Australian GMH HSV 6.0 litre LPi, stalling

Propane, Butane, LPG, GPL, C3H8, C4H10
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jono
Posts: 365
Joined: Wed May 16, 2007 11:46 pm
Location: New South Wales, Oz

Australian GMH HSV 6.0 litre LPi, stalling

Post by jono »

I have been googling and found absolutely nothing technical Forum wise on this factory or factory appointed liquid injection system

Made me smile when reading that the sub 400kW beast makes more power on less fuel on propane:)

The owners first and only symptoms offered - can't get any fuel into tank.
After testing fill valve disconnected at tank, with compressed air via forklift fill fitting , I got to quiz the owner, directly, in person, while sitting in his car

I was guessing the operation of the change over button , so asked him to confirm. Didn't get any confident replies. Further quizzing reveals he knew nothing, had bought it used two years earlier knowing PO had issues running on propane, had only been able to put ten litres in tank until it was full.
He knew nothing about icons and colours lit up on the switch.
Even told me the five blue LED segments meant tank was empty :)

No visible contents gauge on tank, so guessing the five blue LED segments means tank is full, which is why it wouldn't fill for him

Another thing against the owner getting it to change over to propane I think, is that he tried, maybe only once, tried before engine temp had reached change over temp

So, thinking he has been hauling a 70? litre tank full of propane getting a free ride the last two years.

if it had been wet fuel, it likely be stale after two years.

Test drive on propane with nearly 500 ponies to unleash I had no complaints and could not fault it UNTIL the odd, slow decel to an intersection , the coming to stop at the workshop. She stumbled and stalled, requiring a restart which was faultless and normal driving again

This nasty dangerous characteristic reminds me of the Vialle systems behaviour when the pitot tube or balance pipe between converter and air filter intake develops a hole or damage of some sort.

So, does anyone know LPi systems and their sensors ?
Is there a similar thing like a balance line between LPi computer and air intake?

C3H8
Posts: 1135
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2005 11:23 pm
Location: Winnipeg, Canada

Re: Australian GMH HSV 6.0 litre LPi, stalling

Post by C3H8 »

Most of the liquid injection systems operate the same. Most start on gasoline and switch to propane automatically. The HSV system states it also switches to petrol at 4000 to 5000 rpm when the load on the valves is higher and switches back automatically when the rpm's decrease. It is supposed to do this seamlessly with the goal being to prevent valve recession.

As for the stalling, I would inspect your throttle body for dirt buildup on the throttle plates or in the IAC (idle air control) motor.

I don't know all the specifics on the HSV LPi system but it sounds suspiciously like the Clean Fuels LPi system used in the US. Your probably right about the fuel lights. As for filling it is best to fuel these systems first thing in the morning. Since they circulate excess fuel back to the tanks the fuel pressure builds from heat picked up from the engine during the circulation. The storage fueling system pumps can only generate a specific pressure differential. Usually 50 to 80 PSI differential. The heat transferred to the tank with the recirculated fuel can easily exceed the differential capability of the pump and this will prevent or slow filling. Filling first thing in the morning means both the vehicle tank and storage tank will be close to the same pressure.

C3H8
Posts: 1135
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2005 11:23 pm
Location: Winnipeg, Canada

Re: Australian GMH HSV 6.0 litre LPi, stalling

Post by C3H8 »

Forgot. There is probably a balance line running from the intake manifold to the LPG regulator. Low vacuum equals load and the drop in vacuum will cause the regulator outlet pressure to increase. There will not be a balance line from the regulator to the air intake like Vialle.

jono
Posts: 365
Joined: Wed May 16, 2007 11:46 pm
Location: New South Wales, Oz

Re: Australian GMH HSV 6.0 litre LPi, stalling

Post by jono »

Thanks for the info C3

One vehicle review article I read suggested 5300 change to the wet fuel

Another suggested auto change once at op temp, but this has a switch for manual change between fuels and when switched off propane, stays off
When on propane mode, it starts off propane indicated by an orange bowser icon for just a moment, the back to a flashing soft light blue light in centre of switch in centre console.

The beauty about this system of direct high pressure injection of propane is there is no converter or regulator, there is no need.

The decel idle issue is only on propane so not seeing the problem lies with an idle control circuit but always worth considering

No CEL coming up but may get a chance to put a scanner on it and take it through its paces and watch things as they happen

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