DarrenW
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| posted on 24/11/09 at 07:19 PM |
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Anyone have calor lpg conversion on their car?
Im new to LPG converted car, got my first one yesterday. It is a calor gas system. There is (i assume) a gauge on the dash. It has 4 greed led's
and a button in the centre. I assume when i press the button and it lights up then the system is switched to gas. I had a long drive home yesterday so
i filled with gas and petrol. The lpg gauge was all lit up but after 60 or so miles i noticed the petrol fuel gauge had gone down as well as now only
showing 3 green lights. This suggests the car was using gas AND petrol.
Does this sound right?
Does anyone have same (or similar system)? Im hoping you can shed some light on how i should use it (no instructions with car, seller is a mate who is
a trader and knows less than me about it).
Cheers,
Darren.
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sebastiaan
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| posted on 24/11/09 at 07:25 PM |
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What car is it? Some cars base the petrol level indication on the dash on a value measured at startup (or when refuelling) and keep track of the
amount of fuel that should have been consumed to slowly decrease the amount the gauge indicates. This is mainly done on Peugeots and Citroens, but
there are others also.
Or, the car could be using petrol AND LPG...
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 24/11/09 at 07:39 PM |
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Hope it's had the valve seats replaced, unleaded seats and valves burn out on LPG.
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prawnabie
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| posted on 24/11/09 at 07:46 PM |
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This was refered to in your previous post by BT
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jambojeef
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| posted on 24/11/09 at 07:49 PM |
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Darren,
It depends on how your system is set up - no direct exp of the calor system but my LPG tin top starts on petrol then switches over when the coolant
reaches a preset temp so can use a fair bit of petrol when doing lots of short journeys.
If you programme it to it was also switch back to petrol over a pre-set rev threshold.
Might be an explanation for the use of a bit of petrol but if its going down a lot then it can only be that its "dual fuelling" - i.e.
using both at once.
I have heard of this happening - is it a sequential injection system or an old fashioned mixer type thing?
Geoff
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BigFaceDave
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| posted on 24/11/09 at 07:50 PM |
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Funnily enough I also bought a LPG car yesterday (but trailored it back as it has not tax and wanted to wait until the first of next month) I also
have a funny button button with a red, amber and 4 green lights on it, if you want I can try to scan and email you a copy of my instruction book if
thats any help. P.S. I think the green lights are a indicator of how much you have in quarters if that makes sence, 1 light 1 quarter, 2 lights half
etc etc
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DarrenW
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| posted on 24/11/09 at 08:05 PM |
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Car is Lexus GS300. Its an aftermarket lpg conversion so has the seperate gauge on dash.
Jambo - I dont know if its sequential system or not, i havent seen a mixer thing though. Is yours a factory dual fuel or aftermarket?
Dave - what you describe sounds very similar to mine. Id love a copy of the instruction book please.
There was a little gas in the tank when i got the car, i had it filled but it only took 31 litres. Im guessing it must only be a 40l tank (ish).
I thought BT was referring to the mpg indicator on cars with on board computer. Mine hasnt got one (or not that ive found yet). Ill have another read
of that post.
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jambojeef
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| posted on 24/11/09 at 09:00 PM |
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Mine was fitted by me last year and its a STAG300 system.
If its a lexus GS it'll be a sequnetial Im pretty sure - i.e. one injector per cyl and an ECU.
Reading what others have written - the petrol gauge on my car does do the whole "reactive" thing as seems to be inferred from the posts in
that the petrol light will come on dependant on range rather than petrol level in the tank.
Is there an obvious connection point for a bit of laptop-ery?
Connection cables are cheap enough if its a common sytem.
Geoff
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big-vee-twin
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| posted on 24/11/09 at 09:13 PM |
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Darren,
I have an LPG conversion on my Renault R26, it is a BRC system and has a small circular gauge of LED'S with a button in the middle.
The button manually changes from petrol to gas or visa versa.
You will notice the last LED flash when the gas is getting low and when it runs out may hear a beep the system changes over from gas to petrol
automatically but when it has done this the little button needs to be pressed.
Mine has an LED at 12 oclock which is green when on Gas, Red for petrol and yellow when transferring.
When you fill up with gas again press the button and it will go onto gas.
My fuel gauge behaved exactly as yours the car will not be running on dual fuel, your petrol gauge will work as mine does when you turn on the car the
ecu takes a level reading then as you travel it works out how much fuel you have used by measuring distance and engine revs this gives the appearance
of using fuel - there is a little interface box that you wire into the system to fool the gauge and stop the petrol gauge dropping.
Hope the above helps you.
Duratec Engine is fitted, MS2 Extra V3 is assembled and tested, engine running, car now built. IVA passed 26/02/2016
http://www.triangleltd.com
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DarrenW
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| posted on 24/11/09 at 10:01 PM |
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Great help, thanks all. Ive also re-read BT's post and he did refer to the gauge rather than the mpg computer bit. So far i havent seen the
gauge go back up yet but i guess it will take a little time to understand the quirks of my car.
Ill have a better look at the conversion to get the make and model etc. when i get chance. Maybe its not a calor conversion - badge might be
misleading.
Im a bit more comforted to know the system will probs switch itself over to petrol when the gas runs out.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 25/11/09 at 07:57 AM |
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Some modern petrol gauges only reset after the petrol flap is opened --- crazy.
Using a 60 litre lPG tank as an example --
For safety reasons an LPG tank takes 20% less liquid gas than the volume of the tank.
A 60 litre lpg tank in theory holds 48 litres of liquid gas and 12 litres of vapour space, but the ammount of gas a 60 litre tank will take in fill
from empty will vary from about 45 to 51 litres.
The capacity of the tank will be stamped on a plate welded to the tank.
LPG LED gauges are pretty much useless they can be calibrated using the sytems diagnostic software but is a waste of time trying to get them
accurate at the top or bottom of the scale, most owners learn how many miles they can get out of one tank of LPG and work on mileage.
Keep a 1/4 tank of petrol all the time to prevent the petrol pump overheating or wearing out.
LPG mpg is more difficult to put an average figure on it varies more between fill ups and weather but varies less petrol between motorway and urban
driving. Best way to work out LPG mpg is top the car up and drive 100 miles then top up from the same pump.
On most modern systems if you switch the LPG off then switch the engine off then restart the engine while holding the LPG button the system will go
into to a LPG only mode designed for use if you have no petrol left. However it is best to regard this as an emergency get u home mode and leave
the system on auto switch over.
However in the present winter conditions the engine should really needs to drive 200 meters to 1 km before automatic switch over.
The design of the LPG LED switch is often the best clue to idenify which system is fitted.
[Edited on 25/11/09 by britishtrident]
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hughpinder
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| posted on 25/11/09 at 08:57 AM |
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On mine (185000 miles now, original unleaded valve seats) the LEDs are a bit variable e.g all 4 are on when you first fill, but the first goes off
pretty much as soon as you start using gas. The 'gauge' has one red and 4 green leds for gas level along the bottom, an orange one top
left to indicate you are set to change to gas, (when you hit the rev or temperature change over), and a red LED top right that shows when you are
using petrol. The petrol LED goes out when you stop using petrol. Mine is set to switch on rev change and usually switches to gas pretty much
immediately. I put in about 10litres of petrol every 3 months.
I find the level LEDs are not very linear - all 4 green on until Ive drievn about 10 miles, 3 stay on until about 130miles, but the last 2 only stay
on about another 10 miles, then the red one comes on that lasts about the next 100 miles! I usually refill at about 240 miles on the trip meter rather
than using the gauges. If you run out of gas while driving, just push the button to switch to petrol - no need to stop. I used to run until I ran out
of gas, then do 20 or 30 miles on petrol to let some lubrication on the valves, but I haven't bothered for the last 90K.
Regards
Hugh
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