Vehicle & Technical > Discovery

LEAKING LPG!!!

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JimsMowing:
As the title suggests, my lpg is leaking!! Its been running fine up until a few days ago. Went to get some gas, put 40 litres in and drive up the road. As i start accelerating i notice it feels as though its not got any lpg. so i switch to petrol for the way home.

I get home have a poke and notice a wire has snapped. Transpires its the fuel level sending wire so now my lpg guage is working! But yesterday and today its been seaping gas after the engine has been running, more so today.

Then i get quite worried when i park up and as im walking away from my disco i hear wooooooosh. Its dumped a load of lpg out as a gas.

I seriously have no idea about lpg, but its my only car and need to get around as i use it for work.

The system i have is a BRC system, not sure on model number. I cant find anyone that deals with this system near me. I live in sevenoaks in kent. Do any of you guys have any experience with lpg, and if so do you know of any symptoms like this? If you do id love to hear from you.

Regards

Geoff.

Skibum346:
In the immortal words of the hitch hikers guide to the galaxy...

DON'T PANIC

Firstly LPG is a far safer fuel than petrol as it is a volatile gas and is quickly dispersed in the air. Same volume of petrol would still be hanging around giving off potential fumes.

Don't know anything about your system but your description makes it sound like the tank safety valve has blown for some reason... maybe an electrical fault?

Check ou the LPGA website for registered fitters and get it down to one for an inspection.

In it's current state, assuming the tank has emptied, the system is basically safe.

JimsMowing:
Thank you for your swift response! After it dumped the gas out i guessed it might have something to do with a valve of some sort.

I spoke with a fitter of different systems over the phone and he remarked about the size of the tanks. i said they are twin sill takes with a capaxity of 70 litres. He then asked me how much i could put in them. So i said sometimes it will fill up the max of 70 litres if i run it right down or other times i can only get 40 litres in.

I used to think this was because the pump was out, but now im thinking this happend to often to get to a pump out of gas.

So maybe the valve thing is something to do with this, sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt.  :?  Who knows...all i know is my disco drinks petrol even more so than a standard one as its mapped for the lpg!

Skibum346:
Your tanks should have a cut off that prevents you from filling to max... for instance we have a 80litre tank that takes 60. This leaves room for the gas to expand when it's warm without over pressuring the system and blowing the safety valve.

Course... it could be your tanks are bigger than 70 but all they take is 70!

Snake110:
:shock: from what youre saying it sounds like 2 problems
1 the aparant lack of fuel maywell be down to another
faulty connection shutting the gas flow off intermittantly

2 the venting is normal for an over filled tank
the given capacity of an lpg tank is the full (to the brim)
liquid capacity.
You can NEVER fill them to that level from a gas filling point
the nominal capacity for a full tank is 80% of its liquid capacity
so youre getting 70l in youre tanks must be 20% larger.
tempriture also has a bearing on this due to expansion
of the gas you will get more in on a cold day less on a hot day
venting can happen if you say fill early in the morning when its cold
and the weather warms up causing the gas to expand
and the tank pressure rises to the point where
the over pressure valve operates venting some gas untill
the pressure falls back to its working level
this can appear quite scary but is usualy
safer than it looks as long as the tank can vent to
atmosphire and not into the cabin
if the system was installed correctly it will
have a vent pipe routed to vent to open air

have a good look round the whole system
check ALL electrical connections for a good contact
and make sure any and all vent pipes are clear
and again check all pipework for tight connections
and damage .

most systems are quite simple once you see where
everything goes but if youre in doubt
take it to a good installer and have it checked out..

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