CNG conversion (1 Viewer)

[livelarg]

Howdy all,
I'm back from my 7 state adventure with the family. Now I'm ready to do this whole conversion thing. I have heard a lot of info, facts, ideas and opinions on the subject of the conversion. Yesterday I went to a full on conversion company to get some hard info, and to dispell rumors. ( they knew I was doing it myself, and was not selling me anything)
This is what I found out:
1) valves- They have not had any heat problems with valves after conversion. But they talked about the lubricating qualities of gas that is not present in CNG. They install the oil injector that has been previously mentioned in this forum as a safety precaution.
BUT- you have to monitor the system after set-up. It can be set up too lean easily and burn out a ton of stuff. But is equally easy to set up right. He said that if you see your getting BETTER mileage than before, you are running lean!

2) the millenium system I have been looking at is a decent system, and should work fine.
BUT- all of the regulators are from china, and quality is spotty at best. he said mount the reluator so it can be worked on to replace the diaphram, which is the weak link. other than that. all good. He siad if your regulator last 3 months before needing diaphram fixed, you got a good on from factory.
ALSO- His experience is to not try the fog system at all for vehicles newer than 07'
3) There are no other real concerns to the system, it essentially turns off injectors, and works like a carb system sucking in the CNG.

I have been checking all over trying to get some used tanks, The lnogest that will fit in the spare tire bay is about 36-38" long.

Will keep it updated.

 

[FloridaFJ80]

For those running the kit, how are you doing on MPG when running on CNG?

 

[livelarg]

For those running the kit, how are you doing on MPG when running on CNG?

The cng is based on a gas equivilant. So mileage should be the same if set up right

 

[burbuja96]

Howdy all,
I'm back from my 7 state adventure with the family. Now I'm ready to do this whole conversion thing. I have heard a lot of info, facts, ideas and opinions on the subject of the conversion. Yesterday I went to a full on conversion company to get some hard info, and to dispell rumors. ( they knew I was doing it myself, and was not selling me anything)
This is what I found out:
1) valves- They have not had any heat problems with valves after conversion. But they talked about the lubricating qualities of gas that is not present in CNG. They install the oil injector that has been previously mentioned in this forum as a safety precaution.
BUT- you have to monitor the system after set-up. It can be set up too lean easily and burn out a ton of stuff. But is equally easy to set up right. He said that if you see your getting BETTER mileage than before, you are running lean!

2) the millenium system I have been looking at is a decent system, and should work fine.
BUT- all of the regulators are from china, and quality is spotty at best. he said mount the reluator so it can be worked on to replace the diaphram, which is the weak link. other than that. all good. He siad if your regulator last 3 months before needing diaphram fixed, you got a good on from factory.
ALSO- His experience is to not try the fog system at all for vehicles newer than 07'
3) There are no other real concerns to the system, it essentially turns off injectors, and works like a carb system sucking in the CNG.

I have been checking all over trying to get some used tanks, The lnogest that will fit in the spare tire bay is about 36-38" long.

Will keep it updated.

Good info , following this real close, please keep updating .
Thanks

 

[fstbll42]

Any update Livelarg?

 

[livelarg]

Well fstbll42,

Seems the hardest thing about this install is finding used tanks to fit. I found a set on ebay, but i got busy and forgot to keep track at end of auction, and lost. so still looking.

If anyone knows of a place to get used tanks, let me know.

 

[burbuja96]

Any updates???

 

[Golgo13]

Any updates on this yet?

 

[landtoy80]

Update?

 

[SARguy]

I have a 97 LC with 260000 m which has had the Millenium kit on it since 202000. I have identical setup on my 97LX 450 DD with 230,000 on it and have run the same kit since 160k... Trouble free. I have three tanks where the 3rd row seats were. the tanks were all used. two are a twin pack from a crown vic ( which fits on the floor between the wheel wells) and the other is a type 4 tank that probably came from a bus... 16"x54" which is behind th wheel wells. I dont need the 3rd row and I was in too big of a hurry to move the spare to put tanks underneath. I just stack all my SAR gear on top/sides of the tanks. This gives me about 160 miles per fill, At 6000 miles per change, the oil looks like the day I put it in. Only complaint I have is that I get a 0171 error because the compter doesnt understand the readings from burning so clean. Here in utah the emmissions is per OBDII for the gas and measuring the tailpipe emmissions for the CNG. I reset the errror code and drive on gasoline till the computer shows ready for the emissions test, then switch to cng for that test before the error light comes. on . Its fun to see all the posts ( and tears ) from the mudders about their mileage and have my fuel costs at $.12 city and $.09 highway. I figure I have saved about $10000 on fuel in four years. Utah has a ton of CNG vehicles. A good source here is the classifieds on KSL tv website I bought my last tanks from a shop in Circleville Ut. 435-577-2442. For new tanks a good source is ewsews in utah... And thanks to all the expertise to all the mudders I have followed. Keeps my old 80's running without breaking the bank.

 

[pkt1213]

I'm glad this came up. I've really been contemplating this when I get an 80.

I Oklahoma has quite a few filling stations.
I drive about 60 miles round trip.
I could adjust my drive to drive past the filling station 6 miles away. It wouldn't be out of the way other than a little more traffic.

I really want to do a 4.2 Atlas swap converted to CNG. However I am worried that removing 400lbs from the front end and adding it to the back would make the rig handle oddly.

 

[landtoy80]

It might be a hard decisions to swap now that gasoilne prices are falling but CNG prices are not. Its said that where will be a surplus of gasoline at the end of this decade and prices will be low. With all the drilling going on for crud oil and the soon to be online semi truck LNG fuel stations and LNG trucks, there will be a demand for natural gas and a surplus of diesel.

I just like the idea of the going longer with out refueling (a second tank of fuel) and the idea that WHEN there is a world oil crises again, you dont have to deal with gasoline demands.

 

[snowglobe]

Now if only California would allow this conversion and have installation shops I would be all over it!

Not Kali legal?

 

[SARguy]

Not Kali legal?

One of the reasons I would never live in "Kali". the enviro nazis would never ever let you burn clean CNG that isnt under the thumb of the EPA certified kits. It really is about govt control over the serfs, not clean air. ($500,000 dollar certifcation process for each engine variation) I have an LX450 dd with 260k on the clock. got it with a blown HG. replaced that... 100k miles burning cng. Last emissions test, I tested it with a sniffer while burning gasoline and the numbers were like a brand new engine.. across the board. My sons '97 80 has 270 on the clock with 70K running CNG. easily passes emmisions on both gas and gasoline. Both were kits I installed/maintain.... no problems with system even with the cheap chinese regulators. for the regulators, In utah some years back, only EPA approved systems allowed. Two attorneys put kits in ( usuallly about 1/3 the cost of an EPA system install). When they couldnt get emissions test they sued the Utah, and EPA and won. the result is that in Utah, you can install any kit and the OBDII test ( or sniffer while running on gas, plus sniffer test while running CNG get you approved. I win with about $20,000 in fuel savings over about 5 yrs. Atmosphere wins with much cleaner air. For fun I pulled spark plug wire on CNG for sniffer test and still passed air quality. Try that on GAsoline. Two tired old engines 260 k and 270 k with no work done on them and they still easily pass emissions. 100k on cng. engine runs quiet, gool, no knocking ( cng 130 octane ) it's a win

 

[FJ801993]

I've tried converting my 93 fj80 1fz to cng but failed as air flow meter shuts down air at slow RPM and engine turns off. Used timing advancer plus emulator too but no use. Do I need to use some special ECU for this engine? Can I try bypassing airflow meter with some open shut valve? Any expert opinions?