Catalytic Colnverter Question

[Weaserlorian]

No inside is definitely not the way

 

[EMS]

No inside is definitely not the way

No its not lol If heat shields aren't the best....I've had 2 come loose on 2 different cars, everytime you go over a hump a little too fart, it rattles the heat shield....do it enough and it will come loose. I've got to fix mine before it disintegrates and the car isn't even that old....well 9 years old August. I've had it 1 year and 1 month...I've had to replace 2 injectors coils, 2 tyres, 1 cv joint, got a track rod end to replace as the rubber is shredded when the cv joint was replaced and the heat shield and it'll be as good as new, if I can be bothered to wash and hoover it lol. I love my petrol engines and they say you're not a real petrol head until you've owned an Alfa Romeo.....and yes I have lol

 

[frisbee]

they say you're not a real petrol head until you've owned an Alfa Romeo.....and yes I have lol

An excellent choice to allow you to learn about everything that can fail on a car!

 

[EMS]

An excellent choice to allow you to learn about everything that can fail on a car!

Well, it was a good car until it got stuck in gear and the gear stick broke when I tried to get it into neutral.....took over 3 weeks to get a new one because it had to come from italy....what a pain in the bottom. I said I might as well take a holiday and pick it up whilst out there...I was joking. So I waited and waited...it turned up, got it fitted and it still wouldn't move. Anyway, with my busy work stuff, I never got a chance to pull it apart but hey ho...the early days when I didn't know too much...now I've worked on not just a selection of car makes and models including the smart car, some vans including iveco, LDV, Ford transits...and of course I've worked on my own cars, so I know a few things more than I did back then. I struggle now doing stuff because of the disabilities so I try to find cheap locals that will do stuff. Unfortunately due to the dire weather we rarely have in the UK lol I can't get out there and do stuff that needs doing.

I would suggest that NR switches to LPG, its much cheaper and will still deliver the power you had before with a bit better mileage I believe. It means having another tank in the car though or go veggie oil/Hemp oil direction

 

[frisbee]

now I've worked on not just a selection of car makes and models including the smart car, some vans including iveco, LDV, Ford transits...and of course I've worked on my own cars, so I know a few things more than I did back then. I struggle now doing stuff because of the disabilities so I try to find cheap locals that will do stuff. Unfortunately due to the dire weather we rarely have in the UK lol I can't get out there and do stuff that needs doing.

I would suggest that NR switches to LPG, its much cheaper and will still deliver the power you had before with a bit better mileage I believe. It means having another tank in the car though or go veggie oil/Hemp oil direction

That's a really decent breadth of experience you've had there EMS!

Interestingly (at least to me), in the Colonies where I reside we have huge natural gas reserves which we should be converting to LPG and running all our vehicles. Despite those reserves, LPG is far from mainstream these days with various fuel retailers not selling it and the federal government insisting on maintaining world price parity. This makes zero sense until you add taxes....

Eons ago, I ran a Mitsubishi (Itsabitshiti) on LPG for a few years when I was clocking up a few km's. It ran well and was a good cheap alternative to petrol. Common opinion back then was that there was about a 15% drop in power (not noticeable) and a similar increase in fuel consumption (ie. you get more mileage from petrol than LPG). The question ultimately comes down to the local pricing differential between the two fuels.

It is also worth looking at current thinking about LPG usage possibly eventually burning valves. Years ago it was thought to only be an issue in pre-1980's cars (doubtlessly NR would be driving a 1967 Fastback Mustang). With engines from 1980, running it on petrol once a week was sufficient to lubricate the valves. For the non-mechanically inclined, that involved the simple flick of a switch on the dashboard to change from using LPG to petrol. Super simple.

 

[NavyRet]

I didn't mean, by any means that I planned to switch to electric. Was merely noting that was probably the only way to solve the catalytic converter problem. Being 75 (in 19 days), I will probably be long dead before we run out of fossil fuels so it's not really a problem for me.

doubtlessly NR would be driving a 1967 Fastback Mustang

Would if I could, that's for sure. I drive a 9 year old Chevy Impala that I bought right off the show room floor brand new. TBH, it still drives like new - only has less than 38k miles on it (we don't get out much any more). Drove it once to Missouri and across that state after watching the full solar eclipse. Then one trip to western South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and on to Wyoming to see Devil's Tower. Other than that, we rarely ever leave our home county here in Minnesota. Grocery stores, Mall of America, Hospitals, doctors and dentists are all within 10 miles of home.​

 

[Weaserlorian]

Well you know the ole saying "If it ain't broke…."

If your comfortable in your surroundings and there is no need to leave, then why bother.

 

[frisbee]

we rarely ever leave our home county​

Nonetheless, with the benefit of technology, you deal with folks around the globe everyday which we all appreciate.

An occasional watch of the Nicholas Cage version of Gone In 60 Seconds to listen to the sweet automotive is good for the soul. That's what subwoofers are made for.

 

[EMS]

LPG is about 99p, diesel £162.99, petrol £1.42....petrol and diesel hit £2 not so long ago.

 

[frisbee]

No wonder the Saudis can afford to throw $320M a year at Ronaldo!

 

[Dr Pickles]

Correct NR. Once combustion engines are a thing of the past, the cat converter thieves will have long since moved on to something else.

Like stealing the batteries...

 

[frisbee]

For those interested in potentially converting their car to run on LPG in the UK, here's a link to an RAC article on the topic from Nov 21.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/emissions/what-is-lpg/

The article states that "Although cars are unlikely to be more fuel-efficient when running on LPG, you could still soon halve your fuel bills. Once the cost of the LPG conversion has been paid off, this could add up to a significant saving – and the more you drive, the more you save."

However, based on current pricing provided by EMS, petrol is currently 43% more expensive per litre than LPG, not double.

LPG is about 99p, diesel £162.99, petrol £1.42....petrol and diesel hit £2 not so long ago.

If pricing is dynamic like it is where I live down under, the difference will change frequently and considerably through a discounting cycle making a meaningful comparison difficult, so bear that in mind. We also need to factor in that LPG drives, say 15% less km per litre than gasoline (ignoring the various types available). Part of this difference is caused by the considerable additional weight added by the steel LPG tank and the LPG with the petrol tank still being in place, carrying very little fuel if you are smart. It only needs to be used occasionally to lubricate valves. Assuming a car uses 8 litres of petrol per 100km, that would cost £1.42 x 8 = £11.36 per 100km. LPG would cost ((£0.99 x 8) x 1.15) = £9.11 per 100km.

If the prices quoted by EMS were static with LPG only saving £ 2.25 per 100km, you would be unlikely to recover the circa £2,000 that I see quoted for a conversion in Manchester unless you drive a taxi! In Australia, LPG is around half the price of petrol although petrol pricing runs through a discounting cycle (currently AUD1.99 to AUD1.75) whereas LPG pricing is fairly static around AUD0.88. Australians all complain about pricing, but thanks to the data provided by EMS, I don't feel so bad about them! The petrol/LPG difference here would ensure payback of installation costs much faster than the current pricing in the UK.

To anyone that read this to the end, congratulations, you can now move on to something more interesting!