Propane Conversions

[articulate]

Thoughts on propane conversions? Not that I want one, but with all the prayers going out to the diesel gods I wonder about running propane. Quick benefits that I can think of are:

• No fuel pump needed
• Automatic altitude compensation
• Second fuel source (if converted to run both gasoline and propane)
• Good mileage and economical
• High octane (100+)
• Refillable anywhere in the U.S. and Canada, and other developed countries
• Standard fittings
• Clean burning, thereby easy on the motor
• Approved alternative fuel of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and the Energy Policy Act of 1992

This might be a worthwhile discussion, because I don't know of the downsides to this kind of conversion. I'm not really considering it, but it could be a valuable resource for someone else.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[crawler#976]

http://www.gotpropane.com/

..and it works at any angle.

 

[kcowyo]

Got Propane - right in your backyard.

I looked into this when I had a carb'd '85 Toyota. There a ton of upsides to running propane. The issue I had was it wasn't refillable everywhere in the US. Maybe propane is more widely available now than a few years ago when I looked into it. Also propane doesn't like my climate much.

Those were the only problems I could forsee. Well, that and getting a craving for a grilled burger everytime I hit the skinny pedal....

 

[crawler#976]

kcowyo - jinx, you owe me a Coke




or a cold beer...

 

[njtaco]

As was said, not refillable as easily as you would think. Different locations (countrys) have different "standard" fittings. (See the Hackney's site, I think they covered this...)

Any Lp forklift I've had the pleasure of operating had icing problems in cold...never a concern on the diesels (if they started.)

2c

Edit...it was the Hackneys... dhackney on ExPo

 

[kcowyo]

kcowyo - jinx

How is a guy with the handle 'Crawler' is so fast?



*IOU a cold one. Meet you at the Muckers Bucket in Creede...? :beer:

 

[Westy]

Cary @ Gotpropane has a great product.

I do not believe it has been approved by the epa however. I know they run very well, I have a friend who recently converted his Toyota to propane.

The biggest downfall is finding filling stations. For a daily vehicle or expedition rig, if the only fuel source is propane you may run into availability problems, big time. Also, mileage is decreased w/ propane.

Dual fuel would be the hot setup I think.

 

[Nullifier]

Bought a 15 passenger van for my company that had over 150K on it. THe inside of the 351 looked incredible. We had the head removed at 215K for a head gasket and it looked like we had just assembled it. The heads had 0 build up and the cylinder walls and top of the piston had no buildup either looked brand spanking new.

DO not know much about propane systems but from wha I understand you can nt run them on an EFI set up. Maybe someone can enlighten me as to why.

 

[Martyn]

As was said, not refillable as easily as you would think. Different locations (countrys) have different "standard" fittings. (See the Hackney's site, I think they covered this...)

Any Lp forklift I've had the pleasure of operating had icing problems in cold...never a concern on the diesels (if they started.)

2c

Gaslow out of Scotland sells adapters to convert fittings using these makes the fitting and refill issue a little simpler.

 

[njtaco]

Gaslow out of Scotland sells adapters to convert fittings using these makes the fitting and refill issue a little simpler.

IIRC, that is what they did...carried all possible combinations.

LINK

Images 65 to 80 or so...

 

[crawler#976]

How is a guy with the handle 'Crawler' is so fast?



*IOU a cold one. Meet you at the Muckers Bucket in Creede...? :beer:

Aww, man! Don't tempt me!!!

 

[MossMan]

I looked into this pretty extensively when I had a YJ with the old 4.2 in it. There really isn't (maybe any) much downside other than filling your tank. And that shouldn't be a problem with sufficient planning. My biggest fear was being out on the trail and running out or leaking out. A lot of the setups I saw people running were carrying two tanks so that helps; however, the YJ was basically a buggy and carrying two tanks would've been difficult.

If you could come up with a carrying solution that fit where the gas tank is so you didn't lose any space I think that would be ideal. Couple in the fact that most campers are going to have a tank or two on them as well and you've got lots of multi purpose fuel.

Finally, if you can buy propane in bulk you could stand to save a great deal of money. There are an abundance of companies that will deliver a BIG tank to your house and then refill as needed. It wouldn't be too hard to develop and refilling station for the mobile tanks. You just have to make sure you drain from the bottom of the big tank. Then you would really have it made. :wings:

btw- the main reason I didn't do this was because I ran across a killer deal on a 4.0, aw4 auto tranny, and a custom wiring harness so I took the cheap and easy/lazy route.

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

What is the difference between Propane.....and at home Natural Gas?

If you did the Propane conversion.....could you also run your truck off your household Natural Gas?.....with an adaptor home garage filler up station!

And would their be a $ cost saving by using your home natural gas?

Very Kewl concept if it could work and save you money!



.

 

[RoundOut]

What is the difference between Propane.....and at home Natural Gas?

The btu (British Thermal Unit - a measure of the energy potential of the fuel) content of propane (C3) is significantly higher than methane (C1). Most of your home natural gas is methane with maybe a bit of ethane (C2) in it. Btu content goes up significantly with the number of carbon atoms in a hydrocarbon molecule. I am NOT a chemical or petroleum engineer, but I have studied this a bit. IIRC, the btu content of your typical home natural gas is somewhere around 950-1000 btu/cf. Natural gas liquids (ethane, propane, butane & isobutane (C4) and to a lesser extent, pentane (C5) and hexane (C6)) are significantly (and progressively, as listed) higher in btu content.

One reason propane may not yield as great a fuel economy per gallon is its lower btu content than the gasoline alternative, which is usually a combination of pentanes and hexanes with a small amount of butane, depending on the season and it's vapor pressure limits (butane has a higher vapor pressure - tendency to evaporate -- and pollute, than pentane and hexane).

I hope this helps you understand the differences between motor fuels and natural gas used for heating one's home or cooking in the kitchen. One more comparison is that you cannot typically use the same BBQ grill that uses propane and successfully cook the same meal in the same amount of time with an equivalent amount of natural gas at the same rate of burn.

 

[njtaco]

If you did the Propane conversion.....could you also run your truck off your household Natural Gas?.....with an adaptor home garage filler up station!





.

In addition to the above, you are not going to be able to "bottle" natural gas in liquid form from your home, nor compress enough in gaseous form to be practical.

Roundout- Thanks for providing such an in-depth answer.. I learned a lot in the last few minutes.