I had a guy here the other day with a Subaru Imprezza WRX converted with a Stag system (I believe fitted by Profess). He came to have me disable the LPG system (wiring and piping), the car was running on 3 cylinders due to bad compression likely due to VSR and was due to go into a Subaru specialists to have the engine rebuilt but the specialist wouldn't work on the car with the gas system connected to the engine, even with gas pipes disconnected wouldn't have wanted to cut the injector break wiring to remove the engine.
The installer hadn't fitted any type of lube system (WRX really needs an electronic forced type) and the car had always been down on power (I suspect due to running lean at high loads)... both lean running and lack of lube system would have caused VSR. I haven't looked at Profess' website in a long time but they used to have a blog on the site, in the blog they reckoned they didn't advise lube systems for any vehicle.
The customer said he may return for the LPG system to be fully removed after the engine rebuild. I told him I could get it running great on LPG with a few component changes, the engine would live a long life if I set it up so the LPG system provided correct fuelling and with an electronic lube fitted. He says he'll think about it when he's had the engine fixed but will be seeing me again anyway either to have the LPG system totally removed or to have it sorted.
I'll sort it so it runs just the same on LPG as on petrol Strangerover.
If work isn't close enough to be almost as quick just to walk there instead of drive there you should be saving some money by driving to work on LPG instead of on petrol.
I'm sure I've said multiple times on this forum that I fitted your LPG system yet nobody corrected me (on the fact Profess fitted it)!
Profess used to try to get customers to buy a Stag interface cable from them, they try to give potential customers the impression that they (and/or the Stag systems they fit) are unique in that they can be remotely diagnosed/repaired/serviced by Profess accessing the LPG ECU via the internet. The truth is that any installer of just about any LPG system could connect to just about any LPG ECU remotely over the internet using the same method that Profess uses - courtesy of Windows remote desktop access software! But what Profess don't tell customers is that they're very likely to need to make use of this facility in their case because they didn't calibrate the system properly in the first place. It doesn't help that they take shortcuts in installation and don't have a wide range of bits available to them so couldn't pick and choose between components even if they knew how to... because they only fit Stag, but their reliance on autotuning systems is one of their biggest downfalls.
I do well with LPG conversions because I know the real world specs of different components, how to pick and choose components to best suit a vehicle, don't take shortcuts during installation (try to get the setup, which is the base of a good install, as ideal as possible) and go to great lengths to calibrate everything properly while keeping in mind how temperatures in different seasons (etc) will affect things. If I'm not happy with any aspect of an install when I see readings etc during calibration I'll go back and change things, sometimes even major components, to make things right. But a P38 should be an easy bread and butter conversion.
Morat wrote:
StrangeRover wrote:
, but their reception is less than stellar.
You're going to love Simon's gleaming workshops :)
Lol! But it's very bright and airy (outside) ;-)
StrangeRover wrote:
Lpgc wrote:
StrangeRover wrote:
Mine being a 2001 Thor 4.6. Over 3000mi it did an average of 18.7 on petrol mixed A road driving as for Gas i dunno it never worked!!! ;) LOL
Huh! Did I fit your LPG system?
No it was fitted by Profess autogas in swansea.
It is a shít system to be frank.
And tbf with the 6mi round trip i did LPG wasn't worth it, as it would switch over "when it worked" outside my work gates, bit late!!
Ahh, I thought I'd fitted an LPG system for you hehe.
Get it sorted! I'm fixing LPG systems on 8 vehicles this coming week including a Disco, didn't fit any of them but have seen one of the vehicles (Ford F150) before. Also have a full install to do, so 9 cars coming this week.
StrangeRover wrote:
Mine being a 2001 Thor 4.6. Over 3000mi it did an average of 18.7 on petrol mixed A road driving as for Gas i dunno it never worked!!! ;) LOL
Huh! Did I fit your LPG system?
I used to always keep on the footbrake, still do if only stopped for a short time especially if there's no-one behind to dazzle with brake lights. But if I'm stopped for a fair length of time now I might shift into neutral or park and put the handbrake on... So depends for me.
I've watched a few videos from this guy who used to be a police driving instructor but now works as an IAM tester and personal driving coach. Quite fancy booking a driving session with him. The link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujwVkxDeim0
Loads of links to his videos on Pistonheads, his website is www.reglocal.com
PM'd you Gilbert, then I accidentally sent it to trash, then restored. Just saying because I don't know if the restore worked properly.
Priming time if the ignition was on during waggle?
Morat wrote:
Tried to start her this morning, three cranks with a stumble followed by long crank and nothing :(
Jumped into the Jeep.
What's wrong with it mate?
Very tidy looking @Strangerover :-)
Another welcome!
Great write-up on the Defender Donald.
As a kid my mate's older brother (knew little about electronics) for some reason acquired an old valve scope, probably £5k's worth in today's money when it was new, but even at the time it was old and already broken... You could get a shock from the test leads so it would blow any slightly sensitive circuit you connected it to so was an ironic tool in a way lol. Me and mates used to enjoy walks around a local rubbish tip, usually shooting at rubbish but we'd find and bring home dumped electrical gear and I'd try to fix it. Found and fixed loads of stuff ranging from clock radios to Marshall PA amps. Once found an old valve real to real tape machine complete with Jasper Carrot tape and fixed that, had it on the floor in my bedroom listening to Jasper Carroty while I was in the bathroom (next door to my bedroom), got out the bath and trud on a test lead still connected to the tape machine, made a small mark on the underneath of my wet foot with smoke coming from it, measured voltage on that test lead about 350v.
Can buy a decent and super high impedance digital scope with memory functions etc for not much cash at all these days, and it'll never go wrong in a way that could give high voltage on test leads etc but will never seem as cool as the old crt valve scopes.
I've always checked for battery drain by just disconnecting a connector from the battery and using a multimeter on Amps setting.. If the car draws too much current for the ammeter when (say) the battery is first connected or if you need to start the engine just hold the connector on the battery during that time or use a jump cable in parallel with the ammeter.
The clamp tool in the link looks a good bit of kit, great reviews, tempted myself but would probably never use it.
Great stuff Dave, is there a thread about your build on forum?
In case we're not online before.. Happy New Year!
Very nice shiny and new looking @DavidAll, aiming to make a show car or something?
Merry Christmas everyone!
Get well soon OldShep.
Usually once there's been a long term problem of coolant in LPG injectors / vapour pipes the LPG system won't work properly even after draining, coolant can damage injectors. It especially won't work properly while there's still coolant in them. If a reducer water gasket is blown water could still find it's way into the injectors/vapour pipes even running on petrol because the seal between water and gas is blown so even with no gas entering from the tank water can find it's way to the reducer gas outlet... But wouldn't usually find it's way into cylinders because injectors still provide a seal when closed... unless coolant has damaged injector plunger seals or coolant pressure rises very high. Blown reducer gaskets can also cause coolant pressure to rise high (potentially to LPG tank pressure if the headgasket etc could stand that much pressure which it can't!) but only when the gas valves have recently been open.
Not saying any of this is the problem, just giving more details about effects/implications of a reducer gasket problem.
Any smoke during the video startup? I didn't pick up on anything much in the video, few clangy noises which could be just exhaust noise / cam / lots of things. Was it running on all 8? Would it rev higher if you tried?
Hehe that's true Bri!
Morat wrote:
Anyone can be uncomfortable! :)
Nesh bugger Miles! ;-) I prefer to work outside on cars and do so whatever the weather. There has to be a foot of snow before I think about working inside, when it's dark (nearly half my hours at work these days) I use work lights, I'd use work lights inside anyway. Boots, longjohns, thermal shirt, shirt, coat and Russian looking head warmer on today (not jumper weather yet lol) and I've been sweating. The birds/doves in the yard are so used to me being there they'll sometimes come and land on the ledge of an open car bonnet while I'm working on the engine hehe.
Way too many dodgy sellers and buyers on Ebay regardless of what's being bought/sold, would think Ebay would clamp down on them to restore some faith. Someone could make a similar but more vetted site and do well.
LPG makes more steam than petrol, both are hydro-carbons of course but LPG has a higher ratio of hydrogen to carbon than petrol, so more H2O is produced in the burn, so more steam. But from what you've said it seems to me the amount of steam you're getting is excessive and coupled with the misfires on start-up this seems to point to there being a problem.
I agree with the potential issues others have already mentioned. An unlikely but possible other situation - If the LPG system's pressure reducer has a failed water circuit gasket there's potential for water from the cooling system to enter the LPG vapour lines and then to enter cylinders via LPG injectors... in effect you could have water injection via the LPG injectors giving misfires due to lack of fuel and overdose of water injection at startup until the water in the LPG lines is gone. Unlikely because usually with a failed reducer water jacket gasket you'd also have an LPG pressurised cooling system, so after a while of running on LPG have water blowing out of the cooling system and overheating issues etc. But I have known symptoms similar to yours, i.e. no over-pressured cooling system, overheating or great loss of water but water making it into LPG lines and misfires for a while after start-up.
Edit - other symptoms of cooling water making it's way into cylinders (by any means - HG problem or LPG reducer problem) also usually results in failed lambda sensors because antifreeze damages lambda's. A failed reducer water jacket gasket wouldn't usually cause misfires at startup because during warm-up the engine runs on petrol not LPG (with a sequential LPG system).