LPG Discussion Forum

So the Missus has a 2005 KA which I'm planning to adopt to use to drive back and fore work when she replaces it in the next few months as I'm racking up silly mileage on my Mondeo and I want to start keeping it nice.

My Missus hammers the car from stone cold.
She starts the car up and waits 1-2mins for the engine to settle. She then gets about 1/2 a mile down the road and sits flat out for about 4 miles on a dual carriageway and winding A roads.

I'm worried about wear on the engine so thought that a flashlube system would add a little more protection to the bores.

Which system would be best? And would I need a 'manifold' or would a standard single 'injector' just after the throttle body be enough.

Just to clarify it has the later OHC 'Duratec' engine withe the plastic inlet. She's also fitted the short and closer ratio'd SportKA gearbox to make it more 'nippy'.
If I do acquire it then I will probably have a go at fitting LPG to it myself! Might even see if I can get a SportKA engine for it too!

Thanks, Sam.

Flashlube won't do anything for the bores, it's to lubricate valve seats and prevent VSR. It was originally developed to allow older engines with soft valve seats to be run on unleaded petrol which has a valve seat lubricant but nothing like as effective as lead was. But has been found to do exactly the same job on cars running on a fuel, such as LPG, that have no additives at all.

Gilbertd wrote:Flashlube won't do anything for the bores, it's to lubricate valve seats and prevent VSR. It was originally developed to allow older engines with soft valve seats to be run on unleaded petrol which has a valve seat lubricant but nothing like as effective as lead was. But has been found to do exactly the same job on cars running on a fuel, such as LPG, that have no additives at all.

I understand that but was also under the understanding it lubricates the cylinder walls and aids cooling.

Obviously misunderstood somewhere!

Some valve saver fluids do claim to cool and lubricate bores. This is the stuff I use, though purely for the valve protection properties.

http://www.brcgb.co.uk/drivers-store/in ... s-additive

as to whether any of them do is open to debate, and whether they provide better or any additional protection to the additives already in Petrol then I doubt. Unless of course you buy petrol from Tesco.

You'd need something that is intended to lubricate bores although I suspect if you started running it on a 25:1 two stroke mix people might get offended......

Gilbertd wrote:You'd need something that is intended to lubricate bores although I suspect if you started running it on a 25:1 two stroke mix people might get offended......

I did consider two stroke oil actually.
If I know my Mondeo is going to have a particularly hard drive then I chuck 500ml of mineral two stroke oil to a tank of diesel. This makes it a little quieter, gives it a little more poke and helps lubricate the whole fuel system and upper cylinder. I only ever use BP Ultimate or Shell V-Power anyway, sometimes with a dose of Millers Ecomax.

I wonder if a glug of fully synth two stroke oil in the KA would do any harm?

It's not going to do any harm but might offend any motorcyclists that sit behind it in traffic. When I used to race motocross most of us would use good old fashioned Castrol R30 to mix with the petrol but some guys would run the synthetic two stroke mix. Sitting next to one of them on the start line with the fumes coming up inside your helmet made you feel sick. Smells like burning plastic. Mind you, it's much the same with diesels these days. Sitting in traffic behind a diesel getting a faceful of fumes is disgusting and for some reason the worst ones are the VW/Audi TDI motors. No idea what it is but they stink far worse than other diesels. Damn things should be banned in my opinion.......

It is a classic case of trying to patch a fundamental problem with temporary stop gap measures. For eg: active smokers going to their GP/doctor claiming to be breathless. Ah yes, I know what the issue is, refuse to address it, but want other solutions to patch the problem. All temporary and wont last very long.

I would suspect a little re-education in mechanical sympathy would be much better in improving your car's life than chucking mineral oil in the tank and causing offence to other road users.

indyjukebox wrote:It is a classic case of trying to patch a fundamental problem with temporary stop gap measures. For eg: active smokers going to their GP/doctor claiming to be breathless. Ah yes, I know what the issue is, refuse to address it, but want other solutions to patch the problem. All temporary and wont last very long.

I would suspect a little re-education in mechanical sympathy would be much better in improving your car's life than chucking mineral oil in the tank and causing offence to other road users.

My Missus has plenty of mechanical sympathy. Issue is she hates the car with a passion and as parts are so cheap she isn't bothered when it goes wrong! She changed the gearbox to a SportKA box by herself, bless her!

I'm just looking at ways I can reduce the stress she puts on the engine! Especially as I will be doing 400miles+ a week in it through the summer.

I've got some work to do on it to be fair. Needs a good service, new rocker cover gasket, new thermostat housing and I think I need to flush the coolant system because it's full of rust.

The best way to prevent her 'putting stress on the engine', especially since she hates the car, would be to hide the keys and ask her to get another car!

Or to get techy, you could probably fit 'electronic counter measures' involving a rev limiter and throttle limiter that operate until the engine is warmed - not really safe to do that though

Mechanical skill and mechanical sympathy don't necessarily go hand in hand, we only have to look at some mechanics driving styles to realise that. So just because she can change the gearbox doesn't mean she will be sympathetic with a gearbox or engine. Maybe strike a deal, if she breaks the engine she has to change it herself!

Maybe you're worrying unnecessarily? It would be better for the engine to be driven steady until fully warmed and even then not thrashed, but there are a lot of Ka's that keep going even though they are driven by boy racers...

Simon
www.Lpgc.co.uk

LPGC wrote:
Mechanical skill and mechanical sympathy don't necessarily go hand in hand, we only have to look at some mechanics driving styles to realise that. So just because she can change the gearbox doesn't mean she will be sympathetic with a gearbox or engine. Maybe strike a deal, if she breaks the engine she has to change it herself!

Maybe you're worrying unnecessarily? It would be better for the engine to be driven steady until fully warmed and even then not thrashed, but there are a lot of Ka's that keep going even though they are driven by boy racers...

I think I said the wrong thing to be fair! She knows she's harming the car but she doesn't care! If she had a car she likes she'd be OCD about keeping it 100%.

While I'm here, I am going to buy bits and bobs to start converting it to LPG as soon as I get it. I'm going to get a toroidal tank and fit it under the boot floor. Will 4x M10 bolts be to fix it to the boot floor? Should I fit something in the boot to spread the load?

And also when fitting the vaporisor do you T into the return and flow for the heater matix hoses or do you place the vaporisor in the flow pipe? If that makes sense.