What would normally be the problem when they broke down? Did it cause problems with the vehicle, or was it the propane system that had problems?

 

To run the truck on propane, you have to shut off the motor, switch to propane and then restart the motor. What would happen is you would shut off the truck, switch to propane, and the truck would not start. You would then switch back to gas and the truck still would not start. At this point, your truck was put on a lowbed and hauled to a dealer in Sacramento. You might see your truck again in a month! Our mechanics told me a valve under the hood was often the culprit, to the tune of over $2500! These valves would also leak propane under the hood...not a good situation. In all fairness to Ford, the little bit I ran the propane system the truck ran great, although you had to crank the motor approx. 3 times as long to start!

 

Hi

I have an Ford F-150 1998 5.4L which i got LPG converted last year.

In Norway it is very common to convert US Trucks to LPG because of our high gasoline prices.

1.9 USD per liter of gasoline 95 octane, and less than 0.8USD per liter of propane

The system i have in my truck is from BRC (italian) and hooks up to the engine computer. it has propane injectors which are drilled in to the intake manifold (the usage increases with about 3 percent compared to gasoline).

If anybody is interested in pictures/more info etc. just let me know and i'll post them here.

YS
Kjartan

 

That's cool. If you get a chance, take a picture and put it here. I'd like to see it.

 

Post some pics, please.

 

Ok here goes

Sorry about the crappy image quality (Qtek Mobile phone).


Left side injectors


Vaporizer in left, filter in front


LPG System computer in top right


Right side injectors

 

The switch to toggle between gasoline and propane


Picture of the tank


Picture of the tank


Picture of the tank

 

The front of my truck (2006 model ford emblem)


The company in poland who installed my system

 

That's COOL!!!

 

Ya, that is super cool.

 

question, I was under the asumption propane could not work with out cast iron head's and that propane needed a higer compression ratio, on the 98 F-150 owned by Keltic, are the propane injecters mecanical or electronic and how would the coumputer adjust air flow/timming and do you need 02 sensors?

 

BTW: Got some product pictures


System scematics


The computer


The injectors

 

I think the injectors are electronic.

The computer taps in to the original system, it also shuts off gasoline while the propane injectors take over (while the engine is runnning with a touch of a button)

The truck always starts on gasoline, and when the engine reaches a certain temperature it turns over to propane. The truck may also be forced over to gasoline, but cannot be forced to start on propane.

 

keltic

what does a system like that cost? Is it available in the US? Thanks for the post, very interesting option.

 

I have no idea if its avalible in the US, check out: http://www.brc.it/default_en.html

The system cost me 19.300 NOK (aprox 3.000USD) (+ 4.500NOK in traveling cost to Poland from Norway, where i also got cheap vodka and beer)
When i got a price quoute here in Norway they said about 50.000NOK (aprox 7.812USD)

(6,40NOK = 1USD)

I drive about 20.000 US miles a year and use 7500 USD a year in gasoline, with this system i am down to roughly 3300 USD a year. And since ive had the system for a little over a year now, this money has earned it self.
(all theese number are rough estimates)

Note, since this is a LPG injection system the usage only increases with about 3 percent, compared to older system which have a 20 - 30 percent increase in usage, and drop in performance.

I dont tow a lot except for my one ton boat which i drag around 2 times a year, then my usage obviously increases but on this i have no clue if the truck uses a lot more propane than gasoline.


My boat: Ibiza 19" Sport with 175 HP