paulsvet Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 Has anyone else done this or is thinking about having it done to their c1's? I got mine converted last August, it cost 1000 pounds inc vat to have it converted as it only has the 3 cylinders, but it's congestion charge exempt now which saves a few quid, and only costs 13-15 pounds to fill up from empty (30ltr tank in spare wheel well). I'm getting 250-270 miles to a tankful, depending how hard i drive it, which is still 50-55 mpg, but at 50p a litre instead of 1.20 or whatever petrol is now. No difference in performance, although I usually run it on petrol for 5 minutes until the engine is warm before switching over. Most towns have 1 or 2 places that sell it, about 1300 garages in the uk. As i intend to keep the car for a few years, i reckon it will pay for itself soon, especially with petrol going the way it is. Plus the other benefit is road tax is only 15 quid a year now! If anyone wants to convert their c1 i can recommend the guys that did mine. Quote
kfk Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 Dont forget to get the valve clearances adjusted and spark plus replaced annually as you will find the will require more attention due to this set up. The valve clearances will close up with use and cause lack of compression so failure to get it done will cause poor starting in the first instance. Nice to hear about a worth while mod that in time will hopefully save a few pennies....have you worked out how long it will take to break even? Quote
ColinC1 Posted June 8, 2008 Posted June 8, 2008 In this country of excessive taxataion, it is only a matter of time till any alternative fuel is heavily taxed, so alternatives like LPG does not interest me at all. I am happy enough with the 58 MPG on a 1000 cc petrol engine, although I am not keen on paying the goverment 58% of that in tax, which makes the cost per barrel irrevelent :lol: Deisel went the same way, as it gives better MPG, they made it dearer than petrol. It is only a matter of time till they do the same with electric cars, and put some excessive tax on it. I am sorry to be so negative, but recently it seems the UK goverment are determined to remove private transportation, unless you are a millionare. Quote
paulsvet Posted June 8, 2008 Author Posted June 8, 2008 Dont forget to get the valve clearances adjusted and spark plus replaced annually as you will find the will require more attention due to this set up. The valve clearances will close up with use and cause lack of compression so failure to get it done will cause poor starting in the first instance. Nice to hear about a worth while mod that in time will hopefully save a few pennies....have you worked out how long it will take to break even? Yeah i got it serviced on Friday. New plugs, oil, air and pollen filter, powerflush and brakes checked for 139. The mechanic said the oil was still very good considering it was 10000 miles old. I run the car on petrol every day initially to keep the valves and everything ticking over. When I got it converted the mechanics told me to run the car for a month to 'bed it in' then bring it back in to get the valves readjusted and the engine retuned, which i did and there was no charge, just an improvement in smoothness at idling speed. With regard to the savings, mpg equates currently to 125mpg based on 48p gas / 110p petrol. Not taking the 8 pound a day congestion charge into account, i'm spending approx 30 pound a week on gas, as opposed to 60 on petrol. Over the year thats roughly 1500 pounds on gas, as opposed to 3000 on petrol. So in theory the conversion paid for itself after only 9 months. Of course the savings will be made even quicker if you drive into town a lot, where you could save up to another 2000 a year. As to Colin c1's comments about LPG, I have seen an increase in the price of gas since august 07 from 40 to 50p, but at the same time petrol and diesel have shot up much faster. If the government have any credibility at all, they will protect alternative fuels, as stocks of petrol and diesel continue to run out. Quote
kfk Posted June 8, 2008 Posted June 8, 2008 You dont say if you had the valve clearances done on that service......maybe i missread it....but if you didnt and you have done 10k since the fitting of the lpgi would get them checked.....if you dont you could end up with damaged valve seats. My knowledge of this comes from Berlingo 1.4's that we service regularly that are converted......the toyota lump may react diiferently, but better to be safe than sorry.......did you get the lpg pressures checked aswell? Quote
paulsvet Posted June 8, 2008 Author Posted June 8, 2008 You dont say if you had the valve clearances done on that service......maybe i missread it....but if you didnt and you have done 10k since the fitting of the lpgi would get them checked.....if you dont you could end up with damaged valve seats. My knowledge of this comes from Berlingo 1.4's that we service regularly that are converted......the toyota lump may react diiferently, but better to be safe than sorry.......did you get the lpg pressures checked aswell? Thanks for the advice re: the valve clearances, the front brake pads are showing signs of wear, I will ask them to check them when they do the pads. I got the pressures checked when I took it back in after the 1 month bedding in period, I can't remember what they were but I was intrigued by how it is all configured by a laptop and one machine in the workshop. The car had done 8000 miles when i got it converted, its done 36000 now, so thats 28000 since conversion 10 months ago! Obviously doing a lot of motorway miles and going to london a bit means it's paid for itself much faster for me, but if you are planning to keep the car, and as C1's are one of the few cars on the powershift register, it puts a higher resale value on the car and so makes sense even if you don't do the miles. Personally for me the best feeling is when you've filled it up and only have to hand over a ten or 15 in the most expensive forecourts. Having had an old audi diesel before, it was getting me down handing over 60 quid each time i filled up. I guess it would be nearer 80 quid now, for a 60ltr tank. Quote
Trotsky Posted June 9, 2008 Posted June 9, 2008 A question. Does Citroen's warranty still apply to the cars after the conversion i.e. is it a recognised mod. ?Would'nt want to give them an excuse to write off problems unconnected to the LPG conversion. Quote
750Nig Posted June 9, 2008 Posted June 9, 2008 A question. Does Citroen's warranty still apply to the cars after the conversion i.e. is it a recognised mod. ?Would'nt want to give them an excuse to write off problems unconnected to the LPG conversion. I can't imagine any car manufacturer accepting a warranty claim to do with engine/fuelling/electronics after such a modification not carried out in the factory/dealership. Looking at the numbers from Paulsvet it would appear he is doing well over 20,000 miles per year, I don't think there will be many C1 owners racking up that kind of mileage. In our case this would be a rather pointless mod as the car is just 1 year old and completed 3000 miles. The pay back time would be far too long. As for oil running out, well when the oil runs out, so does LPG !!! and loads of other things too. I did convert a Range Rover LSE a few years back and it ran well for 2 years then developed a misfire which was never resolved even after having cylinder head rebuilds and electrics overhauls. In the end I took the gas kit off and sold them seperately. Clearly the conversion is working for you, keep your fingers crossed it stays that way. CheersNig Quote
paulsvet Posted June 9, 2008 Author Posted June 9, 2008 A question. Does Citroen's warranty still apply to the cars after the conversion i.e. is it a recognised mod. ?Would'nt want to give them an excuse to write off problems unconnected to the LPG conversion. I enquired this to citroen before i had it converted, they said that any subsequent defects with the engine wouldn't be covered, but the rest of the warranty wouldn't be affected. I never got that in writing so not sure how true that is. For the price of a new engine I considered the risk vs potential savings to be worth it. As for 750Nig and his comment regarding fuel supplies, we are just trying to stay in the game. I enclose a quote from CNN: 'Oil production levels will hit their maximum soon after 2010 with gas supplies peaking not long afterwards, the Swedish geologists say. At that point prices for petrol and other fuels will reach disastrous levels. Earlier studies had predicted oil supplies will not start falling until 2050'. Clearly gas prices will be also higher when production levels peak. We are hoping that it will at least be nearly affordable, unlike petrol or diesel which is already prohibitive. One fact is clear, production of both won't stop until it is all gone for ever. Sorry for the doomsday view! Clearly if you only drive 3000 miles a year, conversion for you would only be for ethical reasons for your kids, unless you were planning to keep the car for ever, in which case it would still pay you to do it. 1000 quid on top of the purchase price is really only the difference between a vibe or a rhythm! Quote
750Nig Posted June 10, 2008 Posted June 10, 2008 Going a little off topic, apologies for that, but does anybody think there is a little less traffic on the roads at the moment ? We have certainly reduced our trips out and about, although my suggestion to wifey that I buy her a nice tartan wheeled shopping trolley met with a very frosty reception ! As consumption reduces, the theory goes that prices will come down. Will people take to the roads/skies as quickly as they did before the price hikes. Is it not a good thing that fuel prices are so high, or should they be even higher ? Now theres a controversial statement. It has certainly got people thinking about it and that is because it is hitting where it hurts most - in the wallet. (stands back and awaits the flack) CheersNig Quote
Trotsky Posted June 10, 2008 Posted June 10, 2008 Car is 15 months old and will hit the 20,000 miles mark tonight so this sounds very tempting but may wait until the warranty expires, for obvious reasons of nothing to lose then if it goes wrong - apart from a huge bill. As the old Govt. grants were allegedly for cars 1 year or less to pay part of the conversion (is this still true ? It was in 2003) then the car is now past the "incentive" date anyway. Thanks for sharing the data & idea. Quote
Martin_1973_uk Posted June 10, 2008 Posted June 10, 2008 Great stuff, How does it switch over and can you feel the difference? £1,000 is a great conversion price. How long did it take? Where is the filler whole for the LPG? I believe all C1's will be exempt from the congestion charge this Autumn anyway plus the tax goes down to £20 as of next year. Quote
paulsvet Posted June 10, 2008 Author Posted June 10, 2008 Car is 15 months old and will hit the 20,000 miles mark tonight so this sounds very tempting but may wait until the warranty expires, for obvious reasons of nothing to lose then if it goes wrong - apart from a huge bill. As the old Govt. grants were allegedly for cars 1 year or less to pay part of the conversion (is this still true ? It was in 2003) then the car is now past the "incentive" date anyway. Thanks for sharing the data & idea. you are most welcome! the transport for london website shows all the criteria and has a pdf file which you download and print out, the link to it is here: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/CC-...ve-fuel.pdf.pdf You have to fill it in and enclose the conversion receipt and associated paperwork the garage gives you. It costs 10 pounds a year to be on the register, but thats like the equivalent of one trip into central london! To get the cheaper road tax you have to take the conversion forms and old tax disc to a dvla office, fill out a form and they do the rest. I had to wait a couple of weeks for the tax refund. Quote
paulsvet Posted June 10, 2008 Author Posted June 10, 2008 Great stuff, How does it switch over and can you feel the difference? £1,000 is a great conversion price. How long did it take? Where is the filler whole for the LPG? I believe all C1's will be exempt from the congestion charge this Autumn anyway plus the tax goes down to £20 as of next year. Hi martin, These are the people who did mine: Profess Autogas,Unit 4East RoadPenallta Ind EstYstrad MynachCF82 7QZtel 07981 959245 I'm sure they won't mind the advertising! Basically they fit a converter button onto the dash to the right of the steering wheel, so you can easily see the amount of gas in your tank. The torridial (sic) tank goes where your spare was, and the filler point is in the rear bumper. I shopped about for quite a while to find the right price for a multi point injection system, which is what you want rather than a single point one. 1000 is cheap for us as well as we only have 3 cylinders. When the gas is out it utters a beeping noise so just press the button to switch back to petrol and head for the nearest lpg garage! Its really simple to fill up, just like putting a bayonet light bulb in. I did have to wait 10 days for my appt, but it was all done in a day, then back in a month for a tune-up. The downside is you lose the spare wheel space, but I have a can of foam in case i get a flat tyre. I like to run it on petrol until the engine is warm (but not for too long!) , then switch over so both systems get some use. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.