Another reader sent me some photos of a conversion he acquired in a used vehicle. In his email he wrote “I recently purchased a Nissan X-Trail auto, with what I found out later, to be a home install LPG system.
It did not appear to work when I bought the car, (The dealer has washed his hands of it, even though the only reason I bought the car is because it was advertised as LPG.) So, I took it to a LPG approved installer who said he would take a look.
He proceeded to point out a list of a dozen points (listed below) as to why the car was not satisfactorily converted…”

Looking through the system, it’s got probably every mistake imaginable !

The filler is open to the boot inside, so any leak can fill the boot with gas. The fill pipe then goes over the top of the tank - with no protection from heavy items placed in the boot.

The tank (top photo) has no automatic shutoff valve, and the outlet pipe similarly goes over the top of the tank. And because of these pipes, the cover hasn’t been fitted to the tank. The tank is only retained by one 8mm bolt without adequate spreader plate.

The feed pipe is then fastened along the vehicle with plastic cable ties, and is rubbing on several components along the way.

At the front end, the ‘installer’ has used an open loop system which is not suitable for a 2002 vehicle with engine management system. Ideally it should have a multi-point injection system, and is borderline for single point mixer even with feedback control system.

The wiring (what there is of it) is untidy, with joints made by twisting wires and screw terminal blocks.

Just for good measure, the reducer isn’t even mounted correctly - it should be vertical and face directly across the vehicle to minimise accelerations affecting the mixture.

So, a classic example of BIY - Bodge It Yourself ! My reader is now working through the system to correct these faults - effectively it’s a case of rip most of it out and start afresh.

What of the dealer ? Well that’s a difficult one in my opinion. On one hand, there’s a good case for saying that the vehicle was sold in an unsafe condition and not fit for purpose. On the other hand, looking at it from his perspective, if he’s one of the majority of dealers that’s never had anything to do with LPG then can he reasonably be expected to know better - he is just selling the motor on in the condition he took it in.

Making a fuss about it risks turning him into an “anti” - ready to tell all and sundry that LPG is something dangerous and to be kept clear of. I don’t believe that would be productive.