LPG Systems.

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

Just considering putting our GXL on LPG & as our installer is away ATM I'm wondering what others have on their 90's & what they think of them. To forestall any LPG haters out there (unless there's something specific to the 3.4 V6 re gas as per the back-firing Commodore 3.8) I've had 7 Dual-Fuel cars, vans & 4WDs in the past & our Territory is getting a Vapour Injection system in a couple of weeks. So, what floats your LPG boat?

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

You wont get injection for the 90 only venturi system (unless they have made one since I had mine) Another thing to ask is, when they disconectthe main inlet pipe that fed the rear 90L tank what do they do with it.?? Put a yellow or red cap over it with a pin whole in it to allow any fume residue to excape. I had it on my 90 (never again but thats me as you said you have had 7 prior on it) The issue I had with mine and others i have seen with my own eyes (not my mums brothers auntys) and the issue I had with mine was when I filled the reserve tank full on hot days it would expand and send the fuel back up the filler neck (nothing to do with breather lines) from the reserve tank and out the filler inlet across to the inlet for the main tank (which is now not there as you have a gas tank in its place) then it would literally drop raw fuel on the ground from the pin hole. Answer was dont fill the reserve tank full. only max 3/4 on a hot day WTF. Now I know Im not the only one with this issue and another member on here also had the same issue and had to modify it to stop the problem. I even rang the RTA and they didnt want to know about which I found unbelievable that I had a vehicle that was dripping raw fuel on the ground and they didnt give a rats ????? I had issues with it under hard braking would stall, great when you need to accelerate quickly again, again has been noted by other owners of 90's with LPG this happening. If intend towing forget it, drank it like there was no tomorrow im talking 200k max out of 69L, the tank was actually a 63L usable (as you would know what this means) But I could squeeze 69 in it if I trickle filled it, only did this on long trips. Was roughly for memory 280k round town and about 350/400 on a trip straight freeway driving. On stockton beach I aways ran petrol for the extra power and less fuel usage even with the cheaper price of gas. I hate it and will never have LPG again and if fuel cost becomes an issue Ill sell the 120 and buy a yaris and not go off road before I ever run LPG (again just me). I know there are plenty of 120's running around on the injected system with out issues, same as some of the 90's. BUT again when enquiring about getting it done ASK THEM what are they going to do with the existing rubber fuel line that ran down to fill the 90L main, if they say cap it and leave it then I guarantee you will have the same issue I and others have had on hot days even my neighbour had the same issue, different fitters, only difference my cap was yellow his was red, comes in the kits that are supplied to the installers......Cheers Steve

[wooley Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close wooley]

(not my mums brothers auntys)

Wouldn't that just be your mothers aunty then?

On a more serious note though.. LPG is smelly.

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

LOL you know what I mean lol.... The smell was probably no worse then when running on petrol especially say in confined space like the garage. Mine always started on petrol then would automatically flick over to LPG. Definately cheaper to run no doubt about that but I also hated the fact I felt like I was forever at the servo filling up LPG and god help you when its a hot day, one you wont get a full tank due to expansion as Esses would know already, and the thing would take that long the pump would be so slooow drove me nuts so another thing was to try and fill on a cooler day. This also really reduced off road touring/range some thing I really didnt think about prior to having done. I believe there is a bigger tank available (79 useable) not sure on that one sounds a bit big to me for a prado. Some people fit the tank in the rear cargo area that way they get to keep the two fuel tanks some thing that didnt suit me as I needed all the room I could get. Maybe they have an injected system now ?? dont know, but the main reason they use the injection on the 120's is the plastic inlet manifold wont stand the extra heat from the LPG. I also had the flashlube kit fitted up to mine which I think is very important to save the valve stem seals, 80 series cruisers are realy really bad for this for some reason. Obviously Esses already has a fair amount of knowledge on vehicles running LPG...... Cheers Steve

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

Hey Esses,
I've got lpg on my 90 and overall am pretty happy with the set up.
The previous comments are accurate with regards to petrol spilling out back up through the filler neck. When i fill up with petrol (and i only fill it full when heading away or the price is right) i run on petrol for about 30k's to run it down a fraction, and it also does the job on keeping everything working properly. Having said that, i always run on petrol for about 20k's between every tank of gas.
I get about 320k's from the useable 65 litres around town and the latest trip up the Stuart Hwy, reasonably well loaded and driving into a decent wind, gave about 380k's. I certainly wouldn't have it if the bulk of my driving was remote. Even up the Stuart Hwy there was no need to use any of the petrol until we hit the dirt.
It cost $2500 and with the $2000 rebate at the time it has well and truly paid for itself
I also had a few (4 or 5) times when a backfire blew the cover off the air cleaner, but a quick trip to my mechanic to tweak things a little alleviated that issue.
The power on lpg is, maybe, marginally less than petrol. And the 3400 is pretty thirsty when towing on either petrol or lpg.
Obviously Steve is quite passionate about his views with lpg on the 90 (which he is welcome to air) and again everything he said was factual but how you deal with it is up to you. BTW the plug to cover the filler hole for the main tank in mine is black :cheeky grin:

Cheers,
John

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

Hi John, yeah my plug to stop you putting the nozzle in the hole for the 90L was black also, the red or yellow cap I was referring to is the one on the end of the original rubber inlet hose that fed the fuel to the 90L during filling. I reckon if you stuck your head up under there it would either be a red or yellow cap. I forgot to mention backfire, mind you this only happened to me twice in the time of having it........As I mentioned heaps of people like yourself who are quit happy running LPG but just with the issues I had its turned me off it, for now anyway..... Maybe the factory falcons and commodores with it are ok, I dont know....I wouldnt like to stick it on the 120 and find myself wishing I didnt, no doubt it certainly makes it cheap motoring........Cheers Steve

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

"On a more serious note though.. LPG is smelly."

Yeah it is..........it's also 55 cents per litre.

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

Thanks guys, very informative. Just the sort of stuff I need to know. I was actually more inclined to leave the back 90l tank & go for a scuba setup in place of the belly tank. This might solve the petrol-spill issues too. These days LPG fitters seem to be all about whatever kit comes for a particular model but in the past I've been able to tailor-design what I need. Eg: I sat down with my LPG guy of the time (no longer in the business, unfortunately) & picked a small 50l (usable) cylinder to go sideways over a rear wheel arch in our old Jackaroo, keeping the 2 x 50l petrol tanks in our model (no kids then). Maybe that's a thing of the past. I'll find out soon, I guess. My last 4WD - a GQ Patrol - had a 95l petrol tank at the back which was replaced by a 110l cylinder - 90l usable - & you really did need it too, plus the 73l petrol belly tank. With a 90l tank in the Prado I'm surprised they only put a relatively small cylinder back there. Think I need to have a good talk to our current installer. I can see why there may be no injection system for the Prado - things are pretty tight on top of that little V6. ATM, it's getting about 21 mpg on petrol so it's bearable but I'll do some research. Keep you posted.

[croozza Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close croozza]

it's getting about 21 mpg on petrol so it's bearable but I'll do some research. Keep you posted.

Thats still about 12 liters per 100 km, so that is still pretty good, unless that is just h-way travel. Cause that is what i'm getting with a combined city/h-way (about 70% city and 30% h-way), I expect it to drop down to about the 11L/100K mark just on the h-way.
check out your fuel consumption here...... http://www.campertrailers.org/fuel_calculator.htm

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

Mine was 16L/17L per 100 around town, this was running 75 profile instead of the factory 70, steel bull bar, lift etc, no roof rack.. Freeway best I ever got was 12.2L per 100, this was purely freeway no off road, in the sand will see the 20+'s.. Was still a very good motor though and never gave me any troubles, have seen these motors do well into the 400k+ without any major engine troubles. Wether they go this far on LPG I dont know but I doubt the heads/valve stem seals would last this long running LPG ?? The 120 I have now is actually better on fuel on a long run, so far have had it down to 11.6L per 100 freeway round town seems the same maybe 2L per 100 less but this will probably change no doubt once I get the lift and change tyres, but the difference in power between the two is a massive difference, the 4L V6 absolutely flies, love blowing off some of these buzz/boom boxes that pull up beside you and want to get in front of you when the lane runs out on the other side, love it when they have to pull back in behind you lol mind you driving like this will see the fuel guage drop rapidly if you were to drive like this all the time (which I dont) wife calls me driving miss daisy.Cheers Steve

[croozza Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close croozza]

wife calls me driving miss daisy.

Is this a new nickname for you...lol

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

Mine was 16L/17L per 100 around town, this was running 75 profile instead of the factory 70, steel bull bar, lift etc, no roof rack.. .Cheers Steve

I would love those figures around town. I can't get any better than 20L/100. At the moment she's nudging 23's :twisted: I'm running the same set up you had

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

WOW, 20+ thats 4.5L cruiser figures, maybe the maf sensor wire needs a clean ?? 17.2 L per 100 was the exact figures for round town, this was extremely short runs also, 18k round trip to work, 1k to and from daycare (yeah lazy I know) probably roughly 3k trip to local shops and back, so very short runs, this was checked over a few tankfuls, the 120 is round 2L less per 100 but no mods done yet except alloy factory bullbar, the 95 diesel grande 1KZ I had was not real great, 14's round town, ranged from 9.8L per 100 upto 13.2L per 100 freeway driving depending on conditions, eg 9.8 was achieved by doing 95k no aircon (keeping under 100) but was a pain just to achieve better economy, the 13.2L was very steamy weather, running aircon, and doing 110/120k. Wasnt really great on economy for a diesel I didnt think, definately not like the D4D's. And also had the dreaded cracked head issue which was 4g to fix, but sold it to a lady from PP who only contacted last night to wish HNY and see how the old girl was going (prado that is), she still extremly happy with it, had no issues what so ever with it which is great to hear, was a good 4wd (grande) but we wanted some thing with a bit more room.. Cheers Steve

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

Thats still about 12 liters per 100 km, so that is still pretty good, unless that is just h-way travel. Cause that is what i'm getting with a combined city/h-way (about 70% city and 30% h-way), I expect it to drop down to about the 11L/100K mark just on the h-way.
check out your fuel consumption here...... http://www.campertrailers.org/fuel_calculator.htm

That's a combo of country road & town (short trips to local shops etc), country road to work - 59km round trip, so I'm pretty pleased with those figures, especially compared to the old GQ (16mpg on petrol/4.2l 5-sp manual). It's doing slightly better than our Territory (19mpg/4.0l 6-sp auto) & compares well to our old '05 Carnival (22mpg/2.5l 5-sp manual). It does hurt compared to the 40mpg our old runaround Rio did though:grin:.
The best indicator is that it was costing me $65-00 per 400km (my normal week) in the Patrol & the Prado is working out at about $75-00 on petrol for the same distance.

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

Love the wifes Yaris for running around in. We bought it new in 06, sedan 1.5L auto great little car, only done 55k now but on a long run it does 6.2L per 100 and thats not babying it, aircon running 3 on board and loaded giving it to it up hills eg overdrive and and foot down will pull easily 130/140 up mooney mooney or hawksbury, (dont drive it like that just did it one day to try it out) was extremely suprised how quick a lot of these little buz boxes go especailly now with VVTI hits 3g and goes then hits 5g and pulls again, thats the VVTI like the 120 prado same thing but lower in the rev range. Running around town the yaris will normally do around the 8/8.2L per 100 and thats generally with air on 90% of the time, dont even notice the air on like back in the older vehicles, use to turn it off to climb hills, was like a turbo lol........But wife loves the prado for long trip, alot more comfortable......Cheers Steve