Which LPG kit to go for

[mastermanoj Member Find all posts View Profile Close mastermanoj]

Hello All

I have finally decided to put in an LPG kit in my prado 3.4 litres 1998

I need some of your expertise in choosing which of the below is a good option to go for

I have two options to go for

Prices are quoted by "Gas Man" in Sevenhills NSW
1) Convention System
(IMPCO) $ 2400 to 2750 ( inclusive SGST )

2) Vapour gas injection system
Impco – $ 3650 inclusive GST
Emer - $ 3700 inclusive GST

All these are with a 72 litrres usable tank

Or if some one knows a Good gas fitter near by Winston hills or paramatta area ....i may even consider that

Thank you in advance

Cheers
Max

[D4Dforme Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4Dforme]

Mate ring around and see what is the most popular type,i fitted a Lenzo Ranzi to my old V8 100 series which apart from the people that fitted no one wanted to touch or repair it due to it's setup.

To be honest if your looking at doing it for extra range fit a long ranger or similar fuel tank...............you'd be surprised at the mechanics that don't want to even know about an LPG vehicle.

Personally i would not go gas again ever........apart from being $1.10 per ltr in Darwin where i am the ltrs per km are far from good nearly half as much again as petrol.

Dan

[Auss15 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Auss15]

Impco is a very good brand, most Taxis are fitted with them, so plenty of spare parts. The Gas Man is also a reputable fitter.

[mastermanoj Member Find all posts View Profile Close mastermanoj]

thank you

Hello D4Dforme & Auss15 .thank you for the replies ..i think i'll hold on to petrol for some time and mar be think abt it sometime later

Cheers
Max

[letsgoplaces Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close letsgoplaces]

Hi Max,
I put my system in 3 years ago and was happy with the set up. No loss of power and cheaper to run
One comment in particular is how when and if you fill up the sub tank, it is ideal to run on petrol for say 50 k's to run down a bit of fuel, otherwise fuel expands up the pipe and drips out a breather. Not a big problem as far as I'm concerned, I would run on petrol for 20 odd k's each tank of gas anyway and only filled the sub full when going on big trips.
Having said all that, I am thinking of going 100% petrol again as LPG bowsers do not exist out here and it is a long way between fuel stops. I will be in Adelaide in April and again in October if you want to buy my system and I could truck it to you, if you are interested. Gives you time to think about it and would be cheaper to purchase
Cheers,
John

[SenatorMike Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close SenatorMike]

I had a Emer SVI kit installed in My 4ltr 150 series in December, good system I also have a Emer SVI kit on our VE HSV R8 Tourer wagon. has been on it two years never had a problem great system. don't go for a old style system. Sequential Vapour Injection is far better & no loss of power or backfires like the old style one's

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

I put LPG onto my 90, worst thing I ever did. At first I thought yeah great but no long after I thought big mistake. pain in the arse fuel vapour smell aall the time coming from the reserve tank, fuel driping on ground, back firing, blah blah blah. Plenty of people who have it and love it but for my self I should have thought about it more first lost a huge range for touring. I will never do it again. If fuel gets that bad Ill go back to a vitara before I ever went LPG again......I have posted before about it on it, pictures as well.....Cheers Steve

[letsgoplaces Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close letsgoplaces]

As far as backfiring goes, I had a few when the system was installed but after a couple of visits back to my mechanic he got it all sorted. I don't have the vapour smell all the time, pretty much only when the sub has just been filled. I'm not saying that some don't get the smell all the time, but it certainly isn't all get the smell. Also, when driving around suburbia I kept under half a tank of fuel so never actually got any smell.
So I guess from Steve's point of view (which I would suggest is one extreme) to mine which has been more positive, I guess you've got a bit more research to do
Cheers,
John

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Yeah John mine was shocking, on hot days and if I had filled the reserve up it would literally drip raw fuel on my garage floor, you could put your head under it and see it. I sold my petrol 90 mainly because of that reason, was so unsafe and my neighbor up the street his was also the same, I had it back for the backfire and everything was suppose to be right. It would stall if you had to hit the brakes hard and if you wanted to boot it again it was dangerous. I even reported the fuel issue to the RTA who didn't want to know about it. I was told by the installer just don't fill it over 3/4's on a hot day ""WTF"" I have been under the 90at work and his is the same set up. When I had mine done there wasn't an injection system available only the venture system (older one). Sorry but never again for me.......Cheers Steve

[D4Dforme Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4Dforme]

I had similar things with the 100 series...........stalling at the lights..........leaking fuel and gas vapour smell...
Not to mention the trouble of finding a gas bowser,and the poor economy.........
Same as Steve says......never again.

Dan

[Esses Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Esses]

I have the Impco Draw-Through system on mine (3.4) & quizzed the installer on Steve's fuel problem. He knew all about it & assured me that they properly block all the old unused pipes/fillers etc & even with a FULL sub-tank in the 40 degree days we had here this summer it didn't leak or seep a drop.No petrol odour at all either. Mine might've lost a tiny bit of throttle response (like 2 or 3%, that little)but basically still goes like it's on petrol & costs me around $45-00 a week to run. That's getting just over 400 km from 68 litres of LPG. Even with the camper-trailer on the back I can still count on 300 km. The only back-firing problem I've had was traced to a bad spark-plug lead - original 16yo part, mind you.
Our Territory has an Impco Vapour Injection System on it & it's been absolutely faultless. Impco does make a Vapour Inj. kit for the Prado. Be worth checking out. I think there's still a $1000.00 Fed. Govt. rebate too, but not sure on that.
Btw, the Prado is my 9th LPG vehicle & I'm an unabashed fan AS LONG as you live in a major city where the gas prices are relatively low. When LPG gets to about 70% of ULP price then you're only breaking even. No point to spending all that money then.

[mackayvx Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close mackayvx]

I put gas on my Prado ute (hilux)...
Would i subject any of my vehicles to that again? ABSOLUTLY NEVER.
The price and availability of gas is not worth it when you go bush.
On hot days you plant your right foot & BANG!
Bloody backfires have cost me 2 plastic intake ductings that have blown apart...
Try getting them spares in the middle of nowhere...
I run it only on petrol now. I wish i never got LPG.
I doubt it even payed for itself.

[pradomad Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close pradomad]

I had it running on LPG now for a few years, but decided to reverse back to petrol.
-the price increase
-not available in the bush
-poor mileage
-does not work well in summer
-less ground clearance

[pradomad Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close pradomad]

I have the Impco Draw-Through system on mine (3.4) & quizzed the installer on Steve's fuel problem. He knew all about it & assured me that they properly block all the old unused pipes/fillers etc & even with a FULL sub-tank in the 40 degree days we had here this summer it didn't leak or seep a drop.No petrol odour at all either. Mine might've lost a tiny bit of throttle response (like 2 or 3%, that little)but basically still goes like it's on petrol & costs me around $45-00 a week to run. That's getting just over 400 km from 68 litres of LPG. Even with the camper-trailer on the back I can still count on 300 km. The only back-firing problem I've had was traced to a bad spark-plug lead - original 16yo part, mind you.
Our Territory has an Impco Vapour Injection System on it & it's been absolutely faultless. Impco does make a Vapour Inj. kit for the Prado. Be worth checking out. I think there's still a $1000.00 Fed. Govt. rebate too, but not sure on that.
Btw, the Prado is my 9th LPG vehicle & I'm an unabashed fan AS LONG as you live in a major city where the gas prices are relatively low. When LPG gets to about 70% of ULP price then you're only breaking even. No point to spending all that money then.

I'm really surprised that you get 400 km from your tank; thats almost double than what I get!

[ken2m Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ken2m]

I get about 250km / tank (68l) about 430km highway driving at 110 km/h which drops to about 385km with the camper in tow. Problem with the fuel is that the main tank filler has not been blocked off after the fuel tank has been removed. It can be fixed by clamping a section of fuel hose that has been blocked with a piece of steel/al/brass. No significant loss of power compared with petrol. On the ocasional backfire the same vac hose comes off each time. I havent clamped it because I know where it is and it is accessable. After a major backfire a section of the air cleaner broke off and all but closed the air flow off, causing it to run on gas ok but not on petrol at anything above idle. Also gen 3 gas systems are not available for 90 series engines. Spark plugs, leads, and coils have to be in good condition otherwise backfiring is realy bad (more frequent). Ken.