Laguna Phase II on LPG

[Amdathlonuk]

Hi all,

Newbie Laguna Phase II owner here..... I wonder if you could help with a few questions.

I have managed to pick up a 2001 1.6i with only 25K on the clock for £1000.
THe car drives like it's brand new (as it should) but has a few quirks;

1. The sunroof will not stay open on tilt and it will only start to open on the last 3 settings on slide (it's almost like the switch is backwards?) I think the switch might be faulty?

2. 3 tyre sensors are on, I can't for the life of me get rid of them, any ideas?

3. I have now driven the car over 600 miles to work and back (Abergavenny to Gloucester) and it's doing 47mpg (I can prove this) is this normal???? AMAZING fuel economy.

4. I have booked the car in to have it put on LPG as I do nearly 30K per year, but the installation company has said my mpg couldgo as low as 30mpg when on gas?!?!?!? I thought you only lost 10-15% economy? Has anyone else put LPG on theirs to confirm?

Thanks guys, and sorry for the questions, other than that, I'm VERY happy with my car.

[AndersDK]

My experience is with Citroens - but I have some general points that may lead you on track.

1) Common problems are worn out contact points in the switch, switch flooded with water (and dirt) if roof mounted, dry winder mechansim.

2) I belive they may be of an early type with a built-in coin cell. May then need a fresh cell.
Could also very well be the brakes pad wear warning wire syndrome : garages dont care about these non-fatal sensors and rip - or dont bother repair ripped - wires.
If alloys or secondhand wheels are fitted - it is likely that they do not have any sensors fitted. Hence the constant warning.

3) Do a "realtime" calculation, with distances from maps (or GPS), and record the accurate amount when filling up. A modern mid-size engine should however return a good mileage on long trips.

4) That may simply be down to a standard "warranty disclaimer" from the garage - not to disappoint you. It is sadly true, that in some worst cases you may be down 20-25% on LPG compared to petrol.
Standard loss is however pretty close around the 15% figure.
This is due to the lesser energy/mass figure in LPG.

Notes :

You will not only loose Bhp, but also torque, when driving on LPG. This again means a noticeable lesser acceleration ability on your car.

After the first period of LPG and then an engine oil change, you will notice that the engine oil is kept visually in a state like new, i.e. no soothing - at all !
Do NOT believe this means the oil lasts forever
Change the engine oil with the same intervals as when driving with petrol, because the oil is worn down mechanically

At regular intervals, spend the money driving a trip on petrol, to keep the fuel injection system up to scratch (every 4.th week or so) - to avoid costly repairs.

You can NOT drive on petrol and LPG as a mix. Its either petrol or LPG.

[Amdathlonuk]

Hi Anders,

Thanks for the reply.
I believe it is a worn switch on the sunroof as the car is like new inside.

Like I say, I 've bitten the bullet and booked in for an LPG conversion anyway, even at 30mpg, it's still worthwhile due to the mileage I do.

However I wouldn't say my car was particularly torquey as it stands.. ..

[Amdathlonuk]

Well, I finally had my car converted to LPG............

So far it's been the best decision I ever made!!

I've now travelled 400 miles since, there is no noticeable drop in performance (only a 1.6L anyway).
I have a 69L doughnut tank in the boot and I made sure they did a very tidy job on the gas filler placement and gas gauge.

The car starts on petrol as normal and when the engine is at 30 degrees C it swithes to gas automatically. So on a normal morning it takes around 30 seconds.

A gallon of diesel is approx £6.16 here and for the same cost I can travel over 100 miles as the car is showing 39.7mpg which is slightly lower than the 45.5mpg I was getting on Petrol.
That is normal as petrol has a greater mass than LPG.

I'm VERY happy. the whole conversion only cost £1000, so I expect to save around £130-£140 per month on fuel!

It was done in a place in South Wales and the installer said if I recommend them I get a small fee and if you quote my name, you get a discount.

Just about to fill my V5C in now to let the DVLA know and get a small refund on my road fund licence as well!!

If anyone has an FTP server I'll send pics of the installation as I can't seem to add them to my post????

JJ

[AndersDK]

Well done

Thats a pretty hefty pay-back time
Definately a very good investment you did there

Getting pictures here is very easy - if you can reference your pictures to an internet server address on the form :

http//www.myserver.domain/mypixstore/mycarpix/mypict1.jpg

that sorted - you put the url picture ref within the img tags in your text here on forum.
Here is a how-to : http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... hp?t=23536

PS : we have a "good garages" thread somewhere on the forum - cant remember where though

[Ross_K]

2) I belive they may be of an early type with a built-in coin cell. May then need a fresh cell.
Could also very well be the brakes pad wear warning wire syndrome : garages dont care about these non-fatal sensors and rip - or dont bother repair ripped - wires.
If alloys or secondhand wheels are fitted - it is likely that they do not have any sensors fitted. Hence the constant warning.

You can get the tyre pressure warning turned off permanently at your local friendly stealer. Best course of action IMHO

Are they really necessary anyway? Checking your tyre pressures manually once a week would be a much better idea.

[Xaccers]

I had tyre sensors on after a garage put the wheels on the wrong corners of the car, they didn't match up the colour codes.
As mine was a 1.9DCi, I found the tyre pressure (or rather flat tyre warning) very useful, what with having to pull over to the hard shoulder so often to reboot (I'm sure the ECU was running Windows ME!) I was always getting punctures, and always too close to the edge for a cheap repair so was forking out £150 a go.
That was my only complaint about an otherwise stunning car, which Renault went on to destroy the looks of, and then destroy them some more.