Newly discovered LPG problem for blueoval

blueoval · 22-04-2008, 11:04 AM

The story goes like this.....

On my way home from work last night I was just cruising. As I made my approach up the southern expressway uphill, my car stuttered to act erratically, spitting, coughing, spluttering. I couldnt explain it. I had to make an emergency dive into the emergency lane as car which were doing 100km/h were right up my tail. As Im spluttering up the hill, the car wants to accelerate but not and I cant get up to the limit of 100km/h. I made it to the top of the hill, stopped, put the car in park, opened the bonnet, and got out to see if I was leaking anything or what.

Then the car stalled..... :togo:

Im thinking its getting dark. So I get on the dog and bone and call up the RAA. They tell me it will be an hour wait sir. An hour goes by, the RAA man comes. Checks a few things, Ive got power, the car cranks over but its not firing. He says 'do you realise you have no petrol in your tank?', I said but Im running on LPG, he says well there is something wrong with your LPG system, its not working and as a backup its switched itself to petrol. He puts a jerry can full of petrol in the car, it starts straight away, and the man tells me to go stright to the service station to get fuel ASAP.

Im thinking how can this be, I always keep 1/4 tank of fuel always in the car. But then I realise, if the LPG system isnt working and the guage is still showing on the LPG side of things, I wouldnt even know it has switched to petrol.

I only noticed this when on the odometer reads that I have done 150km and the LPG guage is still reading full.

It dawns on me that since Saturday is when I filled, but had no idea that the LPG system wasnt working at all. Not even the little light on the LPG switch was even on. Since saturday I have been driving on what fumes I had left in my petrol tank. Im at a loss for words. I have no explanation.

Could it be an earthing problem?
Loose wire?

I have booked the car in to my mechanic as soon as I can which is a week away so I will just run on petrol till then.

My question to you guru's of AU's is this.....

Why would my LPG system of no older than 10months decide to shut down power and run on petrol without me knowing, and what could be the cause of this problem?

bodes-sh · 22-04-2008, 09:56 PM

is it a mixer system? also, do you know what brand it is? i take it there are lights coming on on the lpg switch? this indicates that the switch is getting power, so therefore the gas computer must be. can it change to lpg at all and what happens when you rev it a bit and press the switch?

sorry, just reread your post. the first thing i'd be checking id the fuse. there are normally 2 one normally next to the battery and under the dash near the ignition column. if they are ok, check the ground wire to make sure it hasn't come loose.

lpg systems will always revert back to petrol if the system has no power or a failure occurs, this is like a fail safe to avoid getting stuck somewhere with a broken down car...unless you run out of petrol like you did

blueoval · 22-04-2008, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bodes-sh

is it a mixer system?

I dont think so. But I could be wrong

Quote:

Originally Posted by bodes-sh

also, do you know what brand it is?

Its a system by Parnell. Its the same system used by tickford

Quote:

Originally Posted by bodes-sh

i take it there are lights coming on on the lpg switch?

There is a small light that comes on on the switch. The light does not come on anymore. The car starts on petrol with the switch engaged on LPG or petrol now which is why Im stumped for words.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bodes-sh

this indicates that the switch is getting power, so therefore the gas computer must be. can it change to lpg at all and what happens when you rev it a bit and press the switch?

I used to be able to notice when the car switched from LPG to petrol and vice versa. Before this issue happened, when stationary, I rev the car a little, flick the switch and can feel/hear the engine engage from one fuel to the other. This does not happen now and the light on the LPG switch side does not illuminate. This is telling me, that the lpg system doesnt seem to be working at all, hence having the issue last night of the car running out of petrol without me knowing.

bodes-sh · 22-04-2008, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueoval

I dont think so. But I could be wrong

Its a system by Parnell. Its the same system used by tickford

There is a small light that comes on on the switch. The light does not come on anymore. The car starts on petrol with the switch engaged on LPG or petrol now which is why Im stumped for words.

I used to be able to notice when the car switched from LPG to petrol and vice versa. Before this issue happened, when stationary, I rev the car a little, flick the switch and can feel/hear the engine engage from one fuel to the other. This does not happen now and the light on the LPG switch side does not illuminate. This is telling me, that the lpg system doesnt seem to be working at all, hence having the issue last night of the car running out of petrol without me knowing.

that last paragraph indicates it is a mixer system. svi systems don't have a switch you flick over, they have a press button one. as do most of the other mixer systems. anyway, as i said above, check for blown fuses. then if they are ok, check the earths, this is where even auto elecies come unstuck because they check power but not always ground. these are simple things that you should be able to check yourself without having to pay someone to tell you it's only a blown fuse or something simple. that is of course, unless you haven't got time to do it yourself

blueoval · 22-04-2008, 10:19 PM

would I find this fuse amongst the main fuse panel or is it isolated else where?

JC · 22-04-2008, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueoval

would I find this fuse amongst the main fuse panel or is it isolated else where?

There should be a fuse near your battery for the LPG - if it's not there, it will be near the LPG computer, which could be in the engine bay, in the kick panel on the drivers side, or the kick panel on the passenger side.

Lucky it's a dual fuel and not a dedicated gas AU!!

blueoval · 22-04-2008, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JC

There should be a fuse near your battery for the LPG - if it's not there, it will be near the LPG computer, which could be in the engine bay, in the kick panel on the drivers side, or the kick panel on the passenger side.

Lucky it's a dual fuel and not a dedicated gas AU!!

Thanks JC. If I get the chance, I will search around and check them.

bodes-sh · 22-04-2008, 10:47 PM

most of the time there are 2 fuses. one for the constant power from the battery and one for the power from the ignition feed wire. of course these differ with ever system, some may also be powered up from the tacho/coil input

blueoval · 22-04-2008, 10:52 PM

geez. it could be any of those. :(

The car is still under warranty from the dealer. i might let him fiddle around with the fuses rather than me in case something happens.

But what you have mentioned sounds logical and I will let the dealer know about it. Man I hope its something as simple as that.

JC · 23-04-2008, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueoval

geez. it could be any of those. :(

The car is still under warranty from the dealer. i might let him fiddle around with the fuses rather than me in case something happens.

But what you have mentioned sounds logical and I will let the dealer know about it. Man I hope its something as simple as that.

It WILL be something as simple as that. No power to LPG system is either blown fuse (why did it blow though????), poor/broken earth, or one of the valves/solenoids has dropped an electrical connection. Starting with fuses is the easy way to go.

Just another random thought - how come your low fuel light didn't flash and beep at you (it should beep and the light flashes at DTE = 80, then again at 60 and 40).

blueoval · 23-04-2008, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JC

It WILL be something as simple as that. No power to LPG system is either blown fuse (why did it blow though????), poor/broken earth, or one of the valves/solenoids has dropped an electrical connection. Starting with fuses is the easy way to go.

Just another random thought - how come your low fuel light didn't flash and beep at you (it should beep and the light flashes at DTE = 80, then again at 60 and 40).

good point. I think it did but I chose to ignore it as the switch was on the LPG side, it showed full and I though it had something to do with the fact that i start my car standing outside the car with the door open.

Silly thing to ignore I know. I've learnt my lesson. :togo:

blueoval · 28-04-2008, 11:55 AM

Hi guys, just an update.

Had the mobile auto electrician out to check the wiring and all the fuses etc.

He had found the there was moisture around the ECU which was a surprise until I remembered I had gone thru a laser wash car wash the day the lpg malfunctioned.

What had happened was that when I went thru the car wash, the high pressure of the water must have pushed thru a gap in the windscreen seal or something on the front passenger side and leaked directly onto the ecu. It short circuited the lpg wiring only while the car was off in the carwash. Surprised it didnt completely root the ecu.

The auto electrician put a plastic bag over the ecu incase it happened again as a precaution. wiggled a few wires, and voila!!! the gas works perfectly as if nothing happened.

He did notice the carpet was still damp from that car wash last week. So I will have to get that cleaned up.

I will look into getting the window resealed thru my insurance policy of 1 free windscreen per year assuming thats where it is leaking from. But you guys would know for sure, is there any other way the area around the A pillar would allow water in other than the window?

T-Pak Addict · 28-04-2008, 05:06 PM

glad you got this sorted easy enough. I did the same thing when my LPG switch crapped itself..... thought hey I'm getting great kays out of this tank!!!!! hit 500 and filled up the LPG and it took 20litres of LPG...

Then it dawned on me when I jumped back in the car and the LPG sign didnt come up on my cluster (factory LPG) when I fired it back up.

$50 later all fixed, didnt look good with the screwdriver jamming the switch on on the dash LOL

superroo · 28-04-2008, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueoval

But you guys would know for sure, is there any other way the area around the A pillar would allow water in other than the window?

The other area that AU's leak is underneath the windscreen wiper cowling.
Philstoj found this out, that a seam weld where the firewall meets the bottom of the windscreen sheet metal like to rust out and disapear. Making it seam like the windscreen is leaking.
A bead of silicon along this weld (if it is gone or partly missing) fix's this.
I know mine has this problem on the drivers side and i need to do something about it.

Cheers

[EDIT]
Mentioned in this thread here:
http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11207655

blueoval · 28-04-2008, 05:47 PM

thanks fellas.

AU falcon 99 - would have been a bit of a visual 'mod' for the dash no doubt? :P lol
I hope its all good now.

superroo - thanks for the link mate, I'll certainly fix this if this is a common issue with these cars. If its there I will silicone the hole up nicely. I remember commenting on that thread before.

I will be avoiding high pressure car washes in future though. They seem to blast off dirt as well as force water in areas not normally used to receiving water. I'll probably use the water bucket or waterless carwash items from meguiar's instead and do it by hand.