Monday, May 01, 2006 at 10:15
Owned a Patrol with the TB45E motor (but not on LPG), excellent rigs but I cannot comment on that particular motor's suitability for gas.
I thought I'd pipe in here as I also have an Impco LPG system, but on 4.5 petrol Cruiser and it is far superior to the previous european setup I had on my last one.
Performance is pretty much the same. It actually seems to run better on LPG to tell you the truth.
Economy. I just got 26l/100km's towing a fully laden tandem trailer at 100km/h from
Meekatharra to
Perth. Had the roof racks on too which makes a diiference. Overtaking anything was a breeze.
Reliability has been excellent. The only problem I have encountered was a backfire that I caused by seeing just how low I could go idleing up a
hill in low range. At about 450RPM it popped when I booted it and damaged the idle diaphram. Repaired, serviced and cleaned for $107 inc GST. Entirely my fault (but I know now).
Country trips require some planning to get the most out of your system. I cover the bulk of my driving on gas and use the LPG website to plan the autogas stops along the way. I'm about to do a trip to the northern WA goldfields for example, so I'll run on LPG from
Perth to Leinster where LPG is available everywhere. When I leave the seal, gas wont be around so I make sure I leave town with a full
tank of gas but only run on petrol. 500km range on juice, or with my jerries, 1,100km's. Add another 440km's if I use the gas. All in all cheaper to run than a Hilux with two or three times the go and comfort.
I miss my diesels sometimes, but in all honesty for 98% of my driving it works out that I'm
miles in front. The other benefit is repair costs. If your motor ever did crap itself for whatever reason, you'd just buy a replacement for $1,500 out of the paper. Try doing a diesel rebuild, or even just a routine injectors / pump service for that. The Nissan TB45E is one of the most trouble free 4x4 motors available in Australia - petrol or diesel. Try finding one that's ever had a problem.
It all depends on what you are going to realistically use it for. Horses for courses.
AnswerID:
169988