I must say this group makes a big circle.
wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 11:36:18 -0400, Brian Lawson
wrote:

On Thu, 28 Apr 2005 21:25:48 -0400, "Waynemak"
wrote:

SNIP

They do come in gas versions, some have "dual fuel"
carbs. I found a price on a new carb but its not cheap, twice what the
engine cost.


Hey Wayne,

I'd look just a bit more into this, or at least the statement about
"dual fuels". It is my understanding, from having owned two
"alternative fuel" Dodge mini-vans a few years back, that the term
dual fuel has to do with an operating mode for gasoline and propane,
or else gasoline and CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), and not propane
and/or CNG. Propane has none of the fuel additives that automobiles
(especially newer high tech economy vehicles) require for both
environmental and engine life. Instructions were explicit that the
vehicle should be started on gasoline and run for at least five
minutes before switching to propane, and for a short period at shut
down too. And then I had one that ran on natural gas (actually fuel
was CNG) didn't say that, but the operating range (distance) was so
low that you ended up using gasoline a lot of the time anyway. Here
in Ontario, "alternative fueled vehicles" ,new or used, are sold with
no Provincial Sales Tax, an 8% saving. But the resale value does
kinda suck as I recall.

I have no comments about the ability to operate on "plain" Natural Gas
(not CNG), except that there was a pump you could get for home use to
create the CNG. Took 10 hours for it to refill the vehicle tank, and
was expensive, so I never did buy into that. I certainly have seen
auxiliary power plants that ran on natural gas, but whether they ran
from a standard regulator "low pressure" line, or a high pressure
source I wouldn't know.

Take care.

Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.
High volume low pressure gas service is used to run irrigation pump
engines all over the southwestern part of oilberta and in the oil
springs/petrolia area of Ontario. Lots of small non-commercial wells
have been harnessed for irrigation as well as co-generation systems.

As for propane, there is nothing required by a modern engine that is
not contained in straight propane - and dual fuel engines just start
easier cold on gasoline. Running them on gas until warmed up
eliminates the embarassing stumble/bumble and die you get when
accellerating hard with a cold evaporator when it ices up. Switching
to gasoline before shutdown makes sure you have fresh gasoline
available in the carb (talking older tech carbed engines here) to star
next time out.

The old dual fuel system had a crude way of switching from gasoline to
propane - when warmed up you just shut off the gasoline to the carb,
and when the engine started to stumble you turned on the propane.
Rushing the process, and getting the propane flowing while there was
still gasoline in the carb made for a real nasty rich stumble if it
didn't "flood" the engine right out.

I did a LOT of work on dual fuel (AS WELL AS STRAIGHT PROPANE) Toyotas
back in the late seventies to mid eighties.

Clare Snyder - just up the road in Waterloo, Ontario.