Lpg Conversion For Diesel Worth It?

[sponge55]

I have been reading into LPG conversion kits and it seems relatively new for diesel cars but they are at the stage where it seems safe and reliable to use.

Here are the advantages.

1. Full burn of the diesel, as opposed to a normal engine only burning about 80%. As a result of this, there is no black smoke seen from the exhaust.

2. Emissions are reduced significantly.

3. An economic saving of up to 25% in fuel costs.

4. Due to the nature in which the gas burns, a slight power increase is also noticed, we try to keep this below 10% to eliminate engine/gearbox damage.

5. As proven with petrol / LPG engines, being a clean, total burn fuel, the LPG actually seems to clean the engine, thus prolonging it's life.

I am wondering what your thoughts are on LPG conversions.

Hybrid cars costs so much and i am looking at other alternatives to achieving better MPG without selling the car. (i have a tuning chip so there is no need to mention this option)

[AURISTR01]

Would be interesting but nobody would convert a diesel to LPG as diesel offers good economy. Try it and let us know? If your after serious MPG get a VW bluemotion upto 70MPG claimed figures on some models or a 1.0 car.

[Mistermena]

I think that the cost would prob outweigh the benifit! Unless you plan to keep the car for years? Or theres some gov grant that you could tap into... But would be interested to see the results for sure.

[cabcurtains]

Assuming its £1500 supplied and fitted etc and it reduces fuel costs by 25%....

You currently do 40MPG

You increase this to 50MPG - Because the Fuel is cheaper, the car may reduce its actual MPG

At present you will spend £6000 to purchase 923 Gallons of Diesel at £6.50 each, that would allow you to drive 36000 miles.

At 50MPG you will spend £4500 to purchase 692 Gallons of Diesel at £6.50 each to drive 35000 miles, so in 35000 mies it will break even.

Assuming it has no additional residual value and doesnt damage the engine in any way at that point you will be spending 25% less.

Unless your doing a lot of miles its a long time until you see any savings, putting the £1500 in ISA might be better if it takes 3yrs to do 36,000 miles!

[sponge55]

i am currently driving around 28,600 per year (on average £70 per week which is £3,640 per year)

i average around 50MPG at the moment. (mostly motorway driving and using tuning chip)

Cost per year before LPG: £3,640 - 560 gallons @ £6.50 per gallon

Cost per year with LPG: £2,730 - 420 gallons @ £6.50 per gallon

The savings on diesel will be £910 per year.

Now the cost of LPG for the year based on 25% (140 gallons @ £3.05 per gallon)

Cost per year for LPG: £426.42 - 140 gallon @ £3.05 per gallon

Minus the cost of LPG off the savings on diesel, the annual savings will be £483.85 based on 30,000 miles per year.

It will take around 3 years to break even based on installation costing £1,500. ISA might be a better bet!!

It would be very interesting to see how all this translate to real figures but the numbers does not make it sound as good as i initially thought......

I have asked for quotes for installation; it might be cheaper than £1,500 and with the fuel cost increasing so fast, it still might be a good option.

[cabcurtains]

Your annual mileage makes it worth a look and you will eventually save money. But and its a big but, how long will you keep the car doing 30k per annum?

[sponge55]

Your annual mileage makes it worth a look and you will eventually save money. But and its a big but, how long will you keep the car doing 30k per annum?

i generally keep my car until they it becomes expensive to maintain... so it all depends on how reliable this car is.

[baba_metca]

As it appears it could be done, but you could try this:

http://www.lpginfo.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=205

[cabcurtains]

Your annual mileage makes it worth a look and you will eventually save money. But and its a big but, how long will you keep the car doing 30k per annum?

i generally keep my car until they it becomes expensive to maintain... so it all depends on how reliable this car is.

Decisions, Decisions

[Sandy52]

Add LPG to diesel is a new technique. I doubt any one organisation has much experience of this.

I would be VERY wary of doing this to any modern diesel.

I doubt any warranty would cover you for problems.

LPG in petrol has been done for quite a long time but there are still a lot of horror/expensive stores about the problems people experience.

Save your money and buy a more economical car.

[sponge55]

Add LPG to diesel is a new technique. I doubt any one organisation has much experience of this. I would be VERY wary of doing this to any modern diesel. I doubt any warranty would cover you for problems. LPG in petrol has been done for quite a long time but there are still a lot of horror/expensive stores about the problems people experience. Save your money and buy a more economical car.

surely as long as you get the work done by an approved garage, there should be no issues??

horror stories can be dug up for pretty much anything and everything.

[sponge55]

project over for now, two approved garages say the real life savings is only around 10% so there is no point until a better method is found. shame!

[Parts-King]

Toyota specifically void any form of engine warranty on vehicles converted to LPG, there are very many issues with LPG, your convertor will not tell you much about those issues I doubt

Kingo

[thomasanderson]

Hi,

I think not deserve it. The diesel price is greater than LPG, but the LPG consumtion is higher 80% than the diesel engine.

Secondly the engine will rise high temperature. Also a man will change your car's machine, and he is not the manufactur.

I have not done this conversion but I have listened some stories with broken converted engines. Also, you will loose warranty.

In my personal opionion, is a great risk action.

If you know mpg of car, try to compare diesel and lpg cost in a route.

bb

[eygo]

i have been down the petrol / LPG route many years ago maybe 16 years ago and cost me £1850 for the system

i vowed i would never use lpg again,if your doing long distance drives all of the time then it may work for you

if your mainly doing round town drives then stay with your diesel fuel,

you get less mpg on lpg than you do on petrol,and lpg is dry when it burns so i dont know how this will work in

a diesel since diesel fuel is oily and lubricates the engine.

[Konrad C]

I did a check on LPG outlets, specifically local to me in Bexley Kent area. The following map shows how far they are spread out compare to standard fuel stations -

http://www.filllpg.co.uk/?page=lpg.php

To me LPG is making way for Hybrids and EV.

Another problem is that LPG is a spark ignited fuel like petrol, while diesel is compression ignition. The option is to mix the two fuels together. I found some info which may help.

http://www.gaspoweruk.co.uk/diesellpgbifuel/diesellpgbifuel.html

http://www.go-lpg.co.uk/diesel.html

I would go the Hybrid route.