First drama with my patrol off road

[GQPorkroll]

Got bored last night and decided to go off road since we'd had a bit of rain.

Found a massive puddle, at least 6 car lengths long, first part was just under my sills, second part went just up to my doors.

I got all but to the finish and cut out. Started in 2nd gear 4wd (been through it before, knew it was deep) and shifted to first for the second part.

There wasn't much splash as I knew it was deep so didn't hit it fast, didn't wheelspin, nothing silly. I know my fan was submerged in the second part and I think that's what stopped me.

I was running LPG at the time. It wouldn't restart. I flicked the switch to neutral, cranked it, emptied the gas out and flicked to petrol, fired straight up and drove out.

I attempted to switch to LPG a few times but it wouldn't run, it was probably 10mins and 2km before lpg would run again. It was running absolutely fine on fuel that time, no miss, no farting or carrying on.

I'm thinking either the spray from the fan threw some water up onto the electrics for my gas and shut it down, or perhaps the gas froze/liquefied as the pipes were submerged for at least 2mins in bloody cold water.

Anyone else shed some ideas?

[GQPorkroll]

Oh also I dot run a snorkel, I'm running a 350 holley with gas fitting drilled straight into the front, with a positive converter. At the moment it's running a sports air filter and not sealed as it has a paper element, would a big of water spray stop gas?

I plan to cut the oval air box to suit the holley, seal it with silastic and run a pipe from that to a guard mounted airbox with a snorkel attached.

Same as everything else, time, effort, money. You usually only have 1/3!

[growler2058]

Ahhhh what can i say................Gotta love diesel bwahahahaha
Hopefully one of the members with gas can offer some helpful advice, unlike myself ;)

[GQPorkroll]

Yeah I would have like diesel but I mainly drive it around town and they're too slow and thirsty, and when I was looking for a GQ 4.2 they were at least triple the price of a petrol. I put about $60 of gas in my truck for a month or so of commuting, shopping, fishing and off road. Can't complain there?

[threedogs]

Sounds like water killed the gas electrics , it only freezes if you havent enough water in system.
Next time spray and protect everything, even safeway bags , I used them to cover my electronic dizzy in last 4x4
Dual fuel 350 chev, Lanotec is great for protecting wires as its thicker than CRC or WD-40.
water/bog holes have never been the 4x4s best friend.

[Sir Roofy]

Why o why do young,ns persist on putting petrol gas into waterholes
you spray up water over your electrics and wonder why it wont go
if your going to do that sort of thing invest in a water bra or a cheap
tarp to put over the front and as td says spray your elects first

and get a snorkel on pronto

[nissannewby]

Don't know what diesels your referring to but in the gq range the diesels are far better on fuel.

[Bigrig]

Check the seals on the converter itself mate - if it's been apart at any stage an not had a gasket put back on properly, then they can suck a little air - usually this is burnt off but if a fair amount, it'll cause the converter to ice up - sounds like the latter hasn't occurred, so maybe (just maybe) a small amount of water was sucked in - it should still run though, just with a lot of coughing and spluttering ...

Other than that, I'm assuming the lpg lights come on at the switch when you change over - if not, check the inline fuse (some are mounted in the fuse rack, some inline) as it may have blown - I had exactly that at Landcruiser Park once on an outing with a few lads from here.

Other than that, off to a specialist old mate - they'll be able to nail it quick as it is fuel system specific.


I'd Tap That!!

[GQPorkroll]

It was a one off thing, I normally just thrash around in mud and on bush tracks. I've been through that puddle a hundred times in the patrol and my 2 previous Hilux's and never had a drama. I'm not gonna put a bra on my truck, it would be like putting a stupid e-tag thing on my car because I go to Sydney once a year. It's the first time I've ever had a drama with it, so it's not really warranted.


Bigrig, about 4 months ago it got a new carb, lines and converter, plus a MSD unit on it and it's never ran better. It's hardly done any k's since its been fitted and I've had absolutely zero problems with it, so it's not the drama, I could safely say.

The previous gas/electronic system was covered in inox before each trip and was wrapped up with good cloth tape almost everywhere, never had a drama.

I'm running iridium plugs and I have 10.5mm plug leads with grease on the inside of the boots sealed up, my dizzy cap is sealed also, I just haven't had time to get in and seal up the gas electrics just yet.

I was just curious why it wouldn't run on gas, but fired up straight away on petrol, when I've been 4wd-ing with friends their petrol system has suffered misses and farts just running through mud, but I've plowed on through running on gas.

Oh and the reference to diesel prices was compared to a gas truck, not a petrol one.

The snorkel is coming, I have the airbox, just ordered the holley top hat, or bonnet, or cover, whatever you want to call it, but I first have to move my MSD box, my HID ballasts and some other wiring that's been moved into that area before I can fit the airbox there, then find the silicone adaptors and elbows so I can make it all fit. Unfortunately it's not cheap or easy to get hold of.