[deehunk]

I recently acquired a used Hyundai Accent of 2007 make, it had run 27k km.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/sedans...t-sedan-5.html

I had made up my mind for LPG conversion before itself and having been used to LPG with my earlier car Spark had no serious doubts. The decision had to be between closed loop and sequential injection system. I spoke to 3 dealers in Bangalore, Total Gas Care near Lalbagh, Pandian and Samuel of Lovato Gas Care(Ejipura, Inner ring Road). The first person was a Lovato dealer he quoted Rs.45000 plus 2k extra for documents for RTO endorsement, somehow could not trust him also he had no indepth information I felt, later spoke to Pandian had visited him earlier also, this guy had BRC option for sequential systems with price ranging from 35k to 45k, installation time was 1.5 days. I also spoke with Samuel, he gave 3 options, AutoGAS, 2 variants of 32k and 37k for sequential systems and Lovato kit for 44k with 3 years warranty. All 3 suggested me to go to sequential system. Both Pandian and Samuel I felt had good information and they explained clearly the benefits of the available conversion systems. I decided to go to Samuel because of easily accessible location. I fixed up an appointment with Samuel and took my car yesterday. Initially went with an idea of installing closed loop system but later speaking to Samuel made up my mind to go for Lovato sequential system. The advantages a Lovato sequential kit carries are

1.Prolonged life of gas injectors compared to 50k life of other competitive kits
2.Kits are compatible with Diesel engines and CNG also later, only tank has to be changed
3.Lovato is the OEM for Mercedes, GM worldwide
4.Easy online tuning of ECU free of cost
5.Automatic switch over to petrol mode when LPG blanks
6.One time tuning of ECM, less follow ups required after unstallation

Because of Deepavali crowd was less so all the labours worked on my car, finished installation by 6.00pm. Then they did calibration work for about 15 minutes in petrol mode, engine rpm was 780 to 830 rpm, they tried to match the gas and petrol time, the car switched to LPG mode. Then they took the car for a test ride, I was 1]sitting at the back. The car was tested for performance in all gears with A/C on, they drove through narrow roads of Ejipura till Sarjapur road and came back. I could not feel any difference in the LPG mode, later they installed a small sensor in the multivalve fitted to the LPG tank. They advised me to leave the vehicle at their end for some more time as they had to fine tune some parameters, but the way I am always told them that I will take the car and drive for 2 days then come back to them. Reached home yesterday night safely and did not notice any issues, I treid many time on the way switching between petrol and LPG mode did not notice any difference, you just hear a small tick sound when it changes to LPG mode.
The workmanship was pretty decent, spoke to many owners yesterday who had come for regular servicing of conversion kits and they were all happy with the normal closed loop systems itself. One of them was a happy Zen owner, he has done about 70k with LPG, vehicle has totally run 1.7 lakh km, he still gets a decent mileage of 14 to 15 kmpl on LPG. Also spoke to a Corolla Altis owner who risked converting his new car to LPG, he has gone for sequential system and getting a mileage of 12kmpl in city. All labours are from Nagaland and have been here since 2 years and are patient enough to answer all your queries. It is normal to visit the installers for 2 or 3 times before everything settles down, am looking for a nice experience. Samuel also told CNG is on its way to Bangalore very soon. Some of the things they modify are making holes for gas injectors on engine manifold, they connect the ECM wiring of LPG kit with ECU of the car, use heat resistant tapes wherever required, drilling inside the boot for fitting the tank. The refuelling nozzle is better to be inside the boot rather than having it outside. A very tiny changeover fuel switch with LPG fuel indicator has been fixed on dashboard next to the headlight leveller and total work was very neat. The performance is very good and LPG matches with petrol in terms of performance. I have posted some pictures from yesterday's installation.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Mods forum. Thanks for sharing!

[Sutripta]

Hi,
Manifold drilled without removing from car?

Regards
Sutripta

[mayankjha1806]

Lovely and neat looking work, could you share the phone number and location of the guy who fixed it. So what is the net fuel efficiency coming to and how does it compare to petrol. So for example in petrol it costs about 7Rs per Km, how much it would be in LPG.

Also where do we get LPG Gas? i mostly see CNG and not LPG?

[.anshuman]

I also feel the holes in the intake manifold could have been done in a proper way.

-How is FE with LPG compared to Petrol?
-How is the performance compared to Petrol?
-Did you notice flat spots anywhere in rev range?

[Astleviz]

Hey, did they drill those holes without removing the manifold? Was the manifold taken out after drilling to clean the metal debris? I see some metal debris in your engine bay so am assuming that the manifold was drilled while in place.

[deehunk]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Hi,
Manifold drilled without removing from car?

Regards
Sutripta

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Lovely and neat looking work, could you share the phone number and location of the guy who fixed it. So what is the net fuel efficiency coming to and how does it compare to petrol. So for example in petrol it costs about 7Rs per Km, how much it would be in LPG.

Also where do we get LPG Gas? i mostly see CNG and not LPG?

Originally Posted by Astleviz

Hey, did they drill those holes without removing the manifold? Was the manifold taken out after drilling to clean the metal debris? I see some metal debris in your engine bay so am assuming that the manifold was drilled while in place.

Yes, the holes were made in its place without removing, the holes are very tiny about 5mm, the jets were fixed in the place using heat resistant tapes over the threads. I was personally there when it was done, only one hole is slightly tilted others are good. The vehicle was up running after 15 minutes of auto configuration of ECU's, found the performance very nice and brought the car same day without asking for any fine tuning. It is always better to use the car for sometime and then go for any fine tunings. The performance is same and no difference felt, already done 90km after the LPG kit fitment. In future if i have to take out the kit, the holes on manifold can be easily filled, there is no issue. The other advantage is you can get the car tuned specific to your requirements because it is like customised fitment unlike factory fitted LPG kits. The place is Lovato Auto Gas Care, near Shinivagilu, Ejipura Signal, Inner Ring Road, contact person Mr.Samuel - 9845450356. They are open on Saturday, Sunday is holiday

[bullboy]

Yes, the holes were made in its place without removing, the holes are very tiny about 5mm, the jets were fixed in the place using heat resistant tapes over the threads

What about the metal debris that might have gone into the manifold while drilling ,wont it be sucked into the cylinders ?
Also i could see couple of holes drilled for metal stand. Will water get into the boot through that.

[deehunk]

Will post shortly the pictures of after fitment, these photos were taken on that day with my mobile. I have checked the mileage to be 11+ km/pl till today in city, the automatic switch over from LPG to petrol happens very smoothly. Planning to give the car a 3M treatment for under hood and engine bay. The air-filter has to be changed, will be doing some trials this weekend and then will get the fine tuning done. Thanks to all for your views.

[Sutripta]

I would consider drilling the inlet manifold while attached to the engine very bad practice.

Regards
Sutripta

[UniqueMods]

Recently I visited a CNG installation workshop for new (dealer fitting) Maruti vehicles, SX4, desire Ecco, a lot of taxis, etc. there the manifold were removed from the car and then drilled on the ground. cleaned with a brush and put back.

Small metal shaving in the valves or cylinders can result in a huge repair bill.

[Viper21]

Hi Deehunk,
I am interested in converting my car to LPG too. a few questions,
What is the capacity of the tank?
Any considerations regarding drive by wire throttle control?
Does the vehicle start in petrol mode and then switch to LPG?
How easy or difficult is to tune this ECU? maybe for better torque or fuel efficiency ?

Thanks very much !!

[deehunk]

The tanks are available in capacities of 20L, 26L, 36L (toroidal), 45, 60 and 70L cylindrical shaped. As every other LPG car this car starts in Petrol mode and once engine attains a temperature of 55 degree celsius, it changes to LPG. This takes about 20-25 seconds. As I have mentioned the ECU tuning work took about 15 minutes after kit installation, I am using the car now for close to 2 weeks and have done 200 km, haven't felt the need to go back to the installer. I will complete 1k and then take the vehicle to him for fine tuning. The installer Mr. Samuel told that because it is a custom installation a car can be tuned to performance or mileage. I am now getting 11 kmpl on LPG which is same as its petrol mileage. It is more an electronic system than a mechanical one because there is an automatic switch over system from LPG to petrol, free online tuning of ECU, fuel injection system, a sensor to regulate and monitor the LPG supply at inlet and outlet.

[mayankjha1806]

Today i met some one at the car cleaning center who was surprised to see me driving a petrol Baleno and not yet converted to LPG. As per him the savings will be substantial.

Do we easily get LPG in petrol pumps? and how much you are able to save when compared to Petrol?

[deehunk]

LPG is available in Bangalore and also all cities of Karnataka easily. The savings you make are like you get the same mileage as in petrol at the cost of diesel, but before you go for conversion thoroughly check the mileage you get from your vehicle. If your existing vehicle is giving a mileage of say 7 to 8 km on average then better to stick with petrol. I suggest if your vehicle gives say 11 or 12 kmpl on average, it is worth going for conversion with a basic closed loop system costing 18k. Then you can recover the cost in this way, if your monthly running is say 1000km, the mileage from your car is say 11 then you will spend Rs.6900 for petrol and for LPG you will spend Rs.4090, a savings of 2800. An LPG car requires few basic maintenance every 5k, have never seen any issues with an LPG car from past 5 years as many of my relatives have LPG cars.