Dual Fuel and ULP Life

Hi Pete, I have a dual fuel 80 series running on gas . I will suggest to use the dar for at least 10 mins or more once every week to lubricate the engine ....
I had my since few years now and no problem!

Luca

I'll make an assumption here, that the VE runs an injected LPG system.

My Pajero runs a similar system. It starts on petrol and when the engine temp reaches 40 degrees it switches to LPG.

Since we fitted the system we usually only put about a quarter of a tank of petrol in at any one time. No point having all that money sitting in the tank waiting for some tea-leaf to come along. We've never had any issues with it. Never even occurred to me that the petrol might "go off". We find that we use the quarter tank about every 6 weeks. The missus does a lot of short runs ;-(

Pete,

There is a theory that ULP goes all syruppy if left too long. I've got a Jerry in the garage that must be two years old that disproves that theory. Whether or not it loses some potency over time, I don't know, but it seems to run the mower OK.

Keeping a reasonable level of ULP in the tank is important as fuel pumps run constantly and rely on the fuel to lubricate them. I have been advised that ¼ of a tank is the minimum.

Cheers,

Jim.

I'd be running it on petrol to use it up, and then just put 10 or 15ltrs at a time in it, then you will always have fresh fuel.

As said above by jim, it doesnt appear to be off over time and will run most small engines but what does happen is that it looses its octane rating over time, prob not best for a hi tech modern engine.

Ron

G'day Pete,

There was an article in the trailer boat mag a few issues ago regarding the aging of fuel. Interestingly, fuel ages very quickly in the fuel tank where the lighter companants are able to evaporate. This apparently affects the octane level and the fuel density (this is important for fuel pumps so it says). They were saying fuel was only good for about 6 weeks. They did note that where the fuel cannot evaporate - like in a jerry can - it can last a lot longer. Maybe 6 months in a jerry.

They were looking at 4 stroke motors and I suspect that the simple two strokes are nowhere near as fussy.

Kind regards

Thanks for all your responses. Looks like I will run the tank down about every 4 weeks or so.

It does help on the big coiuntry work trips. If I start with both tanks full I can get over 1,100 km before needing a fuel stop. (mind you there are lots of other things that need a stop well before that!)

Cheers

Pete

g"day
I have a vy ute on gas when i done a trip half way round the block i filled it with both gas and ulp not knowing what the gas situation would be in some country towns well not leaving the blacktop i used very little ulp well this stayed in the car for four months till it became hard to start so back to the gas installer with all his gauges and gear then after about 15 minutes he asked me how long had the fuel been in the tank i told him ,he said to run it all out, after doing this and only putting $20 at a time in it has never mist a beat hope this helps bill.

All unleaded cars have at least hardened exhaust valve seats. A problem with some however which arent designed to run LPG is called "valve recession" where te hardened valve seats actually recess into the aluminium head. A friend with a Discovery has this problem and is getting the heads recoed at the moment. It happened quite quickly to him as his is centrifugally supercharged aswell. Great setup but not totally compatible with LPG from factory.
My 80 series is running injected LPG and can run on it for life, no probs. However the installer still recommended on average to run a full tank of petrol thru her per month. I do this aswell because as soon as petrol leaves the refinery, its octane drops. Sitting in the servo tanks and then in your tank and its dropped a few octane points guaranteed.
Point is, always try to fill up at busy servos where fresh fuel gets pumped in more often, and run her her dry and fill up with fresh ULP once a month and you will be fine as far as fuel goes. Whether a new commy is fully LPG compatible i'm not sure. I do know that Holden wont sell them with an LPG option as they wont warranty the engines....
Still, i think you will be fine for a long time.
Cheers.

Well there you go! They must have finally realised that its ok with your new model. Never been that way but good to see! So you are safe as houses.
As a minimum, i'd just keep filling up the ULP tank to 1/4 only for the start-ups, and once a month run that full 1/4 tank thru her. Gets rid of the stale fuel aswell.
Cheers!