon Equivlent to gas. And If you make it from electricity from the house... and Free if its from solar so who cares right....
No not an option. The technology is here now for electric cars and will be available starting 2011 look up " shai agassi a bold plan for mass adoption of electric cars".
Not an Option? look electric cars sound good. I like the tesla roaster myself. Yes very cheap to charge. around 250 miles per charge. However this is the problem. The batteries go bad after 4-5 years 10,000 to replace. Also takes three hours to charge... Why do that when you can take Hydrogen made from electricity and use it in tanks that take less time to charge. AND a bit longer of a range.
People complain OH hydrogen cost more to make thatn what power you get out of it..
I don't agree with your claims. A propane system, as any other should be maintained regularly. If you just use it forever without any maintenance, of course it will break down. The evaporator needs to be cleaned and overhauled once the membrane is old and everything else should be regularly observed : solenoids, hoses, tubings, valves, etc.
rockethead555 4 weeks ago
1978 chevy flatbed, 100,000 miles, still starts up and goes perfect. My dad has a 1994 chevy 4x4, had propane its whole life, still runs perfect, not to mention his entire business fleet, most about 20 years old or more, ran exclusively on propane, with nothing more than normal maintanance.
arthurowenlindsey 3 months ago
From what I saw of your vehicle, you had some of the best Automotive LP gas equipment. Cars running on "petrol only" can have problems. Regular service of a vehicle, (like getting your teeth checked every 6 months) will postpone if not prevent major and costly work. To be honest, I agree that they saw you coming.
eddie100 4 months ago
I have a 1991 Suburban and run it on pure LPG. I went 47k miles before needing any work done to the LPG system components. $95 in used parts and a couple trips to my mechanic to fine tune it for towing purposes. This change has saved me thousands, and the only thing I sacrificed was a little cargo room because I wanted the tank better protected.
I THINK YOU NEED TO FIND A BETTER MECHANIC.
prancingdog 6 months ago
@prancingdog Ive been there done that with LPG - over the long term ( 350,000 km ) i don't think LPG would be worth it after down time and money spent. My LPG system blew up one morning under the hood. I don't get why we in Australia will soon be paying to pollute but there is no alternative - i don't pass any electric cars on the road and very little hybrids ( there is no real alternative ).
austpom333 6 months ago
@austpom333 2000 dollars for repair old lpg system, its insane . In poland for mounting simple brand new lpg system you will pay about 430 dollars.
pinusx 4 months ago
i have a subaru ute that i personally converted to dedicated LPG under the (very) rough guidance of a certed lpg installer ( i got given a list of how thing needed to be done and things NOT to do and off i went and did it)....that was 210,000km ago.
your complaint seem to come down to lack of basic vehicle maintenance...the LPG blowing up under the hood is always due to a weak or mistimed ignition system causing a backfire up through the intake manifold...NOT an LPG caused issue.
unhippy1 3 months ago
@austpom333 thats because electric cars dont properly exsist to speek, because 1. the technology isent rely there! they are only running on whats practically laptop battery's, and not only that but, where (this is mainly focusing in the uk, cus thats where im from) dose the power come from to charge the battery's? .... power stations!!! and that do they do to generate power?....burn fossil fuels!! like i sed the technology just is not there and even if it was its too exspencive.
Ryankerry95 1 month ago
@Ryankerry95 Battery development is the key, from what i know it doesn't take much energy to charge a battery - Youtube Life initial fusion energy system, there are other projects like it - believe me we will eventually move on from fossil fuels. Don't forget the fossil fuel industry thumps these new technologies down. God save the queen.
austpom333 1 month ago
@Ryankerry95 I have been building and driving electric vehicles for 5 years. Yes, the technology is there. I use the poor mans lead acid batteries, and my first truck costed $900 including the truck to convert. Every day I travel 40-50 miles with out fuel, our electricity comes from a hydroelectric dam. My family owns a Propane company and has 4 trucks using it as primary fuel. They have been running this way since the 70's. Haters are who are keeping this from taking off.
lathamcabinets 3 weeks ago
LPG and Natural Gas are quite cost effective and cheap to maintain if you pay attention to what you're getting charged for fixing. We run irrigation pumps and generator sets on natural gas and have several units over 12,000 hours (dodge/chrysler, chevy, and ford, v8's and inline 6's). Thats near 1 million miles if it were driving around. Granted they do operate at a fixed RPM 99% of the time and receive oil changes regularly, but the worse we run into is dirty plugs or mixers.
NVMDSTEvil 10 months ago
I'm a hobbyist mechanic and have not had any trouble with my propane set up and install. I will agree, however, that we need to move toward electric as batteries that are viable become more affordable.
litningrod74 10 months ago
the trouble with lpg there is no oil getting in to the engine .even petrol have a little oil in it
biguglygadgie 1 year ago
My dad had a Holden VL V8 that he and a friend converted to gas themselves, ran fine for about 330,000kms without a problem, car was sold on with no problems. 10 or so years on gas, worked out well for us. I've got a Ford EL falcon on gas, runs great, only problem is that it doesn't run so well on petrol... probably just a dirty fuel filter though or dirty injectors. Got 50,000 kms on gas out of it so far, save AU$1,000 each year its! :D
yeolstrat 1 year ago
your mechanic saw a sucker coming when he decided to start learning all about LPG conversions on your car at your expense. I would suggest you tell him you want a tax deduction for sending him to school to learn by using your car and you paying the bill for his ignorance. Your video shows yu don't know any good mechanics. .
CREDITS4CARBON 1 year ago 2
I used to ride school buses powered by LPG. They had V8 large displacement engines which ran smoothly. There was little valve tap and the motors revved pretty high (could've been the driver's habits more than the fuel it burned). The exhaust had a distinctive odor to it and there was a slight hiss to the engine. The exhaust would let out a white puff of vapor when shifts in gears.
divisioneight 1 year ago
@divisioneigh I have an engine with a rattling piston ( worn bore or piston ) when the LPG was working there was no knocking or rattling of the piston.
austpom333 1 year ago
A friend was told a cost of 1000 was needed to fix her problem car. Another mechanic did it for 100.
bluefly46 1 year ago
Having owned 5 LPG vehicles in Australia, I suggest your case of an expensive repair is an isolated one. I found servicing reasonable. This site describes the same (RN105) Hilux with 1 million km on the clock! If I heard your commentary correctly, it sounds like you have put 250 000km on your Hilux, by which time the LPG savings would have more than paid for the whole vehicle.
I wholly agree with moving on from fossil fuels, however LPG emits by far the least CO2 / litre than petrol or diesel.
marknatasha89 1 year ago
Lpg systems are very simple.On a carburetor car There is a solenoid on the tank which lets the gas to the mixer, another in the fuel line that turns off the petrol , simple wiring to the dash switch box and a safety wire to the coil which shuts off the gas when the engine stops. On fuel injected cars there is a small computer box the fools the cars computer shutting down the petrol function while allowing the ignition system to run. The most I payed for a mixer was $350, tank test $175.
boofheadrules 1 year ago
In holland the Lpg system is widely used and the distribution of the Lpg is therefore very well arranged.
My 1996 volvo s40 has a Lpi system which is the cleaner system without loss of power.
It has done over 300.000 km now without any trouble regarding the use of Lpg. Some people say that the higher burning temperature of the gas is harmful for your engine, the valve's in particular. No such problems have occured and the engine temperature is always perfect.
It's cheap, clean and quiet!
kutbeest 1 year ago
"An LPG system, is a system and systems break down"
I'd hope you realise that petrol delivery by EFI or carburettor are also 'systems', and they can also give a lot of grief.
I've got the same car as you, old hilux running on lpg, except with the 2y engine. LPG or carburettor, either is a fair bet on running up some big bills when they get old.
kolskebabs 1 year ago
You said it broke down a few times and was very expensive, but you didn't say what broke down exactly. Can you give a little more elaboration to that,
yusufer5000 2 years ago
not all systems are expensive, mine totaled about $400CAD, Installed myself, inspected locally, and requires two hoses, one tank, a filter, converter, and a mixer. voila. but I do agree about moving on to electric systems, it is definitely a huge step that must be taken
holmd90 2 years ago
with that amount of money (1700 USD) u could have buy a new LPG system (at least in my country) or u could just deactivate the LPG and run on regular fuel (and buy gasoline with that money)...
666thedarkside 2 years ago
Yep i run it on petrol, and haul around the LPG system, i might try to get it going again soon, i'll make a note of how it go's.
austpom333 2 years ago
@austpom333 Hey Mate i got the same hilux as you but i have the 2y engine and 192,000km on the dash see when i start mine and switch it to gas it chugs till it stalls did yours ever do that? And when i manage to run her on the gas it drives until i start slowing down and my engine turns off where i have to switch it to petrol? If you have experienced such problem and found out the cause please let me know Cheers.
EmperorEduardo 1 year ago
@EmperorEduardo No i never had that problem, mine burst into flames, other than that it just stopped working
austpom333 1 year ago
All things mechanical are a gamble mate, they'll break down electric,petrol or lpg depending on how they were treated and chance. Ive had 4 Ford Falcons (3 conversions and one factory made) in the family run entirely on LPG and never had a problem with the LPG systems breaking down. The service to the LPG is included to where I take my cars and they do use a special oil designed for LPG.
Cusk0 2 years ago
I have a 4.6 v8 tbird and i use it with Zaholi LPG system, without any problem, maybe the compresson must be corrigated, but naything can we do with a laptop. The car need 18L / 100 Km. in city, 15-16 on highway.
uzsz 2 years ago
Reply cas018 LPG is still contributing to noise and pollution and canser causeing fumes. Taxi companys can maintain LPG systems for next to nothing, they have the same car and LPG systems, the first time my LPG broke it cost $1600.00 it would cost a lot of money to fix now. A lpg service for $ 85? and the rest. An electric car would need no maintainence of fossil fuel ( like a electric screw gun ).
austpom333 2 years ago
@austpom333 the batteries in an electic car are very bad for the involvement. also, you can't just fill it up. It takes at least 2+ hours I think. The capacity of batteries are not that high that means you can't drive long distance. It's very expensive as well.
I think patrol cars are being used until the oil runs out and we will have a big big crisis!! Because the oil companies are too powerful and greedy to let big change happen!
TheFutureIsTomorrow 1 year ago
@TheFutureIsTomorrow Oil will eventually run out, but there are still companies out there such as honda that care a little more than just making a quick buck. Ever heard of the honda clarity? It's the first production car to run on hydrogen.
Hydrogen cars still have a long way to go before they go mainstream and become competitive with petro/diesel vehicles. Hopefully those vehicles hit mainstream before we have a real crisis.
joemann797 1 year ago
Why do taxis still use LPG? Depending on where you are living there may be a shortage of LPG certified mechanics so they up the price of the repairs and do a crappy repair job as well.
If LPG was not cost effective over the long term taxi company's would not use it! You must service the LPG system every 20,000 kms this involves setting the mixtures and cleaning the convertor, or it will break down short of it's life cycle. Not normally more than $85 depending on where you take it.
cas018 2 years ago
Hydrogen in tanks traveling at 100klm doesn't sound safe to me and still uses old engine technology. I just think it's for the common good to support electric car technology, when electric cars are established the technology will rapidly improve, soon the only cars allowed on the road will be electric, then trucks. It's only stating the obvious.
austpom333 2 years ago
@austpom333 old engine tech is easier to convert than new fuel injected cars with sensors and fuel injection
Trapher7 1 year ago
But it cost like 30 cents to the gallon Equivlent to gas. And If you make it from electricity from the house... and Free if its from solar so who cares right....
adam3176 2 years ago
I think Compressed Hydrogen is more Interesting to me
adam3176 2 years ago
No not an option. The technology is here now for electric cars and will be available starting 2011 look up " shai agassi a bold plan for mass adoption of electric cars".
austpom333 2 years ago
Not an Option? look electric cars sound good. I like the tesla roaster myself. Yes very cheap to charge. around 250 miles per charge. However this is the problem. The batteries go bad after 4-5 years 10,000 to replace. Also takes three hours to charge... Why do that when you can take Hydrogen made from electricity and use it in tanks that take less time to charge. AND a bit longer of a range.
People complain OH hydrogen cost more to make thatn what power you get out of it..
adam3176 2 years ago