Dual Fuel Petrol & Gas Good Or Bad?

[85L200Express]

I'm considering buying either a diesel or a dual fuel (gas and petrol) Pajero. Does anyone have any experience with a dual fuel set up? My friend has a dual fuel Disco and it's been problematic. Any issues with dual fuel Paj's? Or should I just chase a Diesel?

I won't be towing. Just offroading on weekends. Town driving during the week.

Thanks

[nj swb]

I don't have, and have never had, a gas or dual fuel vehicle - so I can't comment on living with gas.

LPG is less "energy dense" than petrol, so will never provide the same economy (litres per hundred km / miles per gallon) as petrol. In years gone by, when LPG was a fraction of the price of petrol, the cost of the installation was easy to recover through the savings in fuel costs.

Now that the government has ramped up the taxes on LPG, the fuel cost advantage has been whittled away, and the cost savings are nowhere near as significant as they once were.

Over time, the costs of an LPG install can still be recovered, and you can end up in front. But the running cost benefits no longer pay for as much "hassle" as they once may have.

I think petrol / gas no longer makes as much sense as it once did. I think that, for what you've described, you shouldn't rule it out, but any problems could easily make you feel like it wasn't worth it.

There you go - a long winded "dunno".

[flyboy]

Diesel. Diesel. Diesel.

Don't get me wrong, there are drawbacks with diesel.
- more noise and vibration
- generally more expensive servicing
- much more expensive if something goes bang

But having changed over from years of V6 petrol to a diesel Pajero, I'll never buy another petrol car again.

It's not just energy density that makes diesel more efficient. Diesels are much higher compression which leads to better specific fuel consumption.

My 1.5 tonne Mitsubishi V6 family sedan does 15L/100 around town. Would be worse on dual fuel.
My 2.3 tonne Pajero does 10L/100 around town.

It's a no brainer. If you do 15,000km/year, that is well over a grand.

[Ian H]

I had an all gas ute for work 6 years ago and it was a pita. Once out of the city you had to make sure you had enough gas because not all servos in small towns sold it. Plus the mileage is a lot less than petrol per litre so I had to fill up a lot more than if I had petrol. You need to add about 50% to the price per L to get a comparison to petrol so if gas is say 75c, then it's effectively 1.10c, which is hardly worth saving. If going outback and off road, go diesel. (And i haven't even mentioned resale value....but there diesel wins again)

[Nab]

I've had 3 LPG/petrol cars, never again. While you do save $$$ and get better range (by having 2 fuel tanks) it's getting pretty hard to find good LPG mechanics. The one I used to use closed shop as it got too quiet for him. Slower to fill up your tank especially on a hot day, more and more servos deleting their LPG bowsers.

If you live in Melbourne (the only city with cheap LPG) and do lots of kms then go for it otherwise not worth it. I would go straight petrol if you are leaning that way.

[andy_q]

I run an lpi falcon and a diesel Pajero. The lpg in Sydney is still cheap enough to make the dedicated gas falcon great value. I average about 600km per week and this cost me just over $40 depending on lpg price. Never had any issue with the gas system either as it is oem.
I would only buy an aftermarket liquid injection system which are similar to the lpi falcon. I believe that these solve many of the problems of the vapour systems.
Cheers
Andy


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[gaz1]

I had my '02 NM Pajero V6 converted to LPG in 2009 (gas injection, not liquid injection which was not available at that time) and it ran without fault, using the gas for probably 95% of the time , including towing my 2400kg caravan, until I traded it on an NT V6 last month. Frankly I found it hard to discern any noticeable change in performance, albeit I accept there is typically some performance loss.
The price of LPG in western Sydney has remained quite competitive, and much steadier that the volatile prices for unleaded - so all in all it was a good deal even taking into account the higher consumption rate.
Given that the subsidy on gas conversion has now ended, I won't be getting the NT converted, but I would not have hesitated to buy an already converted one if it had been available when I was shopping for the NT. Particularly if it was a liquid injection version.

[Drewan]

Our old 60 series/Landcruser was LPG to the point where I removed the Fuel tank and put 2x55l gas tanks in the hole with a little 20l get me out of the shit fuel tank . yes the head was shaved and and built for gas it did 3laps without missing a beat and pulled like a 12yr old boy .Key is the engine has to be tuned and built for gas, on petrol it was a pig.We used fuel once in 3 years when I should have turned left at Albuquerque. Have been told by "Experts" that you have to use fuel once a week to "lubricate" the engine, OK isn't fuel a solvent ??? Didn't it once upon a time have Lead in it as a lubricant ?? Modern engines are built for unleaded so what's the point. Brother in law is a Gas fitter and he's the first to admit its one or the other Dual fuel and getting performance from both isn't really possible. Plenty of smart systems that come close but not really close enough.

[PaulBKal]

I'm considering buying either a diesel or a dual fuel (gas and petrol) Pajero. Does anyone have any experience with a dual fuel set up? My friend has a dual fuel Disco and it's been problematic. Any issues with dual fuel Paj's? Or should I just chase a Diesel?



I won't be towing. Just offroading on weekends. Town driving during the week.



Thanks

NO NO NO! Don't touch it with s barge pole. I did it with a 90 series Prado and have friends who have done it to variety of 4WDs. We all hated it.

For a start your fuel range collapses as you get a smaller tank and use at least half as much fuel again. In my case I went from a 90 ltr petrol tank using 12-13 l/100km to a 60 ltr gas tank using 23-25 l/100km. My range fell from over 600 km to less than 300km.

Apart from that the motor was never the same. It went from being quite pokey with great acceleration and a competent tug to a gutless guzzler that seemed to always needing a tune up.

I never did find a mechanic that could get it running right when that had never been an issue before the gas conversion.

I ignored advice very similar to this and did it anyway and have had others ignore my advice and we ALL REGRET IT!!!

So I say, with all sincerity, just don't do it. I now have a Pajero diesel, which is sensational and like an earlier responder, I would never go back.


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[RJ5023]

My local servo (West Lakes Adelaide - Shell) removed their gas tanks and pumps about a year ago, so it might become a bit harder to find a gas filling point in the future - even in the metro areas.

Cheers,

[Drewan]

Not to mention price got unleaded at $119 today in the Adl hills LPG was .86 kinda no point anymore

[peter eddy]

I have an NM with 245k now on clock that runs dual fuel which was already on car when I purchased 3 years ago. My total range on dual fuel is about 950Km. runs perfect on gas but as tank empty does lose a bit of oomph. Gas price is 73c v petrol @ 115c so is well worth running almost always on gas. Is true that petrol stn are removing gas tanks and it is harder to find in country towns where on odd trips I have noticed that gas price and petrol are much closer together. I think gas has to be about 15% cheaper to make up for loss in efficiency. My gas tank is 60l and is in the rear seat storage area. I do not have the rear seats.