Running on Gas

[pegasus]

The problem with the carb wear was a problem that was seen a lot on older v8 range rovers. What happened was that although the petrol pump was switched off the carburettor obviously still worked, so the needle was moving and with no petrol to lubricate it the needle and jet wore out very quickly. The problem was sorted by fitting a solenoid to lift the needle and prevent it from moving, (therefore preventing wear) as the gas and air mix is regulated by the gas mixer.
As for valve wear if you are worried you can always fit a flash lube kit, this lubricates the valves to stop them receeding into the head.
This is a good site, helped me a lot when i had my range rover on lpg, http://www.lpgforum.co.uk/
Mark

[Alec]

Hello Pegasus,

the jet\needle wear your refer to won't be an issue with a Minor as there is no physical contact between the needle and jet.

Alec

[GeorgeHurst]

Thanks for that insight Pegasus, thats interesting to know. But also good to know Alec that its not an issue one can run into on a Minor

[grumpydad]

running cost
in the A35 we do the equvlent of about 50 to60 to the gallon at petrol cost
if you sit on the motor way at 70 mph 3.9 diff its about 60 to the gallon

valve seat wear with LPG
we have had no problems with unleded head
the oil stays cleaner as well

yes we start on LPG


headgasket failures A35 we have not had any problems in about 7000 miles

you can start on petrol the switch to gas the switch is 3 way petrol off gas
so start on petrol switch to the middel off when the car starts to stutter IE run out of petrol switch to gas

[Stig]

the jet\needle wear your refer to won't be an issue with a Minor as there is no physical contact between the needle and jet.

There could be if you've replaced the carb, later HS2's (and HIF's) have a biased needle that is always in contact with the jet.

[Alec]

Hello Stig,

progress?

Alec

[bmcecosse]

I too am keen to see a progress report - especially as I was the one to suggest it's not leagl to do your own conversion. I looked into this - and couldn't find anyone who would 'inspect' or test a self installation. They all wanted to supply/fit/test - and the cost mounted up to too much. Carb cars should indeed have a 'ring' type feed for the gas at the mouth of the carb - an injector would indeed need an ECU to control it. I ran an LPG Vectra for a while - it was professionally installed and worked well for about two years - and then no-one would touch it, the original Co having 'gone bust'. The saving in gas cost repaid me the installation cost twice over - but in these days I got a £1000 grant from the government - without that - it would not have been worth doing. I was always warned to start on petrol - just top give the valve stems and so on some lubrication from cold - and then swap to gas as the engine warmed up after about a mile. The engine never gave any problem despite some 'hard' driving! It was the gas system that failed.
To get the best from gas (which has Octane number of ~ 105/108) the compression ratio of the engine should be raised to ~ 11:1 - which of course means it won't be too happy on petrol! However - for the small amount of petrol used in warming up, top grade fuel + some Octane Booster should be good enough.