Engine Suddenley Stopped

[crazyhorse]

Thanks for all the advice.

Drove it it half hour straight today on LPG, no worries.

Coming home again tonight it happend again, switched it petrol and it was ok, drove for a bit, then back to LPG and it was working fine.

Off to Brecon tom. Will see how it goes and if it happens again will feel the coil.

Will keep you updated tom

[Sir Brixalot]

I wonder if the different fuels are mixing

[ajsimmo]

Another thing to check that could give the symptoms described is a poor/loose connection on one of the lpg cut-off solenoids. The two in the engine bay are most likely (one on lpg filter housing and one on vapouriser). The third is on the tank, which is also worth checking.
Also could be the signal wire from the coil to the lpg switch. This sends a weak pulse from the negative side of the coil to the switch to let it know the engine is running and to turn the gas on
Without the pulse signal it will turn the lpg off at all 3 solenoids and engine will stop dead.
The air pressure/trunking/windy day thing mentioned won't do that and it won't be the cause of your problem.

[ianboydsnr]

Exactly right because of the lower calorific value of lpg it takes a fair bit of power to ignite it, this tends to load the coil because its working so much harder to ignite the lpg, cheap coil start to warm up and in any electrical circuit the hotter the unit the bigger the resistance, and because there is a constant voltage the inevitable happens and it breaks down. Lpg has always been known to be harder on ignition components, when we do our customers full services we always include a rotor arm as standard purely because of this phenominon a worn rotor arm will make the spark jump further and thus it loses its power, then you get your poor performance and strain on the ignition. Same with the spark plugs, yes many use multi points but think about it, a single point plug set at an optimum gap will produce a much more intense spark than a dissipated one over three prongs. This subject has been covered many times and by far cleverer men than me.

The spark can only happen to one prong no matter how many prongs the plug has, the spark takes the rout of least resistance, the only advantage of multi prong plugs is longevity, there being 4 times the area to build up more resistance

[Dazco]

I had a loose connection on one of the spade connectors going to one of the solenoids on the lpg system last week. Just died. Found it easily enough , been ok since. Be worth checking them all

[crazyhorse]

Hi all,

Update.

Went to Brecon today, good hour and a half trip from Cardiff. On the way driving LPG. No worries.

On the way back it happend agin. Driving LPG the engine just cruises to a stop, and puting my foot on accelarator doesnt do anything, switch it over to the petrol and life comes back.

I stopped and checked the coil, lukewarm I could defo touch it.

Started back on the road, switched back to gas, all good for about 30mins then same again, and it works in Petrol. So defo something with the LPG, now here is the catch. I am no mechanic, I can put oil and coolant in, and thats pretty much it. Although I do have the Haynes manual gathering dust on the bookshelf as it looks like a foreign language.

Will have a look at connections tom, though to be fair It will only be a look as I dont really know what I am looking for.

Might be a new year visit up to Saltney Mr Shaw be prepared.

[steve8090]

I'm always prepared buddy, look forward to seeing you

[crazyhorse]

I'm always prepared buddy, look forward to seeing you

Lovely, thank you.

Will give you a ring tuesday

[tobydog]

Try driving just on petrol, see what happens.

[crazyhorse]

Hi Folks,

Just a quck update, (I know your all interested)

Van is booked in with Mr Shaw in Saltney,

But it's now got to a point where I switch over to Gas, and it goes through the motion of working, then when it kicks in within a min it stops and it's back to the good old gold stuff

Works fine on petrol, so It's going to be an expensive crimbo in more ways than one = petrol (though at least it's down to 1.12 per litre in Cardiff

[Sir Brixalot]

Not necessarily going to be that expensive. I just needed a new solenoid when I had a similar problem so fingers crossed its as simple for you.

[crazyhorse]

Not necessarily going to be that expensive. I just needed a new solenoid when I had a similar problem so fingers crossed its as simple for you.

Lets hope so, need some good luck, it's been a bad year but thats a different story

[crazyhorse]

Hi all,

Just an update to close the thread and in case anyone was wondering.

Took the van to Chester over the weekend, and was duly seen to by Mr Shaw.

Arching wire over fuse box, and damage to control switch and activation solenoid on vaporiser was the reason for the cut outs..

Drove back to South Wales yesterday in the wind and rain, A joy to be driving on LPG again.

Thanks Steve and thanks all for your advice

Happy motoring

[ghost123uk]

Flip, it had three issues then

Arching wire over fuse box,
damage to control switch,
activation solenoid on vaporiser,

Glad you got it sorted

[Sir Brixalot]

Congrats and thanks for finishing the thread, so many are left unfinished.