I am wondering about rigging a small bottle of propane (really small, 13 oz, like) with an electric selonoid valve and a tiny nozzle in the engine intake to use a push button shot of propane when in lean burn and the speed starts to fade, thus not having to move the throttle and causing it to drop out.
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Jim Isbell
2000, 5 speed, 250,000 miles
"If you are not living on the edge, well then,
you are just taking up too much space."
The use of propane would legally require you to have the EPA rubber stamp your modification... They have laws and rules about converting or modifying vehicles to use fuel sources other than what it was built for.
You can of course take your chances that will will not be caught in your technically criminal activities.
You can also go about getting the EPA to Rubber stamp you... which generally requires a EPA certified emissions tested drive cycle before and after your modification to prove that you are not polluting any more than the original design and fuel.... and of course lots and lots of paper work , phone calls, waiting... etc....
50 ears ago we converted a 4 cyl jeep engine on a generator to propane by removing the carburetor, jambing a fruit juice can into the throttle plate open end down and soldered a gas fitting into the side of the can. Then we opened the valve to the gas, took an ice pick and started punching holes in the side of the can until the engine started. Then we fine tuned it by punching more holes into the side of the can. Then we put an electrical valve on the gas line and connected it to the output of the generator. If the generator ever failed the valve would close for a safe shut down. It worked just fine.
__________________
Jim Isbell
2000, 5 speed, 250,000 miles
"If you are not living on the edge, well then,
you are just taking up too much space."
A Internal Combustion engine can be made to run on just about any combustible fuel including propane.... or a strong enough vodka... so yes it could be done...
The harder part is weather it is worth doing.
If the engine is not designed to use a fuel like propane properly... even though it may run, it may pollute more , and be less efficient , maybe even cost more.
Many after market conversions which did not account for the different combustion characteristics of alternative fuels like propane resulted in many of those conversions polluting more with the cleaner / alternative fuel , than they did with gasoline... that is why the EPA made the rules they did.
So it can be done... but unless it is done properly you will have a less efficient engine that pollutes more and might very well cost more as well.
Well, I am not considering a complete conversion, just the ability to squirt a small amount (maybe a 2 second squirt and low volume) into the intake stream as a booster similar to the IMA boost but usable when the IMA is not available as often happens in hilly country when the IMA becomes depleted.
__________________
Jim Isbell
2000, 5 speed, 250,000 miles
"If you are not living on the edge, well then,
you are just taking up too much space."
but even a small amount will put you subject to laws that cover such things.... a loop hole is to use a PHEV modification to the Insight instead of an alternative fuel like propane modification ...
of course you might never get caught or charged with the criminal activity even if you choose not to do it legally.
PHEV have the ability to offset some of the gasoline fuel with additional electric fuel.
Additional electricity is not altering the type of fuel the engine is running on as a HEV already runs on electricity.
Ideally that additional electric fuel comes from green sources like solar , wind , hydro , etc...
Even coming from the U.S. National Mix... Electricity is cleaner / greener ... and is cheaper as a fuel to use to move a vehicle from point A to point B.
Kind of like the benefits of a E.V. without the range limitations as the PHEV can still operate on 100% gasoline if desired.
Do a web search for PHEV and you will have several days of reading if you want to know lots about it.
The main down side to current PHEVs is the initial cost... it is more of a luxury / green feature than a money saving feature.
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Shot of Propane in the intake?
