I would not do that.

Even with use of valve lube system, you must regularly check the valves. This is an expensive job to do. Valve seats are getting vorn out faster than when using petrol.

Kia engine is not strong enough to be fed with LPG without major consequences.

This car is not a big petrol spender, so there is no need for LPG.

This is my opinion, I hope it helps, but you do it your way...it is your car.

 

But I wonder how reliable the car will be on LPG. I am certainly planning to have a valve lube system. The installation is to be done by professionals (either LPGain in Dublin or Autogas in Cork).

I would appreciate advice on whether to do it! And what to look out for...

Well, do the math.
How much will you save and how much it will cost you.

1.4 engine - if driven correctly you may reach 6 l/100km with no problem.
LPG will increase it to about 7-7.5 or so, plus petrol for cold starts.

Therefore, that is 1200 l/year petrol vs 1500 l/year LPG. (153 vs 80c per liter). 1836 vs 1200 E.

So, yearly in theory you would save 600 euro. Installation would be what? 1500 or more? Sequential injection, sensors, labor...

Maybe in three years it could start paying back IF the prices remained same.
Plus, we did not take into account inspections and maintenance of LPG installation.
Finally, extra engine maintenance. LPG runs much hotter. Better cooling does not help as we are talking about valves and their seats - those parts get the biggest hit.


I used to have LPG. Of course it was much simpler then (simple engine, installation was about 350 E). But after a while - after about two years, I started noticing engine was not so strong anymore. At the time it had 160k km. 1.1 TramPolo. It did not have the same power to start with, but was cheaper to run.

So for you?
Can't tell you either way - if the engine is OK for LPG by KIA...

 

I never get 6 l/100 km. It's more like 7.5. Maybe it's because I do drive 120-140 kph on motorways (and most of the usage is motorway); when I go to Cork on an N-road, it's under 7, but still nowhere near 6.

7.5 would probably be 9 on LPG.

I think I'll get 25 k km a year if I push all driving to this car. Petrol 1875 l at 152 c, approx 2850 Euro ; LPG 1800 l at 87 c, approx 1950 Euro, so 900 saved. Installation is 1050, so even with another hundred for travelling for it, I'll recuperate in a bit over a year.

But it's the engine maintenance that bothers me. To catch valve problems early, I can get compression measured regularly (at every service, which I now plan to do at 10k km though manufacturer recommended is 15k; the car is going out of warranty so I'm switching to a local garage I know who will service cheaper than a KIA dealer and I think he is a better mechanic too). But what if compression does fall? I'm hit by, I think, up to 200 Euro to tune the valves, much more if they have to be replaced.

KIA is not "OK with LPG" - the dealer knows nothing about it. And the main reason for my doubt now is that the PRINS database (they are a major maker of LPG conversion its) lists this engine., in both its KIA and Hyundai incarnations, as getting valve wear after 20k km. This was before introduction of lubricant injection, but I do wonder how much that will help. If it helps by bringing it up from 20k to 50k it's still not enough for me.

Add to this the fact that on the motorway the engine runs at 3600 revs for 120 kph. about 4000 revs if I'm at 140 kph. And as far as I understand, valve wear for LPG is harder on higher revs. Taxi drivers are the people doing highest mileage on LPG in Ireland, but I guess they are mostly using their engines around 3k revs, being mainly city drivers?

Wish I could find a taxi driver who drove a converted Cee'd. There are some Cee'ds in taxi service, but not sure if they are petrol (and thus possible to do LPG) or diesel.

 

4k RPM kills engine anyway... 140 kph is pretty fast for this small engine.
Sure, it is light (1.4) so high rpm for it are not so bad as it would be for 2.2 unit, but still.

Well, as I said. Do the math, how much will it cost to get the head done (labor and parts) and if you have an other car for the time of Ceed being repaired.

Tune valves? Means what? If they seal - that's good, if they do not seal - pretty much removal of all of them, matching the seats and valves. Replace all other seals (rubber gaskets) so actually buying new valves at this point will not add much anyway.
Mainly labor intensive. It is 16 valves. Overheated, stretched. As long as the head is OK... you can still go with it.

If they last 20k you face head repair every year. If it was say 300 to get it done you are still +600.
However, how many times can you remove and install the head? The block may not take it (I am talking about stripping the bolts...).

I see that 900 is a lot....

 

4k RPM kills engine anyway... 140 kph is pretty fast for this small engine.
Sure, it is light (1.4) so high rpm for it are not so bad as it would be for 2.2 unit, but still.


QUOTE]

Why do you say that? At 4k RPM youre still over 2k from the redline. 4k is only 80mph, i sit at that on the motorway for hours at a time and have even done over 5k in top gear for many miles without any issue. My little 1.4 now has 65k miles on it and ive had no issue with the engine.
I guarantee you will not kill the engine at 4k RPM.

And a 6.5k redline isnt high at all these days for a 1.4 engine. My 1 Litre Yamaha bike engine redlines at 11500 revs!

 

i have kia pro ceed 1.4 since 2008. installed LPG Landi Renzo system as soon as i bought it. it was done within warranty. am now at 93k km and had to adjust the valves once at 60k km. the guys at the authorized service said that i would probably had to adjust valves at 90k. the LPG just fastens that time. have installed flash lube at 60k also so maybe it will help lube the valves a bit, but i doubt
if you drive normal and do not go over 4k rpm when on LPG (on longer routes) i do not see any problems.
the car will spend 15% more lpg then petrol. i have installed turbo also at around 70k km and the car is running normal both on lpg and petrol. so i dont see a problem in that also. i am on hyundai forum in croatia and there are a lot of 1.4 I30 with LPG here which already have more then 150k km made on LPG and still didnt do adjustments for valves. it all depends on how good the guys that will map your LPG on the car are.
for me, LPG was a good investment.

 

Back in the 60's and 70's when cars only had 4 speed gearboxes it was normal to cruise at well over 4000 rpm at 70 mph, I had a Chrysler Avenger 1600 that sat at 4400 rpm at that speed, the earlier engines were revving even higher. Mates Fiat 127 sat at nearly 5000 rpm on the motorway, never did them any harm.

And just remember that those engines were nowhere near as well made or as advanced as todays engines.

 

jajceko: you really can add a turbo to the engine? Would that require some tricky ECU programming too? And thanks - you are the first person I encounter with some real Cee'd LPG experience!

I've been to the Kia garage today for the last check before the car gets out of warranty. It appears that if I do get serious valve seat recession, I might be down about a thousand Euro for a rebuild of the cylinder hear, which would take a lot of time too.

There are a few LPG installers in Ireland with just one having a few satisfied customers online, LPGain in Dublin. Apparently the Polish guy did LPG installations in Poland for a number of years before coming to Ireland.

On a Russian forum I found out about variators, aka Timing Advance Processors. They move the ignition earlier, giving the LPG more time to burn and thus reducing valve wear (and increasing performance). But that Polish guy won't install them, he believes they are only good for 1st generation LPG equipment. I wish I knew how well he does the maps, but there's no way for me to find out! (Except that he does the entire installation in a day, and I did hear views that proper mapping might take more time?)

I'm torn between doing the LPG and risking wearing the cylinder head (where the valve seats are) out in 2-3 years, and not doing it and hoping to run the car for 5-7 years, thus saving on delaying purchase of a new car instead!

P.S. Unfortunately, I don't think the option of switching to petrol at 4500 RPM, used widely in Russia, is available here either.

 

well...i have added the turbo on my kia. there is a thread about that somewhere on the forum so you can look it up. you need either piggyback ecu or stand along ecu to control injectors. i have three electronics now in my car . original one, piggyback smt and landi renzo for LPG.
checking valve seats doesnt take much time. adjusting them does. so...check your valves every 15k and i dont think you will have problems. in my country it costs around 20 euros per valve to adjust them. checking is free
valves problem is generally a problem for 1.4 engines and the LPG just helps the problem. as far as i know, the problem is in lubing. since LPG is very dry the valve seats wear off. there are some good LPG electronic which you can adjust that you add some petrol with LPG or you can adjust them to switch from LPG to petrol on certain rpm (i know for sure Tartarini has that option).
usually instalation of LPG takes 2 days here.
for end...like i said...if you check your valves every 15k km and adjust them when needed there shouldnt be a problem.

 

Just run normal gasoline on the weekends and it will be lubed.
Most recent LPG kits have a separate small oil tank to lube every once and a while.

 

KIA has developed a new 3 cylinder KAPA engine, 1.0l and aboud 82 hp. That one is LPG compatible. It will be in the new Rio and Hyundai i10 and i20. In Ceed, supposedly as an both gasoline and LPG options ( switchable ) plus a hybrid powertrain ( electric motor ). Haven't found muh on that, just a rumor. So, maybe wait for that and upgrade to a new, plug and play car?

 

Kia k5 lpg

Hi,

I recently bought a 2011 Kia k5. Im from the Dominican Republic and here lots a this tipe of car are being imported from Korea, they all come with a factory installed LPG only System (no gasoline what so ever), I said factory installled becasue the LPG looks vere "profesional" or well done and it have the Kia Huinday Logos incrusted in metal with a lot of stams and signals from korea, and also that the inside of the car comes with the LPG bottons from factory....they said that many of these cars where taxis or rental car in Korean and where not intended to be sell or something like that....

The thing is I now have this car and I will like to know what kind of special maintance I have to do for it, does it need diffrent plugs or so?... I just cant find much in the internet about it... does anybody know something? I´ll appreciate some info, my email es tulioalejandro@icloud.com.

Regards,