CNG conversion on Palio 1.6 GTX

bykerdawg · 23rd July 2009, 19:05

Recession has finally struck home.

I had to give up on the 100 BHP pangs and give in to a CNG kit with Lambda controller and Advancer setup. I got it installed from a 'trustworthy' guy.

I test drove the car for about 40kms yesterday to see what it was like to drive a CNG palio 1.6

Some things I noted:

The engine note has moderated down to a slow purr, from the usual eager whine. The car seems disinterested below 2000 rpm. Beyond which it is decently drivable and doesn't require too many gearshifts. A decent amount of power is available across the next 2500 rpms, after which it plateaus.

The otherwise brilliant air-con has dialled it down a few notches and only seems to work best at 3k+ rpms. Shockingly, the air-con switches to fan-only when the car is stationary or at a crawl. Which is extremely frustrating to me, considering that that describes a major percentage of day to day Delhi driving.

On cranking up the engine (it cranks up on petrol), it apparently needs two longish blips on the revver to help the automatic switchover to CNG. The thing is - 8 times out of 10, the engine stalls in that process. The whole resuscitation process everytime I start the car is baffling me. And I have a good three years/80000 kms worth of CNG zen driving experience behind me now. So I know that its not normal.

All in all, I feel the car is decently drivable. I fetched it back up from 1800 rpm in 4th and it didn't complain much. But then its a fresh install. I am lined up for 1 x 4 NGK sparks and a plain vanilla K&N Air filter tomorrow as part of a salvage OP.

Anyone have any pointers to these three?

1. The engine stall while cranking up.
2. The Air-con compressor switching off on idle/low RPMs
3. Any hassles with the NGKs and K&Ns, considering its a CNG setup now?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Saurabh

p.s: @the CNG: I'm hating it. But at the same time its an affordable car now and I'm loving sticking up the middle finger to the yellow lamp (reserve fuel indicator - petrol) on the dashboard, a bit too much. The damn yellow's been the arch nemesis for 5 years now

.anshuman · 23rd July 2009, 19:24

The CNG conversion wont have any problems with K&N and NGK but please get it tuned from a experienced technician who can tune according to the increased airflow.

Even i had a Accent CNG with k&n some time back, here is my experience http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...lpg-cng-3.html

bykerdawg · 23rd July 2009, 19:59

yea I'm getting it done from Gyro, Delhi. They are well recommended for any aftermarket jobs. They are doing the ICE and all.

Funny thing is, the Fuel Injector sign that comes on briefly as part of an auto-check routine when I turn the car on (petrol), wont go away now when its on CNG. Its just constantly there. And since that light is supposed to suggest something like an issue with the engine internals, I wonder what to do about it. The CNG guy says "It will go away" - dumbest excuse a technical guy will ever make.

23rd July 2009, 19:05	#1
bykerdawg Newbie Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Delhi Posts: 12 Thanked: 0 Times	CNG conversion on Palio 1.6 GTX Recession has finally struck home. I had to give up on the 100 BHP pangs and give in to a CNG kit with Lambda controller and Advancer setup. I got it installed from a 'trustworthy' guy. I test drove the car for about 40kms yesterday to see what it was like to drive a CNG palio 1.6 Some things I noted: The engine note has moderated down to a slow purr, from the usual eager whine. The car seems disinterested below 2000 rpm. Beyond which it is decently drivable and doesn't require too many gearshifts. A decent amount of power is available across the next 2500 rpms, after which it plateaus. The otherwise brilliant air-con has dialled it down a few notches and only seems to work best at 3k+ rpms. Shockingly, the air-con switches to fan-only when the car is stationary or at a crawl. Which is extremely frustrating to me, considering that that describes a major percentage of day to day Delhi driving. On cranking up the engine (it cranks up on petrol), it apparently needs two longish blips on the revver to help the automatic switchover to CNG. The thing is - 8 times out of 10, the engine stalls in that process. The whole resuscitation process everytime I start the car is baffling me. And I have a good three years/80000 kms worth of CNG zen driving experience behind me now. So I know that its not normal. All in all, I feel the car is decently drivable. I fetched it back up from 1800 rpm in 4th and it didn't complain much. But then its a fresh install. I am lined up for 1 x 4 NGK sparks and a plain vanilla K&N Air filter tomorrow as part of a salvage OP. Anyone have any pointers to these three? 1. The engine stall while cranking up. 2. The Air-con compressor switching off on idle/low RPMs 3. Any hassles with the NGKs and K&Ns, considering its a CNG setup now? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks Saurabh p.s: @the CNG: I'm hating it. But at the same time its an affordable car now and I'm loving sticking up the middle finger to the yellow lamp (reserve fuel indicator - petrol) on the dashboard, a bit too much. The damn yellow's been the arch nemesis for 5 years now
	() Thanks

23rd July 2009, 19:24	#2
.anshuman Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Good-Gaon Posts: 7,763 Thanked: 11,064 Times View My Garage	The CNG conversion wont have any problems with K&N and NGK but please get it tuned from a experienced technician who can tune according to the increased airflow. Even i had a Accent CNG with k&n some time back, here is my experience http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...lpg-cng-3.html
	() Thanks

23rd July 2009, 19:59	#3
bykerdawg Newbie Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Delhi Posts: 12 Thanked: 0 Times	sure yea I'm getting it done from Gyro, Delhi. They are well recommended for any aftermarket jobs. They are doing the ICE and all. Funny thing is, the Fuel Injector sign that comes on briefly as part of an auto-check routine when I turn the car on (petrol), wont go away now when its on CNG. Its just constantly there. And since that light is supposed to suggest something like an issue with the engine internals, I wonder what to do about it. The CNG guy says "It will go away" - dumbest excuse a technical guy will ever make.
	() Thanks