I saw a video on you tube of a propane injection system on a f-150 with 5.4, the got some serious mpg gains! was wondering if anyone tried this on thier V10's. I thought I would try a crude system with a 20# propane tank and a regulator and valve just to see if there was any improvement. anything I should be concerned about? don't want to damage anything!!

 

Wow, a likely "Darwin Award" nominee!

 

This doesnt answer his question. I know people do it with diesel's but he may have a great idea. However I dont think it is worth the effort. I have heard about it. I think it would be alot of trouble.

 

From Wiki...

When LPG is used to fuel internal combustion engines, it is often referred to as autogas or auto propane. In some countries, it has been used since the 1940s as a petrol alternative for spark ignition engines. In some countries, there are additives in the liquid that extend engine life and the ratio of butane to propane is kept quite precise in fuel LPG. Two recent studies have examined LPG-fuel-oil fuel mixes and found that smoke emissions and fuel consumption are reduced but hydrocarbon emissions are increased.[5][6] The studies were split on CO emissions, with one finding significant increases,[5] and the other finding slight increases at low engine load but a considerable decrease at high engine load.[6] Its advantage is that it is non-toxic, non-corrosive and free of tetraethyllead or any additives, and has a high octane rating (102-108 RON depending on local specifications). It burns more cleanly than petrol or fuel-oil and is especially free of the particulates from the latter.
LPG has a lower energy density than either petrol or fuel-oil, so the equivalent fuel consumption is higher. Many governments impose less tax on LPG than on petrol or fuel-oil, which helps offset the greater consumption of LPG than of petrol or fuel-oil. However, in many European countries this tax break is often compensated by a much higher annual road tax on cars using LPG than on cars using petrol or fuel-oil. Propane is the third most widely used motor fuel in the world. 2008 estimates are that over 13 million vehicles are fueled by propane gas worldwide. Over 20 million tonnes (over 7 billion US gallons) are used annually as a vehicle fuel.
Not all automobile engines are suitable for use with LPG as a fuel. LPG provides less upper cylinder lubrication than petrol or diesel, so LPG-fueled engines are more prone to valve wear if they are not suitably modified. Many modern common rail diesel engines respond well to LPG use as a supplementary fuel. This is where LPG is used as fuel as well as diesel. Systems are now available that integrate with OEM engine management systems.


Fuel - oil = diesel

 

Now now, let's be nice...

 

LPG is used in taxi's and light weight commercial vehicles (couriers etc) here in Ontario a lot as a cheaper alternative. To retrofit a gas engine to dual fuel costs about $4000-$5000 here, so you need to drive allot of miles to recoup the costs. ( which is why taxi's use it since they are on the road 7/24).
If you are towing all the time it won't be worth it as there is less energy in LPG combustion to haul/tow big loads and you'd be forced to use gasoline anyway.

 

jbmoi...I've seen various truck shows use LPG as a power booster by injection into the intake system on a diesel truck. I don't remember the fiqures quoted on the hp ratings or mpg rating over stock but they were higher. I know they were doing this show around the Orlando area. I myself would like to see if there are any advantages of using it on a V10 via the air intake for ehanced mpg and hp. Anything would help!

 

yea i'm not talking about a propane conversion i'm talking about adding it to the intake while running on gasoline. the therory is if you add propane to the system you get more complete combustion and as well the o2 sensor reads a rich mixture and leans it out meaning less gasoline burnt. my question was will this harm anything? just don't want to burn an exhaust valve or anything.

 

Ahh, sorry I mis-read the post. Id like to hear more about this.

 

jbmoi.......Checked on the internet and found a company (diesel performance products) advertising their lpg induction system for the gasoline engines. This is thru the intake using a controlled metering system to match the engines rpms. They claim there is absolutely no negative effects on the mechanical parts of the engine. I have contacted them for more info. Always curious and if it will safely help the power and operational costs of the engine i"m interested.

 

yes i thought i would try myself with a regulator and valve into a vacuum port in the intake before making a big investment in the system. obviously my way is not very safe! and I would only try while cruising on the highway not in town or idling. thought it would be a cool experiment with no investment (I already have everything I need). I'll be sure to post any results I find. no high hopes just thought worth a try!!

 

so i got my make-shift system installed today, i am using a small camping cylinder and a brazing torch regulator with a valve hooked to a hose that i ran through the firewall. then i drilled and tapped a 1\4npt into the intake (where the plastic resevoir thing is) and used a quick coupler so the hose can be removed and i'm not left with a vacuum leak. the small regulator does not flow very much but from what i can find online you only want 1-2 cfm of propane. haven't tried it on the highway yet, will tomorrow I drive about 60 miles each way to and from work so if it does anything i should be able to tell shortly. when turning it on at idle the idle icreases by 200 rpm

 

jbmoi.........look on the internet at this company and it's testimonials....ecopowerus.com........... I live very close to this company in Florida and know the A/C company mentioned in one of the testimonals.. I'm interested and would like to see your results on your simple induction system... I too own a V10, mine is a 2009 3V Ford 250 SD with a 5R110W tranny with 65000 miles..............Sonny

 

so I have some results. while using the propane I went from 430kms per 110literes to 528kms per 110literes(sorry I'm in Canada). so an imrovement! but is it worth it? during the test I used almost an entire 20# propane tank which cost me $16 to fill. $16 of gasoline at $1.08 is 14.81 literes which would get me almost 60 kms. so I guess I'm getting almost 40 kms for free with each tank of gas. I only used the propane while on the highway and turned it off while in town, if left on it would make the engine stall while coming to a stop, so not very safe! I'm sure it could be fine tuned to be more efficient but not sure if its worth the hassle. what do you guys think? should I keep messing with it or just forget about it?

 

I installed a DPP injection kit in a Kenworth T300 back when the were first coming to market. The customer service and product were fantastic. While I can't comment "yet" on their gas setup, I can say I was pleased with the diesel setup at that time.

I have written DPP and asked for additional information on the new gas engine unit as well as pricing. Once I get this information I will update if you would like.

Unless of course someone here beats me to it. Either way I will be tuned in to see where this goes.