Nope. Diesels are a whole different motor. However, you CAN run a diesel on veggie oil, I hear.
- Thread starter AZB
- Start date
Propane gas conversion review (long post)
Pardon the hijack.
I have been averaging $300 US/year for several years now.
I must live in very different terrain than you, as I have never had any front end problems with any of my cars/trucks.
I do fix everything like new when I buy used, but years of driviing the roads here has never damaged any of my front ends.
I have had some vehicles as long as 4 years.
End of hijack.
wear and tear: city vs. campos
I don't see that you've hijacked. You are improving the quality of the information.
I based my observations a daily 15-mile roundtrip commute on Santo Domingo's most heavily traveled roads and incidental other use. Perhaps more importantly, I have never owned more than one vehicle at a time (the wear and tear is not diluted across several vehicles). The stop and go of city driving is very hard on every part of a vehicle except maybe the upholstery. I think your cost is reasonable. In reality, $1,000 is probably the very high end of what I've experienced. I made a very conservative estimate to be more helpful to somebody considering a new car. Even at USD$2,000/year in maintenance, for me it's hard to rationalize a USD$30,000 to USD$40,000 outlay that loses 10% of its value within months.
Restoring everything to like new condition is wise. I think it saves headaches and it makes sense to take advantage of the low cost of repairs. I've had a lot of luck using the same technique. My guess is your lack of front end issues has to do with the advantage being able to travel familiar roads and avoid the bone crunching ruts and chuckholes that scar every part of the city. Using a truck or SUV is a big help. Compact and sub compact cars just don't hold up well to these special pressures. Anybody else ever hit nice deep one at speed or run over a branch or other debris on a pitch black roadway? It's not so much fun.
I don't see that you've hijacked. You are improving the quality of the information.
I based my observations a daily 15-mile roundtrip commute on Santo Domingo's most heavily traveled roads and incidental other use. Perhaps more importantly, I have never owned more than one vehicle at a time (the wear and tear is not diluted across several vehicles). The stop and go of city driving is very hard on every part of a vehicle except maybe the upholstery. I think your cost is reasonable. In reality, $1,000 is probably the very high end of what I've experienced. I made a very conservative estimate to be more helpful to somebody considering a new car. Even at USD$2,000/year in maintenance, for me it's hard to rationalize a USD$30,000 to USD$40,000 outlay that loses 10% of its value within months.
Restoring everything to like new condition is wise. I think it saves headaches and it makes sense to take advantage of the low cost of repairs. I've had a lot of luck using the same technique. My guess is your lack of front end issues has to do with the advantage being able to travel familiar roads and avoid the bone crunching ruts and chuckholes that scar every part of the city. Using a truck or SUV is a big help. Compact and sub compact cars just don't hold up well to these special pressures. Anybody else ever hit nice deep one at speed or run over a branch or other debris on a pitch black roadway? It's not so much fun.
There is a place just down the autopista towards town (Santiago) from the HOMS on the same side of the road before you get to the intersecton with the Ave Rafael Vidal. the price is around 20k for an SUV and it is an italian system with a tank as cobraboy described with the automatic switch from gas to propane when the rpms increase over a certain limit.
I remember these folks from years ago, when they were just behind the big Ochoa dealership in the traffic circle.
They were reputed to be the best then, and still appear to be "Numero Uno" in Santiago.
There's little doubt in my mind that I would use them, if I were buying a kit.
One can purchase an installed kit for as little as half their price, but it wouldn't just be a shabby job with less bells and whistles, but the cheapo installations give less horsepower.
El barato sale caro.
If you want decent performance, get a good kid well installed or don't bother.
I'm not here to knock my very good buddy cobraboy's installation but what I had done was very professional and I can't notice hardly any difference in the power between gas and propane - and as I have an automatic/manual system I can flip a switch on the fly and compare the two.
I also used to be a home mechanic so I know what I'm talking about.
I didn't say anything about your installation, chip.
Was just giving the best advice that I know.
Was yours a cheapo installation and you felt that my comments were directed at you?
I'm not sure what you're talking about, but I see now that your installation was in the 20K zone, so clearly not a cheapo job.
So what is it exactly, that you and I are talking about?
Is it about who you consider the best installer?
I'm not catching on to which part of my post bothered you.
Nothing bothered me, I was just stating that even though my installation was less than half of Roberts it still was quite good and professional.
I made this point so people don't have to think they have to pay so much to get a good system. No doubt what Robert got is the best available in Santiago, but what I got was pretty darned good too, and at a good price.
So you want to imply that filling the tank slowly gives the same mileage/fill volume than filling the tank quickly?
There may be some confusion here.
I understood that yours cost a bit over 20K.
Is that right?
Close to $600 US, and CB's was $700 US, I believe.
Just the size and type of tank you purchase can account for close to $100 US.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but they seem similarly priced.
I have driven a vehicle with a much cheaper system in it and it drastically lacked performance.
I'd be interested in knowing.
Is it an ole' wive's tale or is there some scientific reason that makes filling it slowly, that much better?
Possibly slower flow keeps turbulence down, and creating less internal vapor pressure from developing? Just guessing.
FWIW-you really can't/shouldn't fill a propane tank but 90% full to allow for internal expansion. Propane gas takes more volume than LPG. My tank is 19gals., but the LPG station would only pump 17.5 gals. into it. Unless the air valve is open, the pressure required to pump more than 90% stops the flow because it "backflows" out the secondary tube on the hose. That is when they stop filling. They aren't supposed to open the air valve when filling the propane tank. I'm sure they do if asked.
My LPG whole house stand-by generator in Tampa has a 240gal. tank, but the gas company is forbidden by (enforced, unlike the DR) law to pump more than 220gals. into it.
Chip had his done a couple of years ago. I'm sure inflated prices plays a role. And possibly Amirilis Valdez, not being a small sorta roadside shop, has more overhead.
I'm sure there are other reputable conversion shops in Santiago (and certainly SDQ). Several of Alida's family had great success at Valdez, a main reason we chose them. However, Chip, being a smart engineer, certainly had influence on the decision to DO it. I've ridden in his sled, and couldn't notice the difference between propane and gasoline.
There may be a difference between his system and the one in my X-Terra. His switches from propane to gas at around 2000 RPMs while driving. I was instructed to just barely blip the accelerator pedal, not even hardly raising engine speed, before putting the truck in gear. It has a micro-second "burp" when the switch takes place, and LED's change on the switch/gauge showing which fuel is being used.
Honestly, I can't tell the difference while driving. The X-Terra isn't exactly a Porsche Turbo Cayenne on gasoline...
Good point Rocky, I just realized that I was reading the other "Robert's" post about cost of a propane system and somehow didn't connect that it wasn't the cobraboy "Robert".
http://www.dr1.com/forums/621260-post92.html
Sorry for the confusion.
cobraboy - great price for a top notch installation!