Thanks for the video. I can never find any good content on running IDI diesels with propane. I have been debating getting a kit for my 6.5 suburban with 3.42 gears. I don't pull often and it wont be much weight; ran around 19-20 mpg on a 1600 mile road trip recently and I think propane would have been great for holding 70 mph.
I agree!! It made a big difference on power when we pulled the trailer full of beds in the video I attached below. We drove from MT to IL on two 30lb tanks before refilling at a Pilot in Gary IN. ua-cam.com/video/7vJGqJv4C5g/v-deo.htmlsi=KYF7GOGRR_vi2_6W
That’s an interesting idea!!! As the idea of propane is to aid with a more complete burn supposedly it might make a difference. 🤷♂️🤷♂️. I guess my only concern would be the high cost of a failure on one of those new engines.
@GillansGarage 2.8L duramax can get a bit hot when towing heavy loads on long Pennsylvania hills. I don't need more power, necessarily. I found a guy testing EGT and he noticed running less throttle higher rpms in a lower gear helps alot. I want to be able to floor it and know it'll be fine without worrying about gaudges.
That is awesome! For safety reasons I would maybe consider putting your regulator and solenoid valve back as close to the tank as possible. In case you have a wreck and a line gets ruptured.
Have u studded the ole 6.9 idi? They won’t take much more than stock power or even propane injection cuz the head gasket will go boom. I might try this, but it’s not studded so I don’t rly wanna push my luck.
Nope. It’s all stock as far as I know. But it’s had head gasket work done at some point in its life before we owned it. If you watch “The Mule goes to MT”, we haul a UTV out to MT in 24 hours straight at speeds of 75-80 mph then haul four truck beds home straight through as well. The van was never shutoff for the entire trip. With the aerodynamic drag created by the beds it surely worked that ole 6.9 with the propane running. I don’t have the mix set very high in an effect to protect the engine but whatever I throw at the 6.9, she’s takes it. Haha.
Currently the propane is set fairly mild. But we did see an increase in mpg though it wasn’t that impressive at 1/2mpg but the two trips were not quite apples to apples. The trip with the better mileage we were hauling more guys and more gear so overall more weight but had better mileage so that’s something. But the real payoff was when we were hauling the beds home from MT, the power difference was very noticeable. I’m fairly certain that without the propane the van would have really struggled. When we installed the turbo we only bumped the injector pump up a little over half of the max that Banks suggested so EGT’s have always been very reasonable. But with the propane running EGT’s are lower by at least 100 degrees and exhaust smoke is cleaner. Thanks for the question and I hope that helped.
off topic... I have gone through two zf transmissions. I realize that the owners manual says tow in 4. above 55 in overdrive is severe service. In cold (-10 f) I prelube trans in 1 and transfer N. Like the catylze system though. Good video was fun
I've seen only a few these conversions done before and i heard that the biggest problem with them is that you lose like 20% of your torque and if your transmission doesn't account for that, it can be problem (Obviously not for a manual!) Did you have something to advance the timing?
This is not a full propane swap. The propane is a supplement to the diesel fuel. As far as I know I shouldn’t lose any power. I did not adjust the timing but I’ve heard there are benefits to advancing the timing on a turbo’d idi diesel.
@@GillansGarage Ah ok i thought it was a total conversion, my bad. I think the timing advance is only for a pure propane one due to the different temperature for ignition. No clue as to a mix.
@@1leggeddog Timing advance alteration is for gasoline engines converted to propane.......the timing needs to be altered to account for and take advantage of the propane being 100+ octane. As for the temperature of ignition statement, it was pretty normal to put colder plugs into LPG engines but this was mainly a side effect of people not really knowing what they were doing tuning the fuel/air ratio.....propane tunes backwards to gasoline.....if its pinging and you want to cool the cylinder temps you need to lean it out.... very few people know that and normally set it to run rich 'just to be on the safe side' and are unknowingly adding fuel to the problem 🤦♂
Is your pyrometer in the exhaust manifold or after the turbo? Those are low exhaust temps compared to my experience. thanks for posting this. enjoyed it!
Thanks for the comment and question. The pyrometer is on the up pipe right before the turbo itself. When we installed the Banks kit we didn’t turn the fuel to the max recommended setting per the instructions, we only went a little over half. So our EGT’s have never been too crazy even without the propane.
I’m not really sure the flow rate changes with boost pressure. I was about to get about 800 miles out of 2-30lb tanks while pulling a a single car trailer with beds on it, not a heavy load but some pretty decent wind drag.
If you have no smoke the diesel is completely burnt. What I don't understand is why propane as a supplement fuel doesn't burn like a petrol engine that is lean? Ie hot? Unless the amount of gas added isn't enough to even burn like that . I wonder if you could even use petrol as a supplement fuel because it would burn like propane just lower octane? I'd love any American V8 diesel.
The 6.9 diesel is indirectly injected so it’s efficiency is a bit lowered then a direct injection diesel so there is always some smoke haze indicating incomplete combustion. As this kit is setup now the propane injection is set fairly mild in order to protect the engine. We haven’t encountered any issues related to the engine running hotter with the propane. I could tell about petrol injection with diesel but I don’t think it’d end well.
Thanks for the video. I can never find any good content on running IDI diesels with propane. I have been debating getting a kit for my 6.5 suburban with 3.42 gears. I don't pull often and it wont be much weight; ran around 19-20 mpg on a 1600 mile road trip recently and I think propane would have been great for holding 70 mph.
I agree!! It made a big difference on power when we pulled the trailer full of beds in the video I attached below. We drove from MT to IL on two 30lb tanks before refilling at a Pilot in Gary IN.
ua-cam.com/video/7vJGqJv4C5g/v-deo.htmlsi=KYF7GOGRR_vi2_6W
@@GillansGarage thanks, I'll check it out 👍🏻👍🏻
IDK why....But..."Give Me Fuel, Give Me Fire, Give Me That Which I Desire!" ... Came To My Mind!
Been looking around youtube as I'm curious if propane would help emmisions diesel engines avoid regen or maybe reduce EGT when towing.
That’s an interesting idea!!! As the idea of propane is to aid with a more complete burn supposedly it might make a difference. 🤷♂️🤷♂️.
I guess my only concern would be the high cost of a failure on one of those new engines.
@GillansGarage 2.8L duramax can get a bit hot when towing heavy loads on long Pennsylvania hills.
I don't need more power, necessarily.
I found a guy testing EGT and he noticed running less throttle higher rpms in a lower gear helps alot.
I want to be able to floor it and know it'll be fine without worrying about gaudges.
Water methanol may be more in line for lowering EGT’s while towing.
I love the sound of the 80's N/A diesel's! They sound like big blocks when they have loud exhaust!
They sure do just with an underlaying rattle!! 👍
That is awesome! For safety reasons I would maybe consider putting your regulator and solenoid valve back as close to the tank as possible. In case you have a wreck and a line gets ruptured.
That’s not a bad idea!! Thanks!!
Have u studded the ole 6.9 idi? They won’t take much more than stock power or even propane injection cuz the head gasket will go boom. I might try this, but it’s not studded so I don’t rly wanna push my luck.
Nope. It’s all stock as far as I know. But it’s had head gasket work done at some point in its life before we owned it. If you watch “The Mule goes to MT”, we haul a UTV out to MT in 24 hours straight at speeds of 75-80 mph then haul four truck beds home straight through as well. The van was never shutoff for the entire trip. With the aerodynamic drag created by the beds it surely worked that ole 6.9 with the propane running. I don’t have the mix set very high in an effect to protect the engine but whatever I throw at the 6.9, she’s takes it. Haha.
So what’s your impression did you see better MPGs and lower EGTs with propane
Currently the propane is set fairly mild. But we did see an increase in mpg though it wasn’t that impressive at 1/2mpg but the two trips were not quite apples to apples. The trip with the better mileage we were hauling more guys and more gear so overall more weight but had better mileage so that’s something.
But the real payoff was when we were hauling the beds home from MT, the power difference was very noticeable. I’m fairly certain that without the propane the van would have really struggled.
When we installed the turbo we only bumped the injector pump up a little over half of the max that Banks suggested so EGT’s have always been very reasonable. But with the propane running EGT’s are lower by at least 100 degrees and exhaust smoke is cleaner.
Thanks for the question and I hope that helped.
off topic... I have gone through two zf transmissions. I realize that the owners manual says tow in 4. above 55 in overdrive is severe service. In cold (-10 f) I prelube trans in 1 and transfer N. Like the catylze system though. Good video was fun
What’s failing in the transmissions?
I've seen only a few these conversions done before and i heard that the biggest problem with them is that you lose like 20% of your torque and if your transmission doesn't account for that, it can be problem (Obviously not for a manual!)
Did you have something to advance the timing?
This is not a full propane swap. The propane is a supplement to the diesel fuel. As far as I know I shouldn’t lose any power.
I did not adjust the timing but I’ve heard there are benefits to advancing the timing on a turbo’d idi diesel.
@@GillansGarage Ah ok i thought it was a total conversion, my bad.
I think the timing advance is only for a pure propane one due to the different temperature for ignition.
No clue as to a mix.
@@1leggeddog Timing advance alteration is for gasoline engines converted to propane.......the timing needs to be altered to account for and take advantage of the propane being 100+ octane.
As for the temperature of ignition statement, it was pretty normal to put colder plugs into LPG engines but this was mainly a side effect of people not really knowing what they were doing tuning the fuel/air ratio.....propane tunes backwards to gasoline.....if its pinging and you want to cool the cylinder temps you need to lean it out.... very few people know that and normally set it to run rich 'just to be on the safe side' and are unknowingly adding fuel to the problem 🤦♂
well on duel fuel you get up to 5% more power so not alot but you do this to save fuel you use 50% less diesel
We have seen a slight increase in mileage but it surely helps with power while towing!
@@GillansGarage would be fun to see dyno test by how much tho
I’ve had that thought. There is a Dyno fairly close to me but it’s about $200 an hour to use.
@@GillansGarage well thats dumb price
Is your pyrometer in the exhaust manifold or after the turbo? Those are low exhaust temps compared to my experience. thanks for posting this. enjoyed it!
Thanks for the comment and question. The pyrometer is on the up pipe right before the turbo itself. When we installed the Banks kit we didn’t turn the fuel to the max recommended setting per the instructions, we only went a little over half. So our EGT’s have never been too crazy even without the propane.
@@GillansGarage Awesome! And then I discover that you have cummins swapped a 4x4 Van! Awesome...you have a new subscriber!
@@jpop2499 Thank you good sir!!!
To the Mudhole!
You must!
YOU MUST!
Haha!! It’s only 2wd?!?!
5:02 - Me: "That guy is tailgating him AWEFUL close in that geo metro on 36" mud tires..."
Haha!!
what's the mixture percentage
I’m not really sure the flow rate changes with boost pressure. I was about to get about 800 miles out of 2-30lb tanks while pulling a a single car trailer with beds on it, not a heavy load but some pretty decent wind drag.
If you have no smoke the diesel is completely burnt.
What I don't understand is why propane as a supplement fuel doesn't burn like a petrol engine that is lean? Ie hot?
Unless the amount of gas added isn't enough to even burn like that .
I wonder if you could even use petrol as a supplement fuel because it would burn like propane just lower octane?
I'd love any American V8 diesel.
The 6.9 diesel is indirectly injected so it’s efficiency is a bit lowered then a direct injection diesel so there is always some smoke haze indicating incomplete combustion. As this kit is setup now the propane injection is set fairly mild in order to protect the engine. We haven’t encountered any issues related to the engine running hotter with the propane. I could tell about petrol injection with diesel but I don’t think it’d end well.
How do you leak tested it
I soap and pressure tested it. I also tried to keep the number of fittings to a minimum.
Thks
Take all the rear seats out
ALA-CRAN-K]