Propane power

Would like to hear some input on propane power for cars. Had propane delivered to my home two weeks ago, it was $1.27 a gal. Gas at the local station was $2.20 a gal. The excuses vary every year, but the bottom line is the same, high gas prices every summer through fall. I live in a rural area in Calif. Would it be a=A0"do it yourself"=A0project, cost?

Reply to
Mike_burger-burner
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That is because the propane delivered to you home was probably high volume bulk price and it did not include the 'highway use' fuel taxes. Propane contains fewer BTU's as well. You would need to pay the highway use taxes to use propane in a vehicle legally. Propane varies in price wildly for place to place as well, depending on how many pounds one buys. It's around $3 in PA for less than 50 LB and $2.50 in Delaware. The federal highway use fuel tax is 18C and the average state tax is 25c to

35C. I don't have a conversion chart at hand but I would guess you would use at least a five of six dollars more in fuel per 100 miles.... Well you do the math.

mike hunt

Mike_burger-burner wrote:

Reply to
MikeHunt2

I would suspect this might not be a good move. Besides the points made by another poster, 'Mike Hunt2', there is good information that the price of natural gas liquids like propane may rise soon.

There is, in fact, a shortage of natural gas in the short term and no apparent way to fill the gap by winter. Gas prices could goanywhere this year. Long term situation is not bright either.

Reply to
Larry Smith

Reply to
pete selby

Here in Canada a lot of taxis use propane. I converted (in 1988) my '78 Granada with 250 straight 6 cyl and AT into dual fuel. It ran on propane or with a flick of a switch converted into gasoline. The mixer was on top of the carb.

That way when I came into the USA it was not problem because as soon as the propane ran out I switched to gas and... On my return to canada i switched back to propane because it was more readily available.

In the 5 years I had the vehicle I did not change the plugs once. it was important to change the air filter regularly as the propane needed more "air" than gas did - one winter the car started bucking and I thought it was out of propane so i switched to gas and drove to the nearest propane refill point. It did not need much propane. then when i switched back to propane it started bucking again. Looked at the air filter and changed it. No problem after that.

The oil was changed at about 5000 miles instead of the normal 3000 miles on gas. the oil went brown, never black/dirty. The six had just as good performance with propane was with gas - a hot rodder I was not.

The important thing was to have it installed by a reputable shop that did not take any short cuts with connections and timing. There is an important need for the coolant (water anti freeze mixture) to ALWAYS flow through the "vaporizer - whether the heater is off/on.

The car body rusted out and I gave it to my brother who put the Ford 250 into one of his swathers. He also took the dual fuel propane unit for use on one of his farm vehicles.

I an still try> Would like to hear some input on propane power for cars. Had propane

Reply to
Ken Pisichko

|To add a few more details, we had a few used cargo vans we bought for |resale from a local potato chip company & yes, like diesel, there is 2 |different prices for propane. One for your house & one taxed for the |road. Availability out on the road is also a factor to be considered |for propane. The only difference we saw on these things was a |regulator and disbursement assy. in place of the carb & you'll have to |replace your gas tank with a bottle (these trucks had 2) so getting |one big enough & compact enough for a smaller car may be a feat. I see |mention in one above post of natural gas. This is a whole different |ball of wax. CNG (compressed natueal gas) vehicles need very thick |walled bottles & more of then. The trucks I've seen with this setup |have 2 in place of the gas tank & one or 2 more in the vans interior & |availability of this fuel is even scarcer than propane. It's out |there, you just have to find it. These trucks were owned by the Gas |Company so for them it wasn't a problem But your average consumer may |differ. On the up side, & I'm gonna think the same for both gasses, |the fleet mgr. of the propane trucks told me they routinely go 400 to |500k miles before engine replacement so the clean burning advantage of |gas stretches into the crankcase as well.

In Texas, the highway use tax is paid annually. $75 gets you a stamp.

As I recall, Propane has a higher "octane" so you can run very high compression or supercharging without detonation. Probably not of use to you, but interesting. Also, it is dry so it has no inherent (or added lubricating qualities for the valve seats. It was common in the past to add a top oiler that misted Marvel Oil or something similar into the intake stream. Doesn't take much. And.... crankcase oil stays clean forever, seems like. You have to do it on schedule, because it will never darken. Rex in Fort Worth

Reply to
Rex B

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