Just installed a CNG kit. Is this the right place to post, wonder who else is also running CNG. I have 18 GGE capacity, 4 tanks. Just calculated the first run and used 2 gallons of CNG to 1 gallon of diesel. CNG here in Utah is 1.50 per gallon. Diesel is $4. POWER is awsome though. And better combined mileage. DIC says I am at 18MPG, I calculated a combined MPG of 10. All city driving.
I drive 5 miles to work non-highway, I was at about 12 MPG calculated to .33 per mile at 3.80 per gallon. I am still adjusting the mixture of CNG. First run of a hundred miles or so i was using 2 gallons CNG to 1 gallon diesel. That worked out to .30 per mile and about 10 miles per gallon combined. After that calculation, I turned the mixture down and now am at .27 per mile. The only way to tune the CNG regulator is to count the turns like on a carb, so i went from about 6.25 turns out to 5.25 turns.
You do have to use more CNG, but its only 1.50 per gallon. I have two 4.5 gallon rated tanks in the bed. Of course i am only getting about 7.25 usable gallons at 3200 psi. I also have another set of 2 4.5 gallon tanks that i haven't hooked up yet. I haven't really needed the range, so i have left them out. I bought the kit from (EWSEWS.com) in Syracuse, UT. I did all the install my self.
I find that the easiest way to find your new cost per mile is to figure both fuels separately and add the results together. If you go from 12 to 20 mpg on #2, your new cost/mile for #2 is 19¢/mi. If you get 10 mpg on cng, you are at 15¢/mi, for a sum of 34¢/mi. For the amount of cng you are using, it seems like your diesel mpg should be alot better. If you run 2 gal cng to 1 gal diesel, you should be around 35 mpg on diesel. My truck gets around 19 mpg on straight diesel. When running cng with my electronic controller, I do over 100 mpg on diesel and still get 21 mpgge on cng.
I find that the easiest way to find your new cost per mile is to figure both fuels separately and add the results together. If you go from 12 to 20 mpg on #2, your new cost/mile for #2 is 19¢/mi. If you get 10 mpg on cng, you are at 15¢/mi, for a sum of 34¢/mi. For the amount of cng you are using, it seems like your diesel mpg should be alot better. If you run 2 gal cng to 1 gal diesel, you should be around 35 mpg on diesel. My truck gets around 19 mpg on straight diesel. When running cng with my electronic controller, I do over 100 mpg on diesel and still get 21 mpgge on cng.
My LMM gets about 12 MPG on my regular drives, and I figured i was around 34c per mile. I was running at 2 gal CNG per gallon of diesel and was at 31c per mile, went down to 1.2 gal CNG per gallon of diesel and was at 28c per mile. I haven't adjusted and recalculated yet since. Right now I am driving around at 20 MPG of diesel. When I calculate my cost I add all the cost of my CNG I tracked and add the cost of what i just put in for diesel and then divide by the miles i drove, then i calculate the MPG of everything. Just depends on how you want you do your books.
My cost per mile is $.27 I have been running at 1.2 gge to 1g of diesel. this cost was factored at $4.09 per gallon of diesel, that was of my last post. You can see that i have been running almost a month on my tank of diesel, and have used 16 gallons. I have been filling up my 9GGE tank every 100 miles. I just started filling up at a 3600 psi station also. I use my truck as a daily driver with about a 12 mile round trip, city. I just took some pics for you forkman. If you need help or something, PM me. I just got your PM.
The hardest physical part was cutting into the heater lines. The hardest aspect of the whole install is that I had to sit and stare at the engine bay for a long time and figure out where to mount and install and route all the lines. The heater lines are the red ones, and you have about 4" of heater core lines exposed, on the LMM. So to tell you how long it took from start to finish, was about 3 days. that would include finding all your wires you need to tap into, planning your routes on your lines, and then doing the actual work. I would say you will need a whole day of "uninterrupted time". If you don't have the option of telling your wife and kids to don't bother you, then plan everything out first. Make sure to double check all your electrical tie-ins before you start stripping back wires and plan plan plan. If you know your truck well and know where all your electrical pin outs are, then you are looking at about 2-3 hours.
I couldn't get my CNG to flow on the first time I started the truck, because I got so excited and forgot to program the contoller. Then I went back into the directions, made sure I covered everything, and it worked like a charm. I also could not find a Tach signal either coming off the ECM nor could I figure out which wire was the tach going into the back of the gage pod. I used the crank position sensor coming out of the ECM, and that worked ok.
The white line is the high pressure gas line that is coated with a plastic coating to help with protection. Here is a picture of my regulator with markings so i don't forget which way to turn the adjusting screw. + is increase CNG flow, and - is to decrease flow.
Mine took a while to install also . their instructions were not the greatestalso i wish i could get more flow but my idle gets affected before that happens so i will keep adjusting and figure it out
so on my install i went 242 miles on 13 gallons and used 1200 to 1300 psi of cng. which would be about 3.5 to 4.5 gallons i think. so i need to adjust mine more but it wants to affect idle too much for my liking. maybe mark deluca can chime in to tell us if that is detrimental to the engine. And the white line on gfrobinsons pic is his fuel line for the cng i believe
I was asked post pictures of the way I had mine installed. Here is the lowpressure supply hose that is cut into the intake tube. I did mine just after the MAF sensor. I figured from the explanation of how everything works is that is should go after the sensor, and you are supposed to use the shortest lenght of hose you can.
The hose is just a Goodyear fuel type rubber, with a 1" sprinkler 90 degree fitting like you would buy at Lowes, but when I installed the 90 I used some (orange) silicon tape to seal off any air leaks on the inside of the intake tube.
Sounds like forkman has his installed different, sounds like you aren't getting the performance you should.
computer says I am getting 20 MPG. Which is true, just counting diesel. I originally started out at 12MPG, without CNG. If you're wonder if I notice more power after my kit was installed, yes, tons of power.
I just ordered (EWS) CNG kit for my Ford Focus. Looking for a CNG tank locally, since shipping from UTAH for the tank is over $300.00 CNG out in SoCal is $1.27 per GGE. Once I get the Focus dialed in, then the same kit you installed will be my next project for my DMAX....Keep us updated on your experience with their kit.....Joseph
I can say if you don't know what your doing with CNG, EWS is not the place to call for help. they just sell kits, and thats it. It is a guy in his basement putting parts in a box. I am happy with the kit though. I bought my tanks from him too, but if your not local, you might want to research where to buy tanks.
Also, I am not running any tune. Completly stock. I did find that when I don't add Powerservice addative, my MPG drops a little. I always run addative at the highest octane level. I am still using diesel/CNG at about a 1:1 ratio. Usually use a little more CNG than diesel.
Well after a bunch of trial i made a new nozzle to go into the intake and it seems to be getting me just over 40 mpg on diesel but havent calculated cng use yet. but it is definately using more .im finally happy with the kit
This Kit is for sale now, located in Clinton Utah. $999.00. Includes the regulator set up and the 1 set of tanks, (9GGE). second set of tanks is $650. PM, reply, or email if interested. gabrielrobinson@msn.com
bump, looking into this myself what does Marc's kit cost?
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