Club 80-90 Forums

Just had factory vw 2.1 engine fitted. Garage said its not advisable to run on the lpg until after 1000 miles or better still 2000. Is this fair comment

Ray wouldn't it effect the warranty on the engine

Didn't say anything about warranty just said something upper cylinder lubrication. Will grill him tonight when I pick it up.

are we talkin brand new from vw ? i would think they would use anything to get out of their warranty if it failed in anyway,

re engine's warranty .. surely it must come with at least 3 months

Yes comes with 12 months or 10k Apparently they dont like lpg in it. I think Iwill run it for about 2k then go back to gas. Petrol is too expensive for longer.
BTW I drove out of his narrow gates tonight and dented one side! More payout!
Engine sounds nice though, wanted to shift down M10 but I will run it in as
instructed!

same position here, I guess I'll run it between the two for a while, on way to work on petrol on way back on LPG, what were your running in instructions? I was told not over 60 and don't lug it for the first 200 miles.

He told me not over rev it but not to just run at 50mph Vary the speed over a trip rather than keeping to one speed. When I drove it home on friday the temp gauge just went to zero giving me grief but it was just the wire coming off the sensor. All fixed now and hopefully now that I have seen the last of my ***** recon I can travel without worry. Hope to go back to lpg can't afford petrol now!

hi ray

where did you get it done
and can i ask how much
please

I got a new vege engine about 4 months ago.
The owners handbook says Do not use LPG for first 12 months or 10,000 miles.
I bet the oil comanies pay for that to be included.

After paying out on the engine I cant aford a conversion now.
T

I asked laurie pettit about lpg and new engines at VF. He said he would fit one of those oil injector thingies that give upper cylinder lube with a regular drop of oil. What are these things are where from?

The product appears to be flashlube - anyone used it?

We supply and fit these units extensively, call me next week to discuss

I was told not over 60 and don't lug it for the first 200 miles.

Main thing is to ensure:
temperatures are stable;
lubes not leaking;
warmed up quickly;
don't leave idling (bad for almost all engines);
but don't push it hard till thoroughly warmed up from cold;
and ascertain immediately after rebuild that fuel and ignition timing do not mitigate towards pre-ignition, detonation or overly retarded running.

If it has new bores and rings, recent theory says there is an early period in the running process where developing high cylinder pressures for the future (good sealing) can be attained, rather than dragging out the running in to high mileages. Sounds controversial? Its something that many have done for years, esp. in the racing community.

Following all constraints above (pretty well commonsense at all times anyway), the engine 'should' be loaded up progressively and early on (but not lugged right down in the lower regions)...

Large throttle openings for progressivley longer periods in the normal working rev range, should be applied. This ensures that the rings bed-in quickly, being forced properly against the bores, where they then start to seal better from day one, and thus can also dump heat into the walls better too.

So make sure you use it, and feel your way, but extend the throttle openings and usable rev-band much quicker than normal, progressively loading the engine up for longer periods from a few seconds through the gears to longer and longer each time. If it can't take that, there's something wrong anyway. Work on principle of heat buildup, which is a time thing, not just load and rpm. It will soon run-in enough to handle more and more heat.

Oil changes at 100, 500 and 1000 miles, no synthetic till then, maybe till 2 or 3000 miles.

NB. It is suggested that long drawn out and gentle running often results in an engine that never fully reaches it potential for high compression pressures, somewhat akin to glazing, and possibly also to 'grannies old car, that never goes well unti its been thrashed a bit' - in fact this would suggest that grannies old car might never go that well!

I won't deny that this is a contentious area

I intuitively followed this method years ago on a Fiat 1600 SOHC I had rebuilt. Within a very short period (500 miles) I had cylinder pressures of over 200 psi across all cylinders, one hitting 220 that a garage I took it to admitted was 'most unusual' - it flew once I got the timing and carb jetting about right, + 5 or 10 on the main jet and whittling down the emulsion tubes to get the 2nd choke top end progression really nice - 115 mph for an old Mirafiori estate* car? - Ok, that was indicated, but 100 indicated in 4th was common, before snicking into top, when any wind and air temps would determine actual top whack.

* Estate cars often have higher top speeds than saloons due to their length and aerodynamic drag, dependent on the rear end shape.

I can't see that an unleaded fuel provides much upper cylinder lubrication anyway. The days of nice slippery lead in petrol is long gone.

I recently ran a 1.9DG Transporter from 90k up to 182k on LPG without any problems. 182k is a slightly unusual figure for these engines and on that I base my theory that LPG is KINDER to the engine than that nasty oldfashioned, low-octane petrol stuff....

Anyone who has switched from one to the other knows that the engine feels smoother, quieter and generally more pleasant on gas than on petrol. I believe that the combustion process is gentler on LPG and the only minus is the production of more water - not good for exhaust systems if you do short journeys!