Sorry if I missed any points.

The fuel pressure regulator doesn't leak any fuel through the vacuum connection when you simply disconnect the pipe but maybe it leaks some fuel when engine vacuum is sucking on it?

With what you've said about petrol getting in oil, got to wonder if an injector is sticking open and putting in too much fuel which sees fuel get past piston rings and into oil. A bad enough fuel leak could maybe also explain the low fuel pressure reading. But if an injector put that much fuel into a cylinder we might expect that cylinder to misfire.

Only one post so far but we've already learned to take you completely seriously hehe.

LPG conversion will add lots of range, with that done could add an LPG flamethrower.

Now about those voodoo dolls and viagra tablets I ordered...

Yes, when I was talking weight distribution and fwd/rwd I did realise that centre of gravity moves a little further to the rear if facing uphill so if we had a car with 50front/50rear balance it might become 52/48 facing uphill (or during acceleration). I don't think that's quite the full picture regards shifting axle weights, at least not if we were talking about cornering and moments of inertia etc, but it probably makes the difference we both thought for axle weights and traction on the hill.

Spinning a wheel on the Audi implies it probably doesn't have pseudo or real LSD, or does it? I suppose being an Audi it will be front end heavy...

4wd has another advantage when its patchy because one axle might be on a slippery patch while the other axle still has good traction.

Obviously the best case is to have 4x4 with diff locks and snow tyres...

I mostly mean which is most likely to have push traction to go up a slippery snowy hill rather than preventing the driven end going sideways. Push traction if the driven end doesn't go sideways.

If only 2wd much might also depend on the front/rear axle weight balance, front wheel drives generally better for traction than rear wheel drive because the front end is usually heavier? But some vehicles have equal front/rear balance so would have equal (or arguably more uphill traction) if rwd compared to fwd?

I said summer versus winter tyres but could also include cheap tyres that tend to have big gaps in tread patterns, I suppose the manufacturers use less rubber if there are big gaps in the tread.

Edit - I mentioned quite a lot of things but assuming all other things such as LSD or no LSD being the same. Some vehicles have pseudo LSD (brakes a spinning driven wheel so acts like an LSD). If we're comparing a 2wd vehicle that has that kind of equipment it should be against an equivalent 4x4 that has that kind of equipment.

I'm not sure if the long topic title will be fully readable on forum users devices so I'll repeat it here...

Which is better in snow, a random hatchback with 4x4 on summer tyres or the 2wd version of the same car on winter tyres?

This always comes up on Elgrand forum whenever there's a bit of snow. I have the 4x4 version(s) and reckon they're better in snow on random tyres than the 2wd version on winter tyres but others disagree.

Is it oil or dirt on the air filter element?

Is it on the entry or exit side of the filter?

I forget if the P38 breathing design has an engine breather (from say a rocker cover) running to near the air filter housing but I don't think they do? If it's oil might wonder if it were pointing to a piston blow-by or breather problem...

I'm too late for the Christmas greetings, hope you all had a good one.

Happy New Year for when it comes to everyone.

I expect there'll have been a lot less transmissions on frequencies likely to interfere with P38 central locking when they were designed?

Can we usually tell if the V8 idles with a misfire on one cylinder by hand feeling the engine rock?

Sorry if it's been mentioned or implied - what's the story with the pictured missing bits of steering column trim? If it can be started with pliers are the ignition barrel and steering lock OK?

Is it OK now Miles?

nigelbb wrote:

There are several Autogas LPG bulk tanks for sale on eBay but £7.5K for this 1,410 litre one is a bit too pricey.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144743044467

That listing is from Birmingham Autogas, if you site your tank within a certain distance from them they'll supply you with gas at very reasonable price per litre too. The problem for me and most people is that the certain distance is within relatively short range of Birmingham... I contacted them ages ago.

Some forecourt style LPG vehicle refuelling pumps have a built in pressure regulator... so there are 2 pipes running from the tank to the pump, one is obviously the liquid feed pipe, the 2nd pipe is the return pipe from the regulator. Edit - LPG pump pressure regulator so plumbed between the output side of the pump and back to the tank.

I say this to prevent anyone with an existing bulk tank making the mistake of thinking they've found an easy way to plumb a forecourt pump to their tank, so buying one, only to realise there isn't an easy way to connect a return line. Maybe there is an easy way to connect a return line but I don't see how from looking at the diagrams linked to above.

Strictly speaking yes you should pay road duty and VAT on top if using gas as a road fuel... But i don't know of anyone who bought one of my pumps who does.

A couple of my pump buyers have bulk tanks at home and bought the pump for purpose of refuelling their vehicle from the bulk tank. I advised them they'd need a liquid take-off fitting to the bulk tank with an isolation valve on the tank itself to turn off the gas feed to the input line to the pump, but told them I wouldn't get involved with the bulk tank liquid take-off modification. Nevertheless they seemed to find getting the bulk tank liquid take-off modification fitted by a qualified bulk tank engineer no problem - Obviously the tank has to be empty before fitting the liquid take-off. The liquid take-off doesn't need to be fitted to the bottom of the bulk tank, it can be fitted to the top if a pipe from the take-off point runs internally to the bottom inside the tank.

I produce and sell pump setups that pump gas from red propane bottles into LPG converted vehicles tanks :-)

I sell the pumps for £375 + £8 shipping privately (away from Ebay that takes commision), or at £399 + £8 shipping through EBay.

To save some typing and posting pictures here I will include a link to my Ebay listing, but obviously if anyone reading this wants to buy a pump it would be better to contact me directly. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/326295382117

I have 47kg (92.1 litre) red propane bottles delivered to home for £79.50 exchange from a local bottled gas company, this works out at 86.4p per litre. The pump is easy to use, runs from a 12v car battery and takes around 30minutes to pump the entire contents of the 92.1L bottle into my vehicle tank. No need for a separate 12v battery, just pop the bonnet and connect the power lead to the vehicle battery.

There are still forecourts local to me that sell LPG at a fairly reasonable price (92p at a local BP station) but I more often refuel at home using one of these pumps. Morrisons used to be my usual go-to forecourt but not since MFG increased the price to £1.299 per litre.

There are pros and cons to both filling at forecourts and filling at home from a bottle. I would prefer LPG to still be widely available at a low price from forecourts but it is very convenient filling at home. If you're miles from home it's a disadvantage that the cheapest place to refuel is at home but if you have decent range on LPG it becomes less of a disadvantage, while for some people/vehicles it would be possible to take a red bottle in the luggage area and refuel anywhere. The pump can also pump from bottle to bottle (may need a different output line 'end fitting' bought from me, or could use a bottle filling adapter instead)... So could pump from a large bottle into smaller bottles at home then take some smaller bottles in the vehicle luggage area to refuel from. On my own vehicle I fitted a 2nd LPG tank, if both LPG tanks are full I have 700 miles range on LPG and the original petrol tank still fitted gives another 350 miles range... I may yet remove the petrol tank and fit another LPG tank in its place but I already have no range anxiety with 700 miles range on LPG.

I imagine in the fairly distant future if EVs become the majority of vehicles on the road forecourts selling petrol and diesel will start to close too. But if I live long enough to see EVs start to take over I imagine it will still be legal to run a vehicle with a proper engine (especially if running on LPG) and I intend on still running a vehicle with a proper engine on LPG... Just refuel at home from a red bottle. LPG continues to be the cheapest fuel to run a vehicle on, no need to pay the price of a new vehicle (or suffer the depreciation).

Like Gilbert, I'd still run on LPG if there was no saving versus running on petrol, my oil stays clean far longer when running on LPG versus petrol.
When I was rebuilding my boat engine I read quite a lot on engine builder forums, a lot of people were saying that back in the days of carburettors they'd expect to see cylinder bore cross hatching worn smooth on high mileage engines but the same engines running fuel injection instead of carbs are likely to retain the cross hatching, they attribute this to the finer fuel atomisation of fuel injection being less likely to dilute the oil film on cylinder walls. LPG is a vapour before it enters the engine and won't dilute the oil film on cylinder walls, furthermore it burns cleanly and doesn't cause as much carbon or other contaminants build up in the oil.
Filling at home from a bottle I expect there'll always be a good saving running on LPG, its main use as a fuel is for home heating customers so its price has to stay competitive in that market or the gas supply companies will go bust, they might not care much about the increasingly niche market of LPG as a road fuel but these companies will want to stay competitive in the home heating market.

Wow! Congratulations to you both!

I haven't checked this forum for a few weeks, seems quite a lot has happened...

Great picture.

Gilbertd wrote:

Lpgc wrote:

If a starter motor is drawing more amps than usual (to dim lights etc), where is that power going (and why) if it isn't converted to magnetic power / torque to spin the engine?

It's converted to heat. A dodgy starter has more resistance (due to the additional resistance between brushes and commutator) so it gets very hot.

I would agree, but the extra resistance should mean it can't draw as many amps from the battery causing the lights to dim more than usual

A warm engine is easier to crank than a cold engine, so if it cranks easier when cold it points to something else starter motor / electrics related being negatively affected by warm temperatures.

If a starter motor is drawing more amps than usual (to dim lights etc), where is that power going (and why) if it isn't converted to magnetic power / torque to spin the engine?

If you're getting lean error codes and are not sure whether the fault is lambda sensor of MAF related but the engine generally seems to run OK, try reading lambda voltage while doing a few 'tip-ins' (quick blips of the throttle). If the lambda readings show a temporary rich mixture just after the tip-ins it points away from the lambda sensor being at fault. The tip-in test is possible because during such tip-in's the mixture is supposed to go richer than under normal engine running conditions, i.e. near full throttle is a special condition during which mixture is supposed to get richer than the lambda sensors can measure, the lambda sensors may max out at around 0.9v.

More likely 1 fault than 2 faults. If P1171 points to both cylinder banks lean mixture, and the lean mixture readings are due to lambda sensor issues, both lambda sensors would have failed. Or just 1 MAF sensor.

I'm not saying the fault is the MAF, I've seen plenty P38's with 2 failed lambda sensors but also plenty with failed MAF or other problems.

A misfire (due to many causes) can cause lambda sensors to give lean signal, lambda sensors measure oxygen in exhaust gas, a misfiring cylinder pumps air and fuel into the exhaust but the lambda sensor doesn't notice the fuel... unless it burns in the exhaust with the excess air before it reaches the lambda sensor. Lambda sensors need to be hot to work properly so have an inbuilt heater element, if t he heater doesn't work the sensor will give correct signal when it is hot enough (heated by the exhaust gasses) and lean signal when it is too cool to work properly.

Unless the fault is gearbox related it won't only happen in 4th gear, it's just that the fault generally occurs during the engine load conditions you apply in 4th gear. To the engine 2500rpm at 3/4 throttle is the same load regardless of what gear you're in (with a few exceptions such as if rpms are accelerating/decelerating). With this in mind, if an engine fault definitely only occurs in a certain gear, on some vehicles indeed the problem could be gearbox related. On some vehicles the transmission computer can tell the engine computer to decrease torque to aid smooth gear shifting or lessen the load on transmission clutches during the shift, particularly if the throttle isn't fly-by-wire such torque reduction is often done by momentarily retarding ignition timing.

I once had new PAS lines for a Merc ML made up by Pirtek, it cost much less than buying new lines from Ebay or a Merc dealer and I had them make the lines a couple of inches longer than the broken originals to make routing and re-connecting a bit easier.

Agreed with Gilbert.

In recent years I've converted hundreds of Nissan Elgrands, many owners get me to change the spark plugs while I'm at it. Changing the plugs I can get a view through the plug hole into the cylinder, when they come in the piston crowns are always black but after a while of running on LPG they're clean. I avoid running my car on petrol as much as possible, not only for the cost savings of running on LPG but also because if I only run on LPG the oil stays clean between changes.

I have gas delivered to home in 47kg bottles, prices vary but it costs me £79.50 for a 47kg (92 litre) bottle exchange with free delivery. I sell pumps that pump it out of a bottle into the car tank.