S60 Bi-fuel - Service cost

[Dips]

Hi,

I have just purchased a 2002 S60-Bi-Fuel.. the car has full service history and runs very well but i don't think the LPG was serviced on the last service. When running on LPG between 60 and 70 mph the car starts to judder but only between 60-70 then stops, should i be concerned about this? and how much does it cost to service the lpg system?

Thanks for you help/advise..

[capt jack]

I have a bi-fuel conversion, but I think the basic rules of LPG are universal.

LPG is highly intolerant of ignition components that are less than perfect, especially spark plugs and ignition leads. Don't ignore this misfire - you'll be saving up troubles for later on.

I'm guessing your car is too young to have a distributor and rotor, and will have individual ignition coils.

Servicing the LPG side of things involves replacing the fuel filter and checking and adjusting if needed the fuel pressure. That and a visual inspection for leaks and deterioration is about it.

I reckon you could do two things: First, make sure that the spark plugs are in good order - LPG burns them out at about three times the rate of petrol! The major symptom of tired plugs is a misfire! In my car's case, this always happens at just under 3000rpm - 70-ish mph! For what they cost, replace them all with Bosch superplus single electrode plugs. LPG does not like multi-point plugs.

Second, get the LPG fuel filter changed, and the pressure checked. This will need to be done by soemone who knows LPG and has the appropriate software. The Volvo main dealer should be able to do this, but talk to them directly, and be sure thay do know their stuff. The alternative would be to take the car to an LPG specialist. You'd need to ring round a few to see who has got the wherewithall to do this properly.

As a routine in future, change the plugs and LPG filter every 10,000 miles.

The LPG expert on here is Classicswede.

Good luck

Jack

[Dips]

Thats great, thanks for the advise. I will speak to volvo tomorrow and find out how much it will be getting it done from them. hopefully it is a case of plugs and filters and nothing else.

[petrov05]

Originally Posted by Dips

Thats great, thanks for the advise. I will speak to volvo tomorrow and find out how much it will be getting it done from them. hopefully it is a case of plugs and filters and nothing else.

I have same age factory Bi-Fuel as you and it gives me a lot of grief on the LPG only. Can you let me know what Volvo tells you as my local Volvo dealer don,t have a clue about the factory bi-fuels and openly told me to find independant lpg specialist. The problem is the independant spialists don't have the software (or are not intrested to do the checks) and want to change the LPG system which I don't want to do. Thank you.

[Dips]

I went to a local volvo specialist today as they would give me a diognostic reading bit cheaper then volvo main dealer, the result was "a misfire on at least 1 cylinder" but thats as much as they could tell me, they would need to take car for a day and try figure it out but there not specialist in LPG so its not worth taking it back there. The main dealer who state they can repair LPG systems and have the correct equipment are taking a look on Monday, the car will be left with them and they will take it for a drive and try work out the fault and hopefully not charge me the a small fortune. If it is misfire is this something i should be worried about, Jack you state that it could be the plugs is there anything else it could be? im trying to think worst case.. I don't think it will be to bad as the car has really been looked after and is in great shape.. Also is the car ok to drive? between now and monday i think i will be doing about 600 miles is this safe to do so?

[MrP]

mines been misfiring like that for over 5,000 miles like that and its just passed its MOT!

i get multiple cylinder misfire and possible cat damage, but hey ho!

its going in for a new distributor and stuff tommorow from autogas 2000 @ thirsk hopefully it'll improve it so i can get to france and back!

[capt jack]

Sadly the factory-fit LPG system is not great - the after market conversions seem to fare much better.

But at the end of the day, whatever your car runs on, mechanicals is mechanicals.

Intermittent misfires are usually caused by electrical components starting to fail. Any engine simply needs the fuel, air and spark all to arrive in the right place at the right time and it will work. Even our modern-day mobile computers still rely on the same old basic principles!

LPG is very intolerant of decaying electricals. A set of Bosch superplus plugs will set you back all of £7.50 from a motor factor (NOT Halfords), and take 20 minutes to fit, so this has to be worth a try.

LPG is quite an oily fuel, and so the filter needs to be changed every 10 to 12k miles. It's amazing how much cr@p collects in the filter in a short space of time.

If your car has a distributor cap and rotor, plus conventional plug leads then change them. This will cost you around £75. This is not a service item, but these components do wear out, and LPG exposes the weaknesses.

If your car has individual coils for each cylinder, it's possible that one is on it's way out.

When was the air filter last changed? An engine needs air as well as fuel, and if the air supply is compromised you will get problems.

Interesting that MrP mentions Autogas 2000 at Thirsk. They are a brilliant firm who can and will sort out LPG problems for factory-fit and converted cars. They might be a long way away from you, but if you're really stuck, give them a call. They train LPG technicians, and they have links with LPG companies all over the country. Check out their web site too. They are a 3-hour drive from Leicester - A47, M1, M18, A1 - it's easy. There are some great pubs, hotels and restaurants round and about, so treat the car to a visit to the experts, and the Mrs to a relaxing visit to James Herriott country!

Good luck

Cheers

Jack

[Dips]

The only reason i thought i would go to a volvo dealer was because the unit is factory fit but i spoke to LPGCARS who are based in coventry and they seem to know what they are talking about, they can not diagnose the problem on the phone but had said a service on the LPG will be £120 they will check the pressures, check for leaks etc and it may include a new filter too. they said they would change the plugs for me whilst they are in the bonnet if i wish. I think they see more LPG in 1 week then volvo do in a year.. I'm no mechanic so is it worth me paying £120 rather then attempt to do work myself, even though £7.50 for plugs sounds really really tempting. I'd probably end up causing more damage.. volvo say a new filter will be £85 plus half hour labour which will probably add up to £120 alone. I think i should hold tight till monday and see what volvo say, i better check they won't charge me to just look at the damn car. at least i know im ok to drive with the juddering the strange thing is i did not get a reading on the dash telling me i have a fault. It says time for regular service but i think that it a false reading and since the garage reset my management light yesterday it has not come on again..

[petrov05]

Originally Posted by Dips

... volvo say a new filter will be £85 plus half hour labour which will probably add up to £120 alone. I think i should hold tight till monday and see what volvo say, i better check they won't charge me to just look at the damn car..

There are two filters. One is asmall one for the shut-off valve and a bigger capsulated one for the gas pipe. I bought two of them from Volvo for £35 and my local garage charged me a tenner to change them in 5 minutes, and Volvo will probably charge you for just looking at the car ... they are money hungry....

[Dips]

are these filters for the lpg system? could you tell me what they are for i can then ask volvo and see what they will charge if i can get it a that price i will do that and get bosch plugs and get a local garage to fit them..