Hi guys, how does the tj magna run with an lpg system? I think it is running a mixer system. How is the fuel economy when running on LPG? Is there anything special you have to look out fr because its on LPG? I am thinking of getting one

I had mine converted 4 years ago. It was a good move. I have not had any issues at all since running on LPG and it has done just on 90,000 klms since it was converted. Power is marginally less on LPG but i was away last week and on the open road it was getting aroud 580klms from 56 litres. Around town in stop start is about 430klms. I was actually in NSW last week and gas was 90 cents a litre. I nearly fell over. It is around 55 cents a litre here in Melbourne.

I had mine converted 4 years ago. It was a good move. I have not had any issues at all since running on LPG and it has done just on 90,000 klms since it was converted. Power is marginally less on LPG but i was away last week and on the open road it was getting aroud 580klms from 56 litres. Around town in stop start is about 430klms. I was actually in NSW last week and gas was 90 cents a litre. I nearly fell over. It is around 55 cents a litre here in Melbourne.

me too mate best thing i did had for two years not a single problem i always run petrol through it for a few ks everyting i fill up on lpg and never had a problem
also there is still a rebate for gas i think you get back 1250 if you get converted

The TJ's run well on LPG in my experience even with a mixer system. The fuel consumption on my AWD can be as high as 20l/100k in short, stop-start driving and it's gone as low as 12l/100k at a steady 100kph. My gas installer recommends servicing the LPG system every 20K, so I'd look for a record of servicing. He also recommends running on petrol on a regular basis to maintain the fuel system. Check how it runs on petrol; a rough or very rough idle can be a sign that the fuel system hasn't been run regularly. A friend of mine bought a high mileage dual fuel Falcon recently and couldn't get it to run on petrol. Turned out the previous owner never ran it on petrol. My friend tried unsuccessfully to have the injectors cleaned and ended up having to replace them.

I have 2 vehicles on LPG - a TF Magna (3L) and an NL Pajero. Both run exceptionally well on gas - in fact I cannot tell the differ3ence in power between petrol and gas. Of late, the Magna has been a bit naughty and is missing on light throttle. I am trying to sort that out now. The Pajero is particularly fussy on gas because of the skinny high tension leads. They break down easily and can cause backfires between adjacent cylinders. The result of that is not nice. Airflow meter cops quite a blast. The Magna is not as touchy.

The Magna consistently gives around 11L/100 km, and I really expected it to use 10L/100 (it gets that occasionally on long trips). The Pajero gets around 16L/100 km without towing anything.

Regarding the 90 cents per litre in NSW, yes - that is what they charge for it in Cooma and the surrounding area. Canberra is 65.9 cents, yet is only 110 km up the road. Needless to say, we fill with gas as little as possible in Cooma. I try to suppoert local businesses as much as possible, but this sort of ripoff doesn't deserve any help from me. You can get gas in outback NSW - Broken Hill, Bourke etc cheaper than Cooma. Hell, I paid $1.05 per litre at Leigh Creek and $1.10 at Lyndhurst earleir this year, and that is a long way to transport the gas. Even up the centre, it isn't that expensive. On the Eyre peninsula, it was still cheaper than Cooma. Something is wrong. Rant over - for now!

I've had a sprintgas mixer system installed in my TJS2 magna for about 8 months now. Done about 13000km's and there isn't much problem. I replaced the plugs with Iridium IX plugs that were colder and had smaller gapped (as recommended by NGK) and I've really had no ignition problems at all. The only issues I actually had with the lpg was basically caused by me where I hadn't adjusted the TPS well and when the airflow sensor kicked the bucket. At high speeds the throttle seems a bit jerky and on lpg I find the car seems to struggle to battle the winds more than with petrol but I beleive that these issues are due to a dirty throttle body.

Economy for me here in the city/inner suburbs on lpg is around 16-18L/100km but at $0.55/litre this stil barely costs $8-9/100km, which is significantly cheaper than running the car on petrol at $15-16 ($1.45/litre & 11.5L/100km economy).

I do still try and run petrol in the system every week. For every tank of gas @ 60L I run through about 10-15L of petrol so I keep a 1:4 ratio. If I don't run petrol through the sytem for a while then it can get a bit rough on petrol for a few kilometres until the fuel runs through the system fully. Since I run petrol and lpg my fuel costs have decreased about 40%.

I also service the car with full synth oil every 7500km's so I'm sure that probably helps with keeping the engine to run a little nicer as well.

I've got 3 Magna's running on LPG and they all run smooth.
The oldest, my TS 3.0l was converted 7 years ago and has done over 100,000 since conversion without issue.
My TH 3.5l was converted 6 years ago and has done about 100,000 also without issue.
My TJ VRX 3.5l was done 2 years ago (when I bought it) and it has also run issue free.
I run all as dual fuel. I warm them up on petrol (helps heaps with th e LPG consumption when cold) as this keeps everything running smooth. :hmm:
I was told to run them at 4:1 LPG to petrol, but I don't, more like 8:1.
I get about 11 litres per 100k's on the 3.5's and 12 on the TS. (600k's per tank on the open road in the VRX)
Regular maintenance helps ALL cars, so yes, mine all get new oil and filters every 5,000k.
I must be in gas heaven because I'm only paying 56 cents per litre for LPG ($1.50 for premium unleaded) :dancin:

Why are you blokes changing oil and filters so often? - LPG is supposed to extends oil change intervals - LPG Autogas say:

The advantages of Autogas over petrol include:
* Fewer oil and filter changes
* No sludge formation in engines
* Longer exhaust life
* Cleaner spark plugs
* Longer engine life
* Cylinder walls are never washed dry
* No lubricating oil dilution occurs
* No fuel carbon deposits are formed, resulting in less engine wear

Hako:
If you are doing short cold runs, change the oil fairly frequently because LPG produces an acidic condensate which can damage things like bearings. I change my oils every 7500 km, but most of my running is done with 100 km+ trips. My Pajero gets fired up once every 3 or 4 weeks, yet it has managed 20000 km per year - the same as the Magna.

LPG is supposed to extend the engine life considerably. I guess that is because there is minimal condensate formed to wash oil from the cylinder walls. I read an article years ago about a ferry service on the Hawkesbury River which had converted all their outboard motors to LPG because they claimed 4 times the engine life.

What I do know is that the oil stays 'clean' for a much longer time than an equivalent petrol engine, so most of the listing about LPG benefits seems to hold true. I disagree about sludge - if the engine runs cold, you get sludge, but otherwise I agree. The Autogas site doesn't tell you that LPG engines are more critical on ignition leads and plugs, but if you run plugs at least one grade colder than the petrol recommendation, you should get a longer life from your plugs.

Hey Hako:
What's the harm in spending less than a tank of LPG on oil and a filter occasionally?
Some people spend over $1000 on wheels, the same on a stereo, etc...... but don't want to look after the mechanicals????????
What's the point if a car looks good but doesn't work?
I need my cars to run well and economically, so I maintain them regularly.
As the old saying goes: an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure....... and it's a hell of a lot cheaper too.