[carboy]

Originally Posted by carboy

My car was around 53000 kms at the time of the conversion. In Swift, the sparks are changed every 20000 kms, so mine was last changed at 40000. I was told originally that my sparks would be changed at the time of the conversion & I would have to pay for that separately - however, they didn't change it at that time - they said my sparks were in good condition. But he said at the time of next major service (60000), I should change to NGK which I will be doing next week.

Got my spark plugs changed at Greenglobe - It cost 370 for 4 spark plugs & 200 labour cost. They didn't do any setting on the spark plug or anything - just removed it from cover & fitted it. Next time I will ask if the regular service center has NGK sparks (or buy it & take it there) & ask them to fit it at the time of the major service. I noted the spark plug Greenglobe used - it's NGK BKR6E (Gap 0.9 mm) - Printed MRP is Rs 92 per plug.

[ptaneja]

Originally Posted by carboy

Got my spark plugs changed at Greenglobe - It cost 370 for 4 spark plugs & 200 labour cost. They didn't do any setting on the spark plug or anything - just removed it from cover & fitted it. Next time I will ask if the regular service center has NGK sparks (or buy it & take it there) & ask them to fit it at the time of the major service. I noted the spark plug Greenglobe used - it's NGK BKR6E (Gap 0.9 mm) - Printed MRP is Rs 92 per plug.

200rs for just changing spark plugs ??!!!

and on CNG, 10K kms is the ideal interval for cleaning/changing plugs ...

[caabhishek]

Really Rs 200 for labour is too much. Its almost 55% on the cost.

I am also evaluating Lovato now as I heard from many that Lovato is a very good Brand. I came across a dealer in Thane who is Authorised distributor for Lovato in the Mumbai region.

Any Ideas how is the Lovato kit as compared to Tomasetto?

Regards
Abhishek

[caabhishek]

Hi All

Today I have got converted my cousion's i10 to CNG from the Lovato distributor in thane at the Shehnai Hall (My Swift goes next in the coming week). This is an Advanced Closed Loop system with Lamda, TAP and all other components all of Lovato.

The car is running smooth on the CNG and I didnt feel any difference between petrol and CNG even with AC on. Only thing is the engine check lamp is glowing on the panel. I enquired about this with the fitter and he said that this is normal as this is a new system to the car and this would go off once the car adjusts to the conversion may be within 100 kms.

Just wanted to check if anyone of you have faced the same issue after conversion and whether it is normal to have this indicator on. Please reply with your experiences.

Regards
Abhishek

[carboy]

Originally Posted by ptaneja

200rs for just changing spark plugs ??!!!

Yeah - it's too much. That's why I noted the brand & model of the spark plug, so that I can get it changed as part of my regular service.

Originally Posted by ptaneja

and on CNG, 10K kms is the ideal interval for cleaning/changing plugs ...

On what basis is this?
Swift manual says for petrol spark plug has to be changed every 20000 km. I feel this is also too much - Every time I changed the sparks at 20000 km, the old sparks looked well enough. My Champion Sparks had run 12000 kms before I converted my car to CNG. At the time of the conversion, greenglobe said my sparks looked good enough so he asked me to continue with it. It ran 8000 kms more before I took it to change at greenglobe. Even now (12000 on petrol + 80000 cng), the mechanic said the sparks can last a bit more - but I changed it anyway.

Originally Posted by caabhishek

. Only thing is the engine check lamp is glowing on the panel. I enquired about this with the fitter and he said that this is normal as this is a new system to the car and this would go off once the car adjusts to the conversion may be within 100 kms.

No such thing happened in my Swift - i.e. check engine lamp never glowed.

[ptaneja]

Originally Posted by carboy

Swift manual says for petrol spark plug has to be changed every 20000 km. I feel this is also too much - Every time I changed the sparks at 20000 km, the old sparks looked well enough. My Champion Sparks had run 12000 kms before I converted my car to CNG. At the time of the conversion, greenglobe said my sparks looked good enough so he asked me to continue with it. It ran 8000 kms more before I took it to change at greenglobe. Even now (12000 on petrol + 80000 cng), the mechanic said the sparks can last a bit more - but I changed it anyway.

Well it all depends whether you want to clean the plugs and carry on for another 10K kms or not - But since I have converted mine to CNG I had the plugs replaced every 10K kms - 350rs for 4 plugs from NGK.

All newer cars have more sensors in place, are more sensitive and will have this glowing light - you can try clearing the ECU memory once and see if it comes back up. On my swift it was never glowing till about 6 months back - I even replaced O2 sensor to get rid of the light. Finally it was because of a faulty CNG Advancer - replacing it fixed it.

[caabhishek]

Yes even I think there is an issue with the settings of Lamda or TAP. The car is not getting converted to CNG automatically with a small acceleration. I have to push the pedal hard to get it converted to CNG. I have tried driving it for 2 kms after starting but it didnt get converted automatically, the CNG light was flashing it was only when I gave a hard acceleration it got converted and the indicator was stable. Ideally this should get converted once the engine temprature is acheived or a specific RPM is attained after cranking? (Asking this have never driven a CNG before) or its like for converting one needs to always accelerate the engine? The fitter says you'll have to always race the engine for conversion.

I have tried to convert at 80kmph, It got converted to petrol once i pressed the switch but when I again pressed the switch it didnt get converted to CNG till I raced the engine. Is this normal or should the conversion be with press of a button. Fitter says you need to race the engine. Any Inputs

Anyways I am taking to car for checking the settings and tuning, Lets see what happens.

Regards
Abhishek

[caabhishek]

Yes even I think there is an issue with the settings of Lamda or TAP. The car is not getting converted to CNG automatically with a small acceleration. I have to push the pedal hard to get it converted to CNG. I have tried driving it for 2 kms after starting but it didnt get converted automatically, the CNG light was flashing it was only when I gave a hard acceleration it got converted and the indicator was stable. Ideally this should get converted once the engine temprature is acheived or a specific RPM is attained after cranking? (Asking this have never driven a CNG before) or its like for converting one needs to always accelerate the engine? The fitter says you'll have to always race the engine for conversion.

I have tried to convert at 80kmph, It got converted to petrol once i pressed the switch but when I again pressed the switch it didnt get converted to CNG till I raced the engine. Is this normal or should the conversion be with press of a button. Fitter says you need to race the engine. Any Inputs

Anyways I am taking to car for checking the settings and tuning, Lets see what happens.

Regards
Abhishek

[ptaneja]

Originally Posted by caabhishek

Yes even I think there is an issue with the settings of Lamda or TAP. The car is not getting converted to CNG automatically with a small acceleration. I have to push the pedal hard to get it converted to CNG. I have tried driving it for 2 kms after starting but it didnt get converted automatically, the CNG light was flashing it was only when I gave a hard acceleration it got converted and the indicator was stable. Ideally this should get converted once the engine temprature is achieved or a specific RPM is attained after cranking? (Asking this have never driven a CNG before) or its like for converting one needs to always accelerate the engine? The fitter says you'll have to always race the engine for conversion.

I have tried to convert at 80kmph, It got converted to petrol once i pressed the switch but when I again pressed the switch it didnt get converted to CNG till I raced the engine. Is this normal or should the conversion be with press of a button. Fitter says you need to race the engine. Any Inputs

Anyways I am taking to car for checking the settings and tuning, Lets see what happens.

Regards
Abhishek

Abhishek,

Get your setup inspected - this is not a normal behavior. There are only two ways with which a switchover happens from petrol to CNG - either based on seconds/time interval, wherein it switches over to CNG after waiting for 3/4 seconds on petrol OR when it crosses a certain RPM ( 3000 approx ). Engine temperature has nothing to do with the change from petrol to CNG.

Moreover, the switch has precedence over everything else - so if you press between Petrol or CNG, it would be effective irrespective of speed/RPM/time or any other factor. And pressing the switch should instantaneously switch you across from Petrol to CNG or vice versa.

[caabhishek]

Originally Posted by ptaneja

Get your setup inspected - this is not a normal behavior. There are only two ways with which a switchover happens from petrol to CNG - either based on seconds/time interval, wherein it switches over to CNG after waiting for 3/4 seconds on petrol OR when it crosses a certain RPM ( 3000 approx ). Engine temperature has nothing to do with the change from petrol to CNG.

Moreover, the switch has precedence over everything else - so if you press between Petrol or CNG, it would be effective irrespective of speed/RPM/time or any other factor. And pressing the switch should instantaneously switch you across from Petrol to CNG or vice versa.

Thanks for the Reply. As per the fitter the Lovato kit doesnt work on time interval it would get converted only when the engine is raised over 3000 rpm.

It will start on Petrol and will get converted only at 3000 rpm. This would hold good even when I am switching from Petrol to CNG in moving vehicle. The CNG indicator keeps blinking till I raise to 3000 rpm. But if I want to switch to Petrol it happens instantly once i press the switch.

The car's engine is feeling a bit suffocated in the 3rd gear with AC on and the pickup is not that great. May be I am not used to drive i10, I drive Accent and Swift and that can be the reason of the lower pickup I'm experiencing.

Anyways will ask him this point you mentioned that can the car be converted to CNG based on time interval rather than have to be raised to 3000 rpm and will definitely ask him to check and adjust the settings properly as the performance is getting dropped.

Should I ask him to check the Lamda, TAP, Emulator etc i.e. CNG Kit Parts or the ECU of the car as well?

Regards
Abhishek

[infotech58]

Originally Posted by caabhishek

Yes even I think there is an issue with the settings of Lamda or TAP.

if you can lay your hands on an OBD scanner, connect it and check what is making the CEL glow; that might lead to some clues.
if you are somewhere around in Thane, i can help you with an OBD scanner.

[caabhishek]

Originally Posted by infotech58

if you can lay your hands on an OBD scanner, connect it and check what is making the CEL glow; that might lead to some clues.
if you are somewhere around in Thane, i can help you with an OBD scanner.

Hi Thanks for the info. I stay at Thane GB Road Near R Mall. Tell me if this can be done tomorrow sometime as my cousion would here tomorrow and then he will take the car to Pune.

[ptaneja]

Originally Posted by infotech58

if you can lay your hands on an OBD scanner, connect it and check what is making the CEL glow; that might lead to some clues.
if you are somewhere around in Thane, i can help you with an OBD scanner.

OBD Scanner will always throw "Oxygen Sensor malfunction" ... but this is one device which rarely fails.

Try clearing the memory once from scanner, and wait for a few days to see if it comes back up.

Quick fix or workaround would be disconnecting negative terminal from battery, crank the engine 3 or 4 times with battery unplugged and finally plug everything back - this should ideally clear the memory.

[carboy]

One disadvantage of CNG fitting which I just encountered. Now in my Swift with the CNG fitted, if there are 5 people in the car (the driver + 4), the underside sometimes touches speedbreakers. I don't think this happened before CNG was fitted. I think the Gas tank is heavy enough to make the load similar to 1 extra person. Doesn't matter much to me however - this is the first time in 8-9 months since I fitted CNG that so many people were sitting in my car.

[CARDEEP]

Wondering if somebody/ car company ever tries CNG-ed Turbo Petrols... considering these are the future.

We have the Fiat here, & VW group in Europe which have the Turbo-Petrols in their arsenals.

Wish this happens too soon.