I considder very hard to convert the engine for both Fuel and LPG use. There is infact space anough to build the installation underneath the truckbed. But is there anyone of you people whom have been driving the standard 6.cyl. 216 or 235 or other engine sizes in this combination LPG/fuel and would like to share his/hears experiences with us? If you have some tips and tricks in how and where to install the instalation and what the positiv/negativ effekt is of this solution , this is welcome information to? Regards Martinius Berg
If you google "gasoline and propane dual fuel system" there are many posts on this subject. It is much simpler to do with a carbureter than with the later model fuel injection but they have kits for both. 4 Wheel Off Road magazine had an article on this recently and the Propane Association on Canada-Auto Fuel has all the components listed that are needed to install a system. There are several for the 4.6 and 5.4 Ford engines because so many police departments use the Crown Victoria and because dual fuel can cut fuel costs and is supposedly more environment friendly. Since Norway has cold winters starting on gasoline (petrol) would be a necessity. I had a forklift on propane and changed the oil once a year--not because it was the tiniest bit dirty, but just out of guilt. Many forklifts in the U.S. used the 230 Chrysler flat head six which is virtually the same size as the 235 so a used system off one of those would save a lot of money. A couple of solenoid valves and a little creative wiring would make a dual system. Maybe someone will chime in that has actually done this. It certainly has peaked my curiosity and I have a forklift with a 230 in it.
LPG Conversions Like the man said , it's dead simple , just take the time to do a good job and be aware you'll need to take ALL those fiddly parts apart for cleaning & kit installation once every year or so , I used to maintain the LAX fleet and it was entirely on LPG , the safety valves , heater interface etc. would all fill up with fine silty rust and stop working every 12 months . We ran all the vehicles very hard , Police cars included , no troubles at all , you'll like the economy and barely miss a tiny bit of power .
Nate, Do the fleet deisel engines get the same life span as the lpg or compressed natural gas engines on the buses and trucks?
The only converted Diesels were stationary APU's & generator sets , since they run at a fixed RPM's the lifetime is exceptional . Gasoline engines have almost zero wear on LPG and so last pretty much forever , occasional valve seat recession issues but that occurs on the California Foo-Foo " Motor Fuel " too , ~ it's not gasoline ! .
Propane fuel My experience with a completely different engine was that the hotter propane combustion caused the exhaust valves to eat into the head by about 1/4 inch. The cure was to replace them with "propane" heads with stellite exhaust valve seats. The other thing the propane did was warp the exhaust manifolds. No cure for that.
Valve Seat Recession Was caused by the lack of Tetra Ethyl Lead in the LPG , CNG , etc. This plauged American V-8's in the early days of unleaded gasoline too , much $ was made doing basic valve jobs , replacing all the seats etc. back then . Happily , GM made your old InLine 6 Bangers to run on unleaded fuels way back beginning in the 1930's so convert away , you should have NO valve problems . Warped exhaust manifolds , that sounds like vacuum leaks or tuning issues to me .
I should clarify that the other engine was a 1989 Ford 351. Since it was designed for unleaded, lack of tetraethyl lead would not be the issue. I believe that all the problems were due to the higher combustion temperature of propane vs gasoline. In addition to warping the exhaust manifolds, I toasted a set of brand new ignition wires by overheating the plug end boots. In any event, propane has to be below 60% of the cost of gasoline in order to save any fuel cost whatsoever. That has not been the case here (western Canada) for quite a long time.
