

| Subject: | Re: Propane Conversion for Vanagon--head north! |
| From: | David Brodbeck |
| Date: | Thu, 13 Feb 2003 20:36:02 -0500 |
On Thu, 13 Feb 2003, 80 Westy Pokey wrote:
> Also, here is the text from a British VW club magazine (I
> forget which one) from last summer:
> Since the engine is an injected DJ model, Jason had to
> disable the petrol injectors when switched over to gas. This
> is so because the engine must be started on petrol. (I have
> not discovered why this is necessary because on a cold engine
> the running is much smoother on gas).
I'd guess it's necessary because, on a cold day, there may not be enough
heat available to properly vaporize the propane until the engine is warmed
up.
I remember Bob Hoover writing a series of posts on the Type 2 list about
converting a Type IV *aircooled* engine to propane. He used the engine
oil for vaporization heat, which as a side benefit had all the benefits of
an external oil cooler. In fact, he found that at highway speeds the oil
ran a bit *too* cool because of all the heat being removed from it by the
propane.
Those of you who live in International Falls may want to consider tank
heat, as well; propane boils at -39F at standard pressure, so it won't
vaporize enough to pressurize the tank below that temperature. ;)
_ _
__ _ _ _| | | | David M. Brodbeck (N8SRE) Ypsilanti, MI
/ _` | | | | | | +-----------------------------------------------------
| (_| | |_| | | | @ cyberspace.org
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