Hi all, I'm thinking about checking out a KW Verada I seen for sale with factory gas fitted, just wondering is the factory gas system fitted to these cars ok? cheers

I'm under the impression the factory Gas is the best set up, my KL is aftermarket and it's fine as was my TH's.

The higher spec Magna's/Verada's got the LPG engine and that helps the engine cope with the Gas.

Shouldnt be anything wrong with a Factory Gas System, as long as it running right...
They are simple, A diaphram, ran off the manifold vacuum pipe, regulates the gas injected before the manifold, this can adjusted by what they call a mixture screw, which allows more/less gas..
Very simple and a great touring car, as lots of workshops can repair/adjust the system...
Usually the main fault that can happen is a torn/leaking diaphram which wont allow the correct feed of gas required when you accelerate...
And dont expect a Mixer system to work like petrol... Keeping it under 3000 RPM should work nicely...
At this age though, the gas tank might be up for its 10 year inspection.

If the car ticks all the boxes, then I'd take it on a 100km Freeway trip, filling the gas before you go, and refill after 100km.. And see how gas you used. Use the same gas pump to fill and refill... For consistency though... if it uses 10-12 litres for cruising, it should be in good nick... If it changes over smoothly, and accelerates as normal, holding the auto in third, and going from 10% throttle to 80% throttle will tell you if the feed system is working OK...

The LPG heads which were fitted with hard seals/valves will do fine... I don't have those heads and have done 150k plus without issue..
LPG does burn hotter than petrol, so a good inspection of underbonnet hoses is recommended...

Shouldnt be anything wrong with a Factory Gas System, as long as it running right...
They are simple, A diaphram, ran off the manifold vacuum pipe, regulates the gas injected before the manifold, this can adjusted by what they call a mixture screw, which allows more/less gas..
Very simple and a great touring car, as lots of workshops can repair/adjust the system...
Usually the main fault that can happen is a torn/leaking diaphram which wont allow the correct feed of gas required when you accelerate...
And dont expect a Mixer system to work like petrol... Keeping it under 3000 RPM should work nicely...
At this age though, the gas tank might be up for its 10 year inspection.

If the car ticks all the boxes, then I'd take it on a 100km Freeway trip, filling the gas before you go, and refill after 100km.. And see how gas you used. Use the same gas pump to fill and refill... For consistency though... if it uses 10-12 litres for cruising, it should be in good nick... If it changes over smoothly, and accelerates as normal, holding the auto in third, and going from 10% throttle to 80% throttle will tell you if the feed system is working OK...

The LPG heads which were fitted with hard seals/valves will do fine... I don't have those heads and have done 150k plus without issue..
LPG does burn hotter than petrol, so a good inspection of underbonnet hoses is recommended...

Thank you so much for that great reply SHOOT, it was very helpful to me as I have never owned a gas powered car before, the car is a KW XI with 150,000k's on it for $5500, good buying at that price I think, might buy it if its still for sale, cheers

I'm under the impression the factory Gas is the best set up, my KL is aftermarket and it's fine as was my TH's.

The higher spec Magna's/Verada's got the LPG engine and that helps the engine cope with the Gas.

Thanks so much for the reply prowler, very helpful thank you, cheers

I don't know about factory gas on Magnas, but the factory gas on Falcons & Commodores had only gas - no petrol. This is fine if you only move in areas where you can buy gas, but if you go outside then you may have problems getting fuel.

As far as I know, all 3.5L engines were gas compatible. The 3.5L engine in the NL was advertised as being 100% compatible. Certainly some of the 3.0 L engines on the TF were not. We bought an Advance model which the MMA man (not the salesman) told me was compatible. We had no problems with the Tf on gas.

FYI - The LPG heads were stamped as so

just started cleaning up the engine bay (needed it, and plan on swapping over the engine cover and front rocker cover) when i noticed this tab with LPG stamped on it.... i've owned the car since it was about 2 or 3 years old, it's never had LPG fitted? not sure if it's related or not, but the intake plenum seems to have a more shiny, almost polished finish to it?

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1/asylum83/2012-01-23-175900.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1/asylum83/2012-01-23-175909.jpg

There were Dedicated Magna's only running LPG

SHOOT's comments about the LPG head are right. When I spoke to the MMA man after we bought the TF (2 years old at the time), he said if you have the 'A' suffix on the engine number it is LPG compatible. At the time it wasn't on LPG, but soon after, it was.

I don't know about factory gas on Magnas, but the factory gas on Falcons & Commodores had only gas - no petrol. This is fine if you only move in areas where you can buy gas, but if you go outside then you may have problems getting fuel.

We just bought a VT Commy with Factory LPG, it's duel fuel ..... you're not thinking the Taxi specials are you?

I have a mixer system on my TH, it runs so much better than petrol, very smooth and doesnt shake like petrol at idle. The only problem is, i think its leaking water in the gas system somewhere as i have to top it up every month. AT 49.9c its a bargain to run costing $31 to fill and getting me over 400 ks to a tank

I have a mixer system on my TH, it runs so much better than petrol, very smooth and doesnt shake like petrol at idle. The only problem is, i think its leaking water in the gas system somewhere as i have to top it up every month. AT 49.9c its a bargain to run costing $31 to fill and getting me over 400 ks to a tank

If that is the case, I'd be looking into the vapourizer, you could possibly have coolant running through the throttle body, causing corrosion etc. Short trips would probably cause an early death to an exhaust as well. Plus many other parts fouling... That is, of course if it is the case.. I dont know what pressures are in he radiator compared to the Gas system, but its possible at some point the LPG could get into the coolant system as well...
It possible that the coolant connections are leaking and not entering your system as well... This is a no brainer, you need to sort faulty LPG systems ASAP...

If that is the case, I'd be looking into the vapourizer, you could possibly have coolant running through the throttle body, causing corrosion etc. Short trips would probably cause an early death to an exhaust as well. Plus many other parts fouling... That is, of course if it is the case.. I dont know what pressures are in he radiator compared to the Gas system, but its possible at some point the LPG could get into the coolant system as well...
It possible that the coolant connections are leaking and not entering your system as well... This is a no brainer, you need to sort faulty LPG systems ASAP...

I cannot find any leaks from the radiator. I think its in the vaporiser somewhere. As the water goes low, the vaporiser freezes and the car starts to miss.

Where do you pay 50 cpl for gas? 65cpl in Adelaide

I cannot find any leaks from the radiator. I think its in the vaporiser somewhere. As the water goes low, the vaporiser freezes and the car starts to miss.

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?25880-LPG-Coolant-Leak

That looks like a bad case to be fair, but I wouldnt want coolant running through my engine..

Melbourne is everywhere at 49.9c

I'll second what Robo says in post #10.
My TW runs beautifully on gas (mixer system) and I get typically 12L/100 km. 550k, on 65 Litre of gas.
Last week, I went on a country only trip of 458 Km and used 44 litre of gas. Just terrific. I love the old bus. And yes, gas has been 51.9 for ages now (less 4 cents with the shopper docket and yesterday I saw it was down to 49.9. The 4 cents shopper docket makes a good difference with buying gas.

I'll second what Robo says in post #10.
My TW runs beautifully on gas (mixer system) and I get typically 12L/100 km. 550k, on 65 Litre of gas.
Last week, I went on a country only trip of 458 Km and used 44 litre of gas. Just terrific. I love the old bus. And yes, gas has been 51.9 for ages now (less 4 cents with the shopper docket and yesterday I saw it was down to 49.9. The 4 cents shopper docket makes a good difference with buying gas.

Awesome economy, wish i was getting that. I am constantly getting around 14/100 around town on a good day. Maybe upto 15/100 and down to 12/100 on a open run. But for a $30 fill its hard to go past and runs better than petrol

Awesome economy, wish i was getting that. I am constantly getting around 14/100 around town on a good day. Maybe upto 15/100 and down to 12/100 on a open run. But for a $30 fill its hard to go past and runs better than petrol

Ditto

my TW runs beautifully on factory gas but is thirsty. The best I've got on a country run is 13.5 l/100 km and around town it's usually 19. I don't drive it hard. I've taken it to maybe 4-5 gas places, including the people who fitted it for the factory, and they all say it's fine "that's what they use". Some people are lucky or maybe drive very carefully, but be warned that a factory gas -mixer- system can be thirsty.

It's still cheaper than petrol.

my TW runs beautifully on factory gas but is thirsty. The best I've got on a country run is 13.5 l/100 km and around town it's usually 19. I don't drive it hard. I've taken it to maybe 4-5 gas places, including the people who fitted it for the factory, and they all say it's fine "that's what they use". Some people are lucky or maybe drive very carefully, but be warned that a factory gas -mixer- system can be thirsty.

It's still cheaper than petrol.

There must be something wrong with your set up if you are getting those sort of consumption figures. Have you been to Mark Walker in Lonsdale? Mine was like that and with some fixing up of things, I constantly get 14/15 lp 100km

my TW runs beautifully on factory gas but is thirsty. The best I've got on a country run is 13.5 l/100 km and around town it's usually 19. I don't drive it hard. I've taken it to maybe 4-5 gas places, including the people who fitted it for the factory, and they all say it's fine "that's what they use". Some people are lucky or maybe drive very carefully, but be warned that a factory gas -mixer- system can be thirsty.

It's still cheaper than petrol.
If the factory gas cars were LPG only and didn't get a retuned ECU (or piggyback) to add ignition advance below 3000rpm, I would expect their driveability could be noticeably improved with a good tune...

If the factory gas cars were LPG only and didn't get a retuned ECU (or piggyback) to add ignition advance below 3000rpm, I would expect their driveability could be noticeably improved with a good tune...



I can confirm dedicated LPG TW has stock tune on the ecu.

Crank some timing and reap the benefits.

Thanks, I'll give Mark Walker a call.

I took it to Mark Walker. He really knows his stuff. He said the air-fuel ratio as measured at the tailpipe is not too bad, but unfortunately the factory gas on mine isn't adjustable. I could spend about $500 on a new Impco mixer, one with adjustment, for a small improvement, or just live with it.

Everyone says "if it gets 19/100k there must be something wrong with it" but Mark is the not the first gas service guy to say there's nothing wrong with it.

BTW he thinks the Impco systems are crap, and I'm inclined to agree.