opinion LPG conversion of 3.2 xc90

[jjd101]

Originally Posted by andymuggwump

Did a trawl but couldn't find any info. Does anybody know if an LPG conversion of the 3.2 XC90 would be a good idea?

I would have a chat with an LPG conversion specialist. As mentioned above somewhere, they are generally trying to sell a product, but good ones will give impartial advice as to suitability and any known issues with particular engines

I had my previous car converted by http://www.lpgconversionsltd.co.uk/ in Heanor, Derbyshire. Before I committed to the work I saw previous conversions they had done, and also spoke to some of their customers. Their workshop is state of the art, and they are happy to show any potential customers around and talk in depth about the process

To top it all off, when I sold the car that was converted, the manager bought it for his son - can't get any better than that really!!!

They are not the cheapest, but quality of work is extremely high, and aftercare is (in my opinion and experience) second to none

As you are in Lincoln, they are not really that far away. Give Stan or Nick a call on 01773 711 622 and say Justin (that's me) suggested a call. If you mention what someone has said above about the injector location they will be happy to help

[Jim314]

Originally Posted by Jim314

. . . The Volvo 3.2L has 'port' fuel injection; the injectors are in the head and not in the exhaust manifold. You might want to inquire whether this would be more or less suitable for retrofitting LPG than the older systems where the injectors were in the exhaust manifold.
. . .

Error, not 'exhaust' but intake manifold.

[Dukeofwimbourne]

Has anyone done the 3.2 conversion lately? Any views or thoughts about this or even if it is possible?

[n1ckxc90]

Unless you are planning to keep the car long term or do a lot of mileage it's not worth it. I have looked into this a few times, mainly on V8's but each time I had this niggling feeling I would never reap the full benefit. LPG car's can lose value too as some ppl prefer stock cars than modified. Tax is a saving, but on a 3.2 6cyl I'd think work on £2k buys you a lot of petrol !

[EdmundIJones]

Not on an XC90 but I was looking yesterday at getting my Peugeot 206cc (2.0) converted to LPG. I do about 25-30K miles a year and I worked out that it would save about £3500 in fuel costs. The conversion would cost around £1200 give or take - so, in the first year I'd be £2000 better off and there after even more.

My only issue is that the Pug is not worth more than £1000-£1500 at best so spending the same again on a conversion seems mad. However, I would need to stump up a lot more for a newer car to achieve the equivalent economy of 60mpg - the 2.0 engine is basically a GTI also so it's quite nippy and run.

I don't worry about the hair dresser comments as it was cheap and has served me well. I have three girls also who love the top down motoring.

[Tony427]

Taking into account the lower calorific value of LPG compared against petrol and thus the worse MPG you will get , LPG works out at an equivalent cost of about 77 pence per litre.

My 2.4 bog standard S80 does about 32 to the gallon, or 7 miles per litre, and this year I will probably cover 15,000 miles as I'm taking a 3500 mile trip through Italy down to its southern tip.

For the annual 15,000 miles therefore I would use 2142 litres of fuel, at lowest supermarket price £1.339, that will cost me some £2,870.

The same 15,000 miles on LPG will cost me £1,649 a difference of £1221 which is the likely cost of having a LPG kit professionally fitted.

Any accountant will tell you that a payback of one year on any investment is brilliant.

However, even thats not good enough for me.

I've bought a complete secondhand LPG kit that came off a 3.2 litre 6 cylinder Jag. I've also purchased all the new piping, filters and refurbishment kit for all the components. Throw in the software to get a six cylinder kit tuned for a 5 cylinder engine and I will get change out of £220.

A complete refurbed LPG kit for £220.

I am however not charging myself for the fitting although I was told by a specialist LPG fitter I met whilst I was in the suppliers buying my spare parts, connectors etc that he would fit my kit if I found the job too difficult at his normal daily rate.

Basically my bargain basement conversion will save me around £1,000 next year and the trip to Italy alone will give me payback.

Even more so that LPG in Italy is down as low as 54 pence per litre.

Of course my methods are not suitable for everyone, ( even I was a little worried as I attacked the car with the hole cutter for the filling point) but if the worst case professionally fitted system scenario is payback in a year or thereabouts anyone planning to keep ther car for more than two years should be looking to LPG the thing.

This is especially true for the gas guzzling 4x4 fraternity.

Do the maths, it will be worthwhile, and remember LPG doesnt have all those expensive and petulant automatic oil dilution, soot choking, turbo munching, systems that modern diesels have.

Cheers,

Tony

[400-ascona]

We converted our T6 and it paid for itself in just over 12 months. The oil is cleaner when it comes to change time and the engine runs smoother.
It costs the same to run our T6 as it does to run a D5 with smoother/quieter engine and more power.
No idea if the 3.2 can be converted, but the T6 is good on gas.

Rob

[n1ckxc90]

There are some good positives and more fuel stations offer lpg too....resale can be affected though as lpg is still relatively a small % compared to petrol/diesel and the majority will prefer mainstream fuels. We run LPG vans at work and they work well...

[Bigice]

I used to run a sorento 3.5v6 on lpg, but I can say that the 100ltr tank only took me 190mile before it needed filling up, and the slow filling spped of LPG got right on my small parts!! The d5 xc90 i now have cost just about the same as the sorento but can go for 400miles before a fill up and the extra tourque for towing is much better..

[Curly59]

Can't comment on the 3.2 conversion but on the principle of lpg especially for high mileage drivers it really is cost effective. My experience was about 9 years ago I'm sure the technology will have moved on now, but I covered about 60k in two range rovers and disco V8, All had the existing tank removed an a smaller petrol side tank added for start up and backup with additional side tanks on the chassis rails by the sills. Yes there's a lot of space under there. This gave about 140lt .... 120ltr fill which gave around the same range as the oringinal tank...

In hindsight I was lucky to find a good local installer, honest and good value. About 1200 to convert. He also maintained the system. In fact when he retired I stopped buying v8's

So find a good installer, with good tech support. Personally wouldn't hesitate in repeating the process. :-)