Lpg conversion & fill up

[Wendy Smith]

Hello everyone, I have just bought Alfie Alphard V6. Would like to convert it to LPG, however it appears that there might be difficulties filling up with gas in my local area.  I looked online for national filling stations, seems more further east and north.  Should I be thinking it is going to be an issue finding Lpg? 🤔

[Phil59]

Hi Wendy

I considered LPG but availability was an issue. The only garage locally that I know of is at Carkeel roundabout on the A38.

I believe Okehampton have a garage too.

Where were you planning on getting the conversion? There is a place in Plymouth but it isn’t on the LPG scheme. I found a garage that was and they quoted £3,300, which meant it would take me about 3 to 4 years before I saw a return on the investment. Plus at the moment you can’t take LPG on the Channel Tunnel so I have decided against it at the moment.

Hope this helps.

Regards

 

[Rojie]

Phil raises a very important point for all our LPG readers.

 

The further you get in the South West towards Land's End the more difficult finding LPG will be.

The M5 motorway ends at Exeter; make sure you have plenty of LP beyond there.

I do not know whether Exeter serviced have LPG. I expect they do, but..

[nov]

On 11/26/2021 at 9:33 AM, Wendy Smith said:

Hello everyone, I have just bought Alfie Alphard V6. Would like to convert it to LPG, however it appears that there might be difficulties filling up with gas in my local area.  I looked online for national filling stations, seems more further east and north.  Should I be thinking it is going to be an issue finding Lpg? 🤔

 

There is a very nice mobile app called AutogasApp with all locations and prices.

[Wendy Smith]

5 hours ago, nov said:

 

There is a very nice mobile app called AutogasApp with all locations and prices.

Many thanks Nov 😁

[pcous]

Hi Wendy,

We converted our 3.0l Alphard campervan to LPG (Prins system), it's generally been around half-price compared to petrol, though I think the fuel efficiency is a bit less. Whether it's worthwhile financially depends on your anticipated mileage, but there's also the environmental advantage (67% CO2, 37% CO, 18%NO, 60% HC, 50% particulates....). Also, added a Gaslow bottle for cooking, tee'd from the LPG filler, which is cheaper than Calor/Camping Gaz in the long run. Overall, it was a good move, although opportunities to travel as much have been a bit restricted during the pandemic, for obvious reasons...

We've had no difficulty finding LPG on our travels, though it needs planning ahead. We also tend to check what the app says, because they're not always up to date. We've used: 

https://www.mylpg.eu/stations/united-kingdom/#map

the most, and there's now (as people have already said)

https://www.autogas.app/

Regards

 

[Rojie]

On 11/26/2021 at 8:07 PM, Rojie said:

Phil raises a very important point for all our LPG readers.

 

The further you get in the South West towards Land's End the more difficult finding LPG will be.

The M5 motorway ends at Exeter; make sure you have plenty of LP beyond there.

I do not know whether Exeter serviced have LPG. I expect they do, but..

 

The garage at the top of Haldon Hill has LPG.

It is on the road to Torbay (A380), not Plymouth (A38).

.Be careful not to drive by as you come upon the turn quite suddenly.

Edited December 28, 2021 by Rojie
Spelling, typing

[Picasso]

I just had mine converted to lpg 3 weeks ago paid £1395.00 best money ever spent I was putting in £60 a week in petrol now on lpg £25.00 3.0 v6 you must always make sure its registered on the uklpg database as insurance company's insist on it .

[nov]

2 hours ago, Picasso said:

I just had mine converted to lpg 3 weeks ago paid £1395.00 best money ever spent I was putting in £60 a week in petrol now on lpg £25.00 3.0 v6 you must always make sure its registered on the uklpg database as insurance company's insist on it .

 

@Picasso which lpg system did you get for that price?

[Picasso]

Hi it was the romano system the company I had it fitted by did say prices will be going up in the new year they fitted a 64 litre tank they said this is the biggest they could fit I have since found out you can have a 84 litre tank fitted which I will get fitted in the new year .

[Alphard Club]

On 11/26/2021 at 12:05 PM, Phil59 said:

Hi Wendy

I considered LPG but availability was an issue. The only garage locally that I know of is at Carkeel roundabout on the A38.

I believe Okehampton have a garage too.

Where were you planning on getting the conversion? There is a place in Plymouth but it isn’t on the LPG scheme. I found a garage that was and they quoted £3,300, which meant it would take me about 3 to 4 years before I saw a return on the investment. Plus at the moment you can’t take LPG on the Channel Tunnel so I have decided against it at the moment.

Hope this helps.

Regards

 

thats quite an expensive quote. i would say £1300-1500 Tops with profess autogas.

[nov]

18 hours ago, Alphard Club said:

thats quite an expensive quote. i would say £1300-1500 Tops with profess autogas.

 

How do you find your Stag system installed by Profess guys? Did you had many issues with it? 

[Jellybean]

On 12/29/2021 at 12:50 PM, nov said:

 

How do you find your Stag system installed by Profess guys? Did you had many issues with it? 

Only had mine since late December, but no difference on gas when driving. Andrew is a very helpful and knowledgeable guy. He did my conversion, plus fitted a new set of plugs, and 3 coil packs on the rear bank.

[Philip Ibbs]

Hi I had my V6 converted 2 yrs ago when I bought it, from Newacre cars and conversions, who were based in Coventry then. They charged £1500 for the conversion. Great job, 60 litre tank where spare went. 20mpg on a long run. However I still haven't been able to get the reg document changed over. They are now asking for engine number, which I haven't found yet, and it wasn't on the reg document, which never turned up from DVLA, I had to order a new one after 6months.

Here in South Lincolnshire I find that four local towns stock it, with price varying...Spalding Morrisons @ 72.9p / Litre, up to 99p/litre in Sleaford.

However, now that BP and Shell have removed it from their forecourts I do have issues when away from home.

Going up the A1 from lincolnshire to Wigan, the older stockists have actually removed it, so couldn't actually get any, on the A1 or M62. I am sure you can get it if your delve into the back streets. But looking at the LPG stockists website, it is quite out of date. Abroad, their motorway service signs say if they stock it or not, before you pull over and waste your time looking for it....

This is my 5th LPG vehicle and i am a big fan, but with availability issues away from home as petrol forecourts turn over to electric charging points instead of LPG tanks means I probably won't convert another vehicle. Some insurance companies won't touch them but I got a very good deal at Mark Richard Brokers.

Sorry to sound negative!!

Anyone know where the engine number is on a V-6?

[Rojie]

Interesting about your registration document.

I never received mine either, and was charged £25 to 'replace' it !

Apparently, when you don't receive it immediately they will replace it for free. If you don't, they won't.

Being patient, due to Covid, didn't work.

 

I did mention that the DVLA had disclaimers everywhere regarding their delays, due to Covid !

Not interested. I was met with a polite 'pay up or shut up !

 

So, if you don't receive your registration, within days, chase it .

[Jr86]

On 12/28/2021 at 12:51 PM, pcous said:

Hi Wendy,

We converted our 3.0l Alphard campervan to LPG (Prins system), it's generally been around half-price compared to petrol, though I think the fuel efficiency is a bit less. Whether it's worthwhile financially depends on your anticipated mileage, but there's also the environmental advantage (67% CO2, 37% CO, 18%NO, 60% HC, 50% particulates....). Also, added a Gaslow bottle for cooking, tee'd from the LPG filler, which is cheaper than Calor/Camping Gaz in the long run. Overall, it was a good move, although opportunities to travel as much have been a bit restricted during the pandemic, for obvious reasons...

We've had no difficulty finding LPG on our travels, though it needs planning ahead. We also tend to check what the app says, because they're not always up to date. We've used: 

https://www.mylpg.eu/stations/united-kingdom/#map

the most, and there's now (as people have already said)

https://www.autogas.app/

Regards

 

so on side or rear of vehicle you have one autogas inlet? And that automatically fills both the refillable lpg tank for the car, and also the gaslow bottle? 
 

 

[pcous]

13 hours ago, Jr86 said:

so on side or rear of vehicle you have one autogas inlet? And that automatically fills both the refillable lpg tank for the car, and also the gaslow bottle? 
 

 

Hi Jr86,

Yes, one filler for both LPG fuel tank and Gaslow bottle. We had a separate manual valve fitted to the inlet to the Gaslow bottle (located alongside existing outlet valve at top of gas cupboard for easy access), which needs to be closed after filling to ensure that the two parts of the system are then isolated from each other when in use. I gather that autogas in the UK is propane, which gasses at a lower temperature than the Butane used in our original Camping Gaz bottles - so a potential bonus for winter camping...

From memory, Gaslow bottle and T-off/valve fitting by our local LPG guy cost under £300 overall, so, even though autogas is significantly cheaper than camping gaz (approx 1/8 of the cost currently?), it'll still be a while before we break-even on cost  - unless we increase our cooking a lot!  However, there's a real advantage in taking away a full Gaslow bottle each trip, rather than faffing about with partially-full Camping Gaz bottles and having to check access to refills when on the road. If needs be, we can also use gas an an alternative for evening heating if no EHU.

[big_boz]

Reviving an old thread. Anyone have a recent conversion done In Yorkshire? I had a Volvo converted a few years ago by a chap in Wakefield but I wasn't overly happy about it. Looking for other recommendations to convert our 2.4 vellfire. Cheers!

Edited October 25, 2023 by big_boz

[pcous]

Hi big_boz,

We had our LPG Prins conversion done at GAS Auto Centre, Huddersfield - very knowledgeable and also willing to pick up any aftersales/service issues. Also, not Yorkshire but relatively close, Gastech in Warrington are LPG converters who also specialise in Alphards. We're currently trying their own EMU 'map' to manage a stuttering problem on LPG acceleration/deceleration, in place of the standard Prins system which maps onto the car's existing EMU settings for petrol.