Tuesday, Sep 11, 2007 at 12:40
Diesel Gas Australia system, Fitted to 3L GU Patrol In
Perth
I had the Diesel/gas Australia system fitted a few months ago to my Patrol GU series IV ZD30 DDTi 3L turbo auto.
It is good and the performance is great but there were quite a few things that I was not entirely happy with about the quality of the fitting.
(1) Did you have it installed or was it installed pre purchase
The
Diesel Gas Australia distributor (Mark Collins) sent me to
United fuel injection in
Redcliffe. They were very helpful. Unfortunately because they were also very busy the fitting job was outsourced to another guy. I was not told that this would be the case.
(2) If you had installed – how much did it cost
Cost $4500 less the rebate (when I get it)
Also had to modify the exhaust $190
Fitted a boost gauge $95 and exhaust pyrometer $260 in gauge pod $90 on pillar.
(3) What system is used.
Diesel Gas Australia
(4) Size and how many LPG tanks.
1 tank 27 L fitted where the muffler was
(5) Quantity of useable LPG when fully loaded.
I only seem to fill a max of 25L when it is empty
(6) Bleed ratio of LPG to Diesel.
Gas use for
mine is tuned to be on the minimal setting. I had heard bad things about the risks of over powering the ZD30 motor so I wanted to be conservative. Gas used is about 25L gas per 150L diesel on the highway and a bit more in the city. The nice thing about the
Diesel gas system is that it can be computer tuned on the dyno to set a Map curve that delivers gas accurately depending on the turbo boost and engine revs. Maximum gas is delivered at hard acceleration and drops off at cruising speed, this gives good power increase and better economy. I do not need to put the foot down as hard when towing a trailer.
(7) Does it make a difference and if so what ie More power, cooler/hotter burn, less/more diesel consumption etc etc.
The power increase is noticeable when the gas is switched on. I also fitted a bigger exhaust and 33” Xterrain tyres at the same time so the gains in power have been increased by the exhaust and somewhat reduced by bigger tyres.
Exhaust gas temp is about 20 to 50 C higher with the gas on. Pyrometer is fitted just after the turbo.
I do not need to accelerate as hard with the gas on. It pulls up hills far better than before.
Emissions
test: Hydrocarbon emissions have increased slightly rather than decreased (as I was lead to believe) but particulate material (black smoke) is reduced to nothing, even at full throttle. Oil stays clean for a lot longer.
Engine temp is slightly cooler but exhaust temp is slightly up?
(8) Would you recommend it and would you repeat the process if you purchased another diesel 4WD.
I am happy with the system but not as happy as I should be.
Things I did not like:
The gas filler was stuck down low near the tow bar where it could easily get bashed off. I told them that I did not like this but they said that is the standard position. More like the easy way out.
I had it moved to inside the fuel flap and the
Diesel gas guy provided a neat screw in fitting (cork screw) that they use on petrol instillations where they remove the sub-tank. It is now neatly fitted into the top one of the two Patrol filler caps. I also made a duel tank filler neck by adapting one from a 100 series Cruiser so I can fill both main and reserve from the one filler cap (who said Patrols aren’t as good as a Cruiser now it is a hybrid).
The bash plate over the tank was sub-standard and it got knocked back by the
Police inspector when I went over the pits as it did not adequately shield the exhaust from the gas tank.
Diesel gas gave me a bigger bash plate but I am fussy so I ended up making a complete bash plate that covered the front and sides of the tank. Because the exhaust was moved to go around the tank ( the gas tank is where the muffler used to be), the bash plate has to cover the entire side of the tank between the exhaust and tank to also act as a heat shield.
The electrical wiring was fitted through the main rubber grommet on the passenger side firewall. This was by cutting the rubber seal and was not sealed up properly. I have had wet carpet, grrrrrrr. Had to do the job properly myself.
I used a 3" Vortex exhaust which in hindsight is a bit big to easily have clearance around the gas tank and between the tail shaft. I would recommend a 2.5 to 2.75” exhaust for better fit.
The last thing that is a real B*#@H is getting the $2000 rebate from the Commonwealth Gov. MAKE SURE YOUR VEHICLE IS REGISTERED AS PRIVATE USE BEFORE YOU GET THE GAS FITTED.
I bought my Patrol from a dealer who paid my rego for 3 months (nice of them). They (dealer) can only pay it at the commercial rate (not private). I transferred it to my name straight away but I could not get it back-dated to the private rate as it is already paid for three months. Didn’t think it would be a problem.
I had the gas fitted, got the WA State Govt $1000 rebate quickly but the Commonwealth Gov have knocked it back on a technicality, because at the time the gas was fitted, the dealers three months of rego had not quite expired, even though I had paid for the next year at the private rate they are saying it was still registered as a commercial vehicle up till it expired and therefore, not eligible. This sucks big time.
Geordie
AnswerID:
261533
Follow Up By: Member - 'Lucy' - Tuesday, Sep 11, 2007 at 13:51
Tuesday, Sep 11, 2007 at 13:51
Geordie
Thank you for the time and effort in your reply.
You have answered everything I wanted to know about the Retro fitting of LPG to Diesel.
The rebate thing in WA seems to have attracted a greater percentage of those taking advantage of this technology - with the extra $1,000 .
However from what you say I take it the Federal Government stooged you out of their $2,000 rebate.
The standard of the fitting is a problem with most things these days as the fitters just want to get it on or in and working. Not too fussed about the finer points like properly sealing and protecting bits and pieces.
Once again, thanks for the
feedback.
FollowupID:
522920
Follow Up By: geordie4x4 - Tuesday, Sep 11, 2007 at 14:27
Tuesday, Sep 11, 2007 at 14:27
I am still fighting for the $2000 rebate. The WA DPI (vehicle registrations) have given me a letter to say that it was transfered as soon as was possible and they were happy to approve their rebate as the vehicle is for private use. I will see how it goes.
My other comments regarding the gas on a 3L Patrol.
I found that initally when driving it there was no problem with the boost going too high. However when towing a trailer at just under 100 on the speedo the boost would do sudden spikes to ofer 20 psi this would drop if I accelerated or backed off. This was with bigger tyres so I was really travelling at over 100kmph. At 110 on the speedo it seemed great and pulled
well, did not do boost spikes but the economy dropped off and risk of speeding. Became really anoying when on a long run I did not want to over stress the thing.
With the gas off it did not pull as
well but also did not do the boost spikes as I needed to be constantly on the accelerator just that little more to keep the speed constant. So it seems that under load (from towing and bigger wheels) with the gas on, I was allways just backing off the peddle and that is where the boost seems to have wild fluctuations (0 psi to 25psi) from the ECU and EGR systems. With gas off and accelerating slightly the boost was fine but exhaust temp would climb to over 500C. With gas off it was difficult to pull out and pass a truck with it on there was fantastic acceleration from 100 to 120 ish even with the trailer in tow it pulled
well up to 140 km (that is on a private
test track of course).
I have since fitted a dawes valve and it all runns perfectly with no boost ever over 20psi.
FollowupID:
522934