Lpg Serviced Today By Profess Down In Lovely Wales

[Keith Bowler]

Sorry to hijack this post but what's the going rate inclusive of VAT for an LPG conversion, I am very close to getting mine converted.

[Bluesman]

The £999 price shown at Profess does need VAT on it which takes it to £1200 which is not cheap but a competitive price. I have spoken to them this morning and they have done LS 430 before all without any problems.

One of the reasons they can install LPG systems at the low price is because they have European sites which have been installing and supplying these systems for 30+ years. When most English companies get an LPG installation they then order the system they need quite often it comes from Profess and they are not going to sell to them without making a profit.

They have racks absolutely loaded from floor to ceiling with every type of tank you could think of. I have never seen an English outfit with the same level of stock if they have any stock at all.

Mike

[Chris Skelton]

Stop it! I've been without my Ser 4 for 11 months! All this is tempting me to get back!

There's nothing else I fancy (except a Skyline £50 GT or a Smart Forfour...)

An LPG one would just be the biscuit!

[Bluesman]

Stop it! I've been without my Ser 4 for 11 months! All this is tempting me to get back!

There's nothing else I fancy (except a Skyline £50 GT or a Smart Forfour...)

An LPG one would just be the biscuit!

Go on, Jump! You know it makes sense. Mike

[lpgdlex]

I've got a LS400 which was converted by Profess earlier in the year and so far so good.

They're pretty competitive on price (£1200 for a LS400 or LS430) although that doesn't include any gas.

They started on mine at 8.00am and were finished just after 6.30. If you're some way from them you will need to take it back for a check after 1 month so bear that in mind. They set the map a bit conservative to start with and then set it tighter when you take it back so you should see a 5-10% improvement in economy after the check.

I've got a 84 litre tank in the spare wheel well which you can squeeze about 70 litres of gas in. It switches to gas after about 1 mile, even on these cold mornings and feels just the same to drive. Economy wise it doesn't do quite as well on gas as petrol – on a fastish motorway run (75ish) it will do about 25-26mpg on gas which is about the monetary equivalent of a 45mpg diesel car so still not bad. I haven't worked out mixed mpg since the calibration was re-done.

Profess use a Polish controller system called STAG and although the guys running the place are Welsh most of the fitters and mechanics are Polish and seem to really know the system. The reason they can do it in a day is because as you drive in four very hard working Polish guys are straight on the car and don't stop until it is done. The other bits, such as the injectors, all seem similar to other installers (OMVL in my case). It is a very neat install with a nice bracket made up to mount all the injectors on in a nice line either side of the engine.

The only very minor issue I've had is a slightly uneven idle on gas in the last couple of days which seems to have fixed its self today. I assumed it was done to the weather – and it was – it is the first time I've ever run it on gas with the aircon off (being below 3 degrees it turned its self off) which of course reduced the idle speed. It seems the controller need to “learn” this new situation.

The only other downside is that although petrol has come down recently (129.9p locally today) gas has gone up quite a bit from 74p last month to 80p most places this month.

[abs66]

Congrats on a successful install, I wish I had gone to profess now, Bluesman swears by them.

[Bluesman]

The only other downside is that although petrol has come down recently (129.9p locally today) gas has gone up quite a bit from 74p last month to 80p most places this month.

Glad your install was OK. I am paying 68p at a Calor Gas supplier which is only 4 miles from where I live. 4 miles in the other direction is a garage selling it for 82p. Just one rip off after another.

Complain to them each time you fill up and let them know your annoyed at having to pay such high prices.

The price of oil has fell when in Apr 2011 a barrel was $135 in Nov 2012 that same barrel was costing $115 £20 dllars difference. Have you seen any of that benefit? of course not. Its just one big rip off.

End of of my soap box lecture. Mike

[ManicMark]

Another thing odd about when it runs on gas. It failed emissions on gas on the lamda reading but flew through no probs on petrol.

Odd.

It seems you have too much gas going in that would cause the smell . high readings & rough running as its over fuelling a bit like a choke stuck on.

[ManicMark]

Stop it! I've been without my Ser 4 for 11 months! All this is tempting me to get back!

There's nothing else I fancy (except a Skyline £50 GT or a Smart Forfour...)

An LPG one would just be the biscuit!

Go on Chris you know it makes sense.

[Bluesman]

Another thing odd about when it runs on gas. It failed emissions on gas on the lamda reading but flew through no probs on petrol.

Odd.

It seems you have too much gas going in that would cause the smell . high readings & rough running as its over fuelling a bit like a choke stuck on.

Its more likely that it has a leak. Mike

[abs66]

I'm having it back in the garage on Monday. In the mean time I'm running on petrol, expensive but I'm not going to risk running on gas until its sorted.

As for the over fuelling, that's the third or fourth time I've been told that. I will investigate further.

Thanks for all the input guys.

[Bluesman]

I'm having it back in the garage on Monday. In the mean time I'm running on petrol, expensive but I'm not going to risk running on gas until its sorted.

As for the over fuelling, that's the third or fourth time I've been told that. I will investigate further.

Thanks for all the input guys.

What size is your tank Pete? It should only fill 80% of its capacity so work out what that is and that should tell you when filling from empty if it is overfilling. Mike

[cruisermark]

I'm having it back in the garage on Monday. In the mean time I'm running on petrol, expensive but I'm not going to risk running on gas until its sorted.

As for the over fuelling, that's the third or fourth time I've been told that. I will investigate further.

Thanks for all the input guys.

What size is your tank Pete? It should only fill 80% of its capacity so work out what that is and that should tell you when filling from empty if it is overfilling. Mike

MIke they are talking about over fuelling - not over filling

[Bluesman]

I'm having it back in the garage on Monday. In the mean time I'm running on petrol, expensive but I'm not going to risk running on gas until its sorted.

As for the over fuelling, that's the third or fourth time I've been told that. I will investigate further.

Thanks for all the input guys.

What size is your tank Pete? It should only fill 80% of its capacity so work out what that is and that should tell you when filling from empty if it is overfilling. Mike

MIke they are talking about over fuelling - not over filling

Sorry, another senior moment, I will have forgotten all about it in a minute. Mike

[abs66]

Haha but just for your info its 77 litres.

[Bluesman]

Haha but just for your info its 77 litres.

Cheers Pete. Do hope you get it fixed so you can fully enjoy your LS and LPG. Mike

[abs66]

So do I. I'm tempted to take it elsewhere but I don't see why I should have to pay more!!

[Baldeagle]

Seriously considered converting to LPG,but in light of relentless fuel-price rises lately-which are affecting a rise in gas also, in rip-off Britain, gas will soon be as dear as petrol and diesel,I don't know why we put up with it.

[Bluesman]

Seriously considered converting to LPG,but in light of relentless fuel-price rises lately-which are affecting a rise in gas also, in rip-off Britain, gas will soon be as dear as petrol and diesel,I don't know why we put up with it.

When I first had a car converted 16 years ago all my friends said exactly the same thing but I didn't let that put me off. I was paying 28p a litre then, today I am spending 68p, yes its risen 40p but still way behind petrol prices.

The other thing that will help keep the price down is that should the government start piling on the taxes and bringing the price up to that of petrol their green credentials will be sunk over night and seriously damage their credibility and that will cost them billions. So you do have a safe guard.

The other thing to remember also is that running on LPG keeps engine contaminants at bay because LPG burns much cleaner and what comes out of your exhaust is far more environmentally friendly than petrol exhaust.

Don't mess around go LPG.

Mike

[ManicMark]

Hi the difference in the cost of gas to petrol is greater as both prices go up, so in real terms you save more money,The cost of conversions has also come down as more & more people are converting. So you will cover the cost for the cost of the install much quicker.

Its a no brainer for me I was saving 48p per litre 5 years ago now im saving 60p per litre. Say you get 10% less economy on gas which I dont, it will take 2400 litres max to get your money back which on an ls doing 12,000 a year would take about 10 months.

The car is running better as the time goes on as the engine is cleaner 132k when converted 190k now & the motor is like silk.

The oil is always as clean as when I put it in at changes.

Its kinder to the environment & if your car is newer than 2001 you get a small reduction in road tax.

The resale value of the car is more at the end of the day also.

If you have the £1200 or so it costs to convert you would be mad not to I.M.O

I would have to run something like a Golf diesel to get the same running costs. The Golf is a good car but I think I would prefer to have my lexus.

It has been the cheapest car I have ever had to run as in near 60k I have had no repair costs, Only routine servicing which I do myself.

[abs66]

Update for anyone who may be interested.

Had Lexie back to the installer today and he found an intermittent fault on two injectors. One was weak the other was over fuelling! Its not surprising it was acting weirdly!

The smell of gas seems to have gone too fingers crossed. As it took ages to find the fault he even bought me lunch!

He also said he thought my coils might need changing soon but that it was a job fairly easy to tackle at home. Has anyone changed the coils on a mk3 and if so was it reasonably straight forward? Also did you notice a difference in economy/performance?

I've already done the plugs and leads so might as well do the coils too.

Thanks for everyone's advice so far, much appreciated.

[Bluesman]

Update for anyone who may be interested.

Had Lexie back to the installer today and he found an intermittent fault on two injectors. One was weak the other was over fuelling! Its not surprising it was acting weirdly!

The smell of gas seems to have gone too fingers crossed. As it took ages to find the fault he even bought me lunch!

He also said he thought my coils might need changing soon but that it was a job fairly easy to tackle at home. Has anyone changed the coils on a mk3 and if so was it reasonably straight forward? Also did you notice a difference in economy/performance?

I've already done the plugs and leads so might as well do the coils too.

Thanks for everyone's advice so far, much appreciated.

Glad you have got it fixed now for happy cheap motoring. Mike

[abs66]

Cheers Mike.

[mikesands]

Very Good mike

I LOVE LPG, had mine converted in May and ive passed the point where ive already made my money back from the conversion

Lexus LS owners are such intelligent people if not the most intelligent in the universe. We have cars which are the best engineered, the best put together, the most comfortable, with the best audio systems, with the greatest V8 engine which is coupled to the smoothest gearbox and to buy all this costs very little to buy the car and then on top of that we are paying less than half for fuel with LPG over petrol, its no wonder that Lexus LS LPG owners are the happiest people in the universe except poor Pete who is having real troubles with his LPG system ....

.... and poor MikeSands :(

Mike

[Bluesman]

Very Good mike

I LOVE LPG, had mine converted in May and ive passed the point where ive already made my money back from the conversion

Lexus LS owners are such intelligent people if not the most intelligent in the universe. We have cars which are the best engineered, the best put together, the most comfortable, with the best audio systems, with the greatest V8 engine which is coupled to the smoothest gearbox and to buy all this costs very little to buy the car and then on top of that we are paying less than half for fuel with LPG over petrol, its no wonder that Lexus LS LPG owners are the happiest people in the universe except poor Pete who is having real troubles with his LPG system ....

.... and poor MikeSands :(

Mike

Are you still having trouble?? Mike