I am having a hard time finding any decent information on the possibility of converting my 1994 Chev K1500 Silverado pickup to run on natural gas rather than gas/e85. Any reliable advice or direction out there?
This article is old and outdated, but it gives you the basic idea of how propane conversion works:
If you Google “propane conversion” you’ll find a bunch of people who sell conversion kits.
These guys do it, if your close. I called and think a car was about $3500 a couple of years ago. Their biggest hurdle was passing the Gov red tape.
Thanks for the lead(s). I appreciate it.
Thanks for the fast reply. It looks like they may be working on the gasoline conversionyet. I will give them a call. They are not far away from me. Thanks again.
National fuel gas in the Buffalo NY area has a lot of vehicles converted to run on compressed natural gas, There is a refueling station about 1/4 mile from my house. They convert them back to gasoline when they sell them. I would contact them for info.
Can a vehicle that is converted to run on propane run on methane, too?
These conversions are usually crude compared to the fuel injection they are replacing. Unless they use an oxygen sensor and computer to control the mixture…
The article cited above was for a conversion that would use either propane, methane, or natural gas. Chemically, propane and methane are similar. Methane is CH4, or one carbon and four hydrogen molecules. Propane is C3H8, or 3 carbons and 8 hydrogens. From a combustion standpoint, the only difference is the slight variation in carbon-to-hydrogen ratio.
As far as I know, any engine converted to run on propane should run on methane too. There might need to be some tweaks as far as orifice sizing, etc, but the fundamentals are the same.
You’re talking about compressed natural gas (CNG), right? Try googling ‘cng conversion’, there’s info out there.
Impco has made kits for decades for propane conversions…GM and Ford used Impco on all of thier OEM Propane trucks…Yes, they’ve been available from the factory on and off over the last 40 or so years…they work well and aren’t all that complicated to install.