[girishk]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

I replaced the coils later due to which the jerks vanished but the car kept stalling in heavy traffic. I got it retuned from Lovato Ghatkopar but they made it worse. I later on sold the car. I would suggest getting it checked from a good CNG garage before going for coil change etc. I really can’t help you with any good suggestions for CNG garages because I ended with crappy ones. I would not go to Suraj/ Lovato Ghatkopar for tuning.

Thank Sumeet. I have been to Suraj once and he had insisted that I change my throttle body which i did not. This was 2 years ago when I had to leave my vehicle over night

[straight6]

Originally Posted by DPetrolHead

A while ago a had a similar problem of low power and pick up with unstable rpm and my mechanic suggested the same thing. He not only changed the OEM valves but switched to higher output ones which a preferred for a CNG converted car.

So, I would say go for it.

If you still have any CNG related issue, PM me and I will give the contact of my mechanic


Cheers!

What was the total cost to get that done for you?

[DPetrolHead]

Originally Posted by straight6

What was the total cost to get that done for you?

Hey! Sorry for the late reply, just saw the post.
It wasn't much as far as I remember. It was around 1.5-2k for them.

Cheers!

[DPetrolHead]

Originally Posted by DPetrolHead

I am driving a Swift dzire petrol converted to CNG for 2 years and my father has been driving a CNG converted car since early 2000s, so I have a little knowledge and experience in CNG converted cars.

Regarding your case, yes the valves can play a major role in power output of the case, especially in CNG cars.

A while ago a had a similar problem of low power and pick up with unstable rpm and my mechanic suggested the same thing. He not only changed the OEM valves but switched to higher output ones which a preferred for a CNG converted car.

So, I would say go for it.

If you still have any CNG related issue, PM me and I will give the contact of my mechanic


Cheers!

Edit: So sorry for the wrong information, they are actually the spark plugs that were changed to higher output ones. Apologies for the misunderstanding

[frewper]

I am converting my 1L+ kms Maruti Sx4, to CNG from Lovato. Car is a 2009 model and doesn't have any issues as such. Though I am not a big fan of CNG, this car is old now and I have decided to keep it for some more time. Since this car is not known to give any decent fuel efficiency, gonna convert it.

One of the recommendation the CNG installation guy had was to replace the plugs and the ignition coil. My ignition coils have never been changed, and only one was replaced, when it burned out @ around 70K. Will be doing them as soon as my car back.

I have a few question on this.

• Which spark plugs should I go for, can I go with the standard ones or should I use some specific model which will have the exact gap setting.(Don't want to depend on the mechanic for making the gap adjustment). I am assuming since there is a Company Sx4 CNG variant, there has to be a spark plug which maruti specifies for its CNG car.

• Should I really change the Ignition Coil right away. The CNG guy recommended for me to do so. Will they make a performance difference. I have an habit of making things run until they worn out, except for crucial or expensive components. Or can I just want for one of them to wear out and then change all four of them. If the current Ignition Coil affects the performance of CNG even slightly. I will prefer to change them.

• The pressure reducer in the kit has a water inlet. This is to warm up the gas. This port will not be used and will be left as is. Now as per the person who is installing the kit, says this is not typically needed, since ours being a warm country, we don't face much issues. Also it is one of the tricky part of the installation, there is a possibility of leaks in the future. Since he is speaking from experience, I am choosing to believe him. Has any one faced any issues by not hooking up the reducer to the coolant lines. Or should I absolutely get it done. What are the cons if I don't get it done. I am assuming fuel efficiency has to be affected by this.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by frewper

I am converting my 1L+ kms Maruti Sx4, to CNG from Lovato....
One of the recommendation the CNG installation guy had was to replace the plugs and the ignition coil. My ignition coils have never been changed, and only one was replaced, when it burned out @ around 70K. Will be doing them as soon as my car back.

I... Has any one faced any issues by not hooking up the reducer to the coolant lines. Or should I absolutely get it done. What are the cons if I don't get it done. I am assuming fuel efficiency has to be affected by this. [/list]

I had used both the OE spark plugs which were the Iridium type and the standard spark plugs by NGK. Both the plugs had their gap adjusted for the CNG. After using the standard NGK I started using the OE type and found the car was much better to run on and never went back to the standard ones.

If the coils are not expensive changing them might not be a bad idea. A typical issue with bad coils is jerking while accelerating.

.One more piece of advice I will like to share with all wanting to convert to CNG. Factory fitted is the best option. Modifying existing car to run on CNG is a hit and miss method. If you are lucky you will get a good installer and the car will give less troubles (but trouble it will eg eating of boot space etc). A simple way that I found to cut cost is to be part of ride sharing apps like S-Ride/Quick ride with people who often travel in the same direction as you do daily. You just have to deal with people who yes at times can be jerks and not the jerks of the car due to CNG.. Not only does this save money, you car remains in factory fit condition with no modification and more often than not you will also have decent company with you to travel. It's a win win win for you, your passengers and your car as well.

[bordawekar]

I have Tata Bolt 1.2 Petrol XE 2018 Model. Dealer installed Lovato CNG from their vendor in Mumbai. Since December, 2019, I am facing a problem while driving in CNG mode. When I am at traffic signal, the RPM goes below 500 and car stops working. Again I have to start car. To solve this problem, I took my car to CNG authorised Service Centre where I was advised to change HT cable and spark plugs as we found water in HT cable and wasted spark plugs. I changed it immediately. But the problem didn't get solved. Now a days even when I am driving in CNG mode, hazardous warning signals pop up and car starts vibrating and later within 1 minute it stops. Do again I took my car to authorised CNG Service Centre from where I got CNG installed. Checked my car thoroughly and found CNG fuel injectors are damaged. They said Priton of Fuel Injectors of CNG is damaged. My car has four cylinder engine. They showed me that all injectors are damage d. I would like to know in What circumstances CNG injector get damaged. Whether they can be repaired or have to replaced it. What could be the the other reasons because of which my car is not running in CNG mode. At the moment car runs perfectly fine in petrol mode and not a single problem while driving in petrol mode. Request your find my device in this regard. Thanks in advance.

[HimuraKenshin]

Originally Posted by bordawekar

Whether they can be repaired or have to replaced it. What could be the the other reasons because of which my car is not running in CNG mode. At the moment car runs perfectly fine in petrol mode and not a single problem while driving in petrol mode. Request your find my device in this regard. Thanks in advance.

CNG injectors do not get damaged easily, they last for at-least 60,000 KMS.
CNG injectors can ideally be rebuilt, but not many CNG garages have the expertise/tools to do the same.
I suggest you get a second opinion.

On a separate note, does anyone have any idea regarding Timing advance processors for CNG cars?
From what i've noticed, most sequential kits, have a crank position based timing advancer and other cars with venturi based kits, have a TPS/MAP based timing advancer. Just wanted to know, if the TPS based module can be installed in a sequential kit car.

[frewper]

Originally Posted by bordawekar

I have Tata Bolt 1.2 Petrol XE 2018 Model. Dealer installed Lovato CNG from their vendor in Mumbai. Since December, 2019, I am facing a problem while driving in CNG mode. When I am at traffic signal, the RPM goes below 500 and car stops working. Again I have to start car. To solve this problem, I took my car to CNG authorised Service Centre where I was advised to change HT cable and spark plugs as we found water in HT cable and wasted spark plugs. I changed it immediately. But the problem didn't get solved. Now a days even when I am driving in CNG mode, hazardous warning signals pop up and car starts vibrating and later within 1 minute it stops. Do again I took my car to authorised CNG Service Centre from where I got CNG installed. Checked my car thoroughly and found CNG fuel injectors are damaged. They said Priton of Fuel Injectors of CNG is damaged. My car has four cylinder engine. They showed me that all injectors are damage d. I would like to know in What circumstances CNG injector get damaged. Whether they can be repaired or have to replaced it. What could be the the other reasons because of which my car is not running in CNG mode. At the moment car runs perfectly fine in petrol mode and not a single problem while driving in petrol mode. Request your find my device in this regard. Thanks in advance.

How many kms has your car run. If your car has run more than 50K, I will advice you to change your Ignition coil, spark plugs and the HT cable. It makes a world of a difference.

What do you mean the injectors were damaged? Physical damage? That should not be possible. Never came across an issue like this.

CNG is tricky. Everything needs to be in top notch condition for it to run well. Check your ignition coil as well.

[frewper]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

I had used both the OE spark plugs which were the Iridium type and the standard spark plugs by NGK. Both the plugs had their gap adjusted for the CNG. After using the standard NGK I started using the OE type and found the car was much better to run on and never went back to the standard ones.

If the coils are not expensive changing them might not be a bad idea. A typical issue with bad coils is jerking while accelerating.
.

Here are my observations after running my car for 8K kms now.

1. Yes the OEM Maruti are better than the NGK. They run much smoother.

2. The ignition coils and the HT cable have to be changed. I had slight jerking issues when running on CNG. They were running smooth on petrol other wise.

3. I had an issue of the CNG injectors sound creeping into the cabin. They are clattery clack just like a diesel engine. Very annoying. The reason for this sound is that in SX4 the CNG injectors are placed to the back of the engine and close to the firewall. For some cars like the honda city it is to the front of the engine, hence no sound. The reason for the sound to come in was the injectors and the CNG gas tube to the injectors touched the heated core tubing and the sound resonated into the cabin. I resolved it by using thick rubber tubing as damping between the CNG injectors, heater core hose and the CNG hose. Voila sound has reduced by 90%. I have to strain my ears to hear it now.

[Epic]

Hello,

We have a 2014 Hyundai i10 Grande Automatic which we fitted a CNG kit at a workshop recommended by the Hyundai dealer itself. Over due course of time we found that there are three issues that have cropped up.

1. The car intermittently vibrates on neutral say at a signal for example.
2. The brakes sometimes lose their power during slow moving traffic.
3. The car sometimes struggles to climb normal slopes when running on CNG.

We have found that this does not happen when the car runs on petrol.

We also have 02 other manual i10s which are much older and converted to CNG but they run absolutely smoothly. Performance is as good as when running on petrol.

Can anyone guide as to what could be the problem with the Automatic i10?

[frewper]

Originally Posted by Epic

Can anyone guide as to what could be the problem with the Automatic i10?

So here are the pain points for the issues that you mentioned.

1. Check your ignition coil and high tension cable for the coil. Check if they have conked off or not. Also they don't just conk off completely, they only deteriorate. They work fine on petrol but not on CNG.

2. Replace the cng gas filters. They can be clogged.

[sinhead]

My car has an aftermarket cng kit. (not sequential, normal kit).

Car runs fine on CNG, but jerks on petrol and engine shuts while driving. There is a very mild lag at 1800rpm and at 2200. Otherwise runs smooth.
But on petrol it jerks too much.
Got the throttle body cleaned, MAF sensor changed, spark plugs are almost new. but still this problem is there.
I am considering removing the cng kit too.

[WanderinNomad]

Guys, have a couple of questions.

I have a 15-year-old Honda city ZX Idsi which has covered 1.08 Lacs km to date.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...a-city-zx.html (14 years & 1 lakh km with the 2nd-gen Honda City ZX)

My city, Dehradun has just opened up to CNG and I am toying around with the idea of getting a kit installed. The car is in immaculate condition and will easily last 5 more years post-re-registration this year.
Now I have a couple of questions before I pull the trigger.

1 Is there any problem with installing CNG in such an old car? I do not want to ruin a perfectly capable car that has served my family for such a long time but am also tempted to take advantage of a cheaper and greener fuel.

2 In Uttarakhand CNG is relatively new, and I can only find dealers of Mijo brand kits. Does anyone have any experience with this brand?

3 My preferred brands are BRC and Lovato which are easily available with Delhi installers. However, what I have been told is that I will have to get the kit installed from an authorized dealer in Uttarakhand only to get it endorsed on RC. Any ideas about the same or any workaround?

3 I want to install a sequential kit and do not mind the cost difference. Is it compatible with older cars like mine?

4 @Frankmehta; I read in your thread that there is a 14kg light-weight cylinder available too. Most of the installers I have talked to have no clue regarding the same. Can anyone give some details on the same?

@Max; Just read your posts on your 2004 Honda city iDSI. Any update on the long-term performance of this engine on CNG.

By the way, before anyone comments the car's running has increased a lot in the past couple of years and it does around 50kms daily now.

[WanderinNomad]

Originally Posted by Max

@Ameya, have ecofuel guys solved you problem and will you recommend them?

@FrankMehta, I live in thane and can not visit bandra for maintenance, will you still recommend I go through your installer Suraj Auto LPG in Bandra?

Today I went to ecofuel for quote for my Honda City I-DSI GXI and the owner told me go for open loop kit as close loop kit will not work with my engine, is that true?

He quoted 31k for original Lovato open loop kit with Indian 14kg Cylinder with 2 years warranty and 1 year service warranty. 12.5% additional tax for invoice.

I also talked to one more installer in the same area and he quoted similar price for open loop OMVL kit (made in Italy) and recommend not to go for close loop kit. He claimed LAMBA Sensor will go bad after 6 months then kit will again become open loop until you replace it. To be honest, I felt this second guy was taking me for the ride and eco fuel guy felt very promising and sound professional.

Originally Posted by WanderinNomad

Guys, have a couple of questions.

I have a 15-year-old Honda city ZX Idsi which has covered 1.08 Lacs km to date.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...a-city-zx.html (14 years & 1 lakh km with the 2nd-gen Honda City ZX)

My city, Dehradun has just opened up to CNG and I am toying around with the idea of getting a kit installed. The car is in immaculate condition and will easily last 5 more years post-re-registration this year.
Now I have a couple of questions before I pull the trigger.

1 Is there any problem with installing CNG in such an old car? I do not want to ruin a perfectly capable car that has served my family for such a long time but am also tempted to take advantage of a cheaper and greener fuel.

2 In Uttarakhand CNG is relatively new, and I can only find dealers of Mijo brand kits. Does anyone have any experience with this brand?

3 My preferred brands are BRC and Lovato which are easily available with Delhi installers. However, what I have been told is that I will have to get the kit installed from an authorized dealer in Uttarakhand only to get it endorsed on RC. Any ideas about the same or any workaround?

3 I want to install a sequential kit and do not mind the cost difference. Is it compatible with older cars like mine?

4 @Frankmehta; I read in your thread that there is a 14kg light-weight cylinder available too. Most of the installers I have talked to have no clue regarding the same. Can anyone give some details on the same?

@Max; Just read your posts on your 2004 Honda city iDSI. Any update on the long-term performance of this engine on CNG.

By the way, before anyone comments the car's running has increased a lot in the past couple of years and it does around 50kms daily now.

@Ameya, have ecofuel guys solved you problem and will you recommend them?

@FrankMehta, I live in thane and can not visit bandra for maintenance, will you still recommend I go through your installer Suraj Auto LPG in Bandra?

Today I went to ecofuel for quote for my Honda City I-DSI GXI and the owner told me go for open loop kit as close loop kit will not work with my engine, is that true?

He quoted 31k for original Lovato open loop kit with Indian 14kg Cylinder with 2 years warranty and 1 year service warranty. 12.5% additional tax for invoice.

I also talked to one more installer in the same area and he quoted similar price for open loop OMVL kit (made in Italy) and recommend not to go for close loop kit. He claimed LAMBA Sensor will go bad after 6 months then kit will again become open loop until you replace it. To be honest, I felt this second guy was taking me for the ride and eco fuel guy felt very promising and sound professional.

The 58k cost is for the conversion alone. The earlier day I had done a fluid and spark plug change (part of a 6 monthly service) for 5 k rupees. That included an air filter, oil filter, new wiper blades, engine oil and brake oil.


Guys, today's update:
115.6 kms---------------> 252 rupees of CNG. No petrol running. All with A/c. City running plus small stretch of open road (10-15 km)

@Frankmehta and @Max, can you help me out with my above query. There is not much information on CNG kits available on the forum, and I plan to get the kit installed next week.