My propane powered 07 Burb LTZ

[Kapitein]

I picked up this fine example earlier in the week to (eventually) replace my 07 Denali XL. Ive spent 1000s repairing and upgrading my Yukon, so why this?

Ive always wanted a black burb
8 seats suit me better
Only 93k miles
All round better shape exterior and interior
...and its gasoline and liquid propane powered!

Ill attach some general pics below, but for those interested in the propane element:

Its a under-mounted spherical tank where the spare wheel would go, 92L capacity. Filling port is in the rear bumper just under the gas cap. Lines run to the engine bay where there is a stand alone ECU, a pump/condensor, and each bank has an extra fuel rail with piggy back injectors.

Theres a small/discrete control module in the cabin, just under the light control. This allows manual on/off control and to read the gas level.

The truck also has its regular gas tank (120L). The engine always starts on gasoline to ensure correct lubrication of the heads... depending on conditions it will automatically switch to propane after anything from 5-60seconds approx.

Fuel consumption is about 20% worse than gasoline, but the price per gallon is much cheaper (about 3.50 USD equivalent here, compared to about 9 USD for 91 gasoline). Overall running costs are about 40% cheaper on propane.
The other advantage is a much farther total range on long trips of course

Power, sound, smell etc is all the same as a regular gasoline powered car. Gas conversions are very popular here in Europe, I can fill with propane at probably 80% of fuel stations.

The car itself seems to be real nice. Engine and gearbox are silky smooth. Cold oil pressure is 60psi, warm idle is 40. It needs some new tyres, new front brakes and an evap solenoid. The AC is also currently U/S (I suspect the lines to the rear AC unit, just like on my Yukon)....

The car is currently on British licence plates, my next job is to import it in to my country of residence (The Netherlands).... that will take some time and wont be very cheap

Mainly im very happy to be in a Black Burb - was always what I wanted.

Considering I live in a car hating country, my current driveway setup is quite unusual

 

[Kapitein]

more photos.....

 

[Kapitein]

More

 

[Kapitein]

Last ones!

 

[mb1500]

Nice!

 

[Fless]

Very nice! How available is the LP when you travel, and how long does it take to top off the LP?

 

[Kapitein]

Very nice! How available is the LP when you travel, and how long does it take to top off the LP?

It's widely available. 70-80%+ filling stations stock it.

Filling time is comparable or maybe a little faster than gasoline.

 

[CaptainAmerica1]

That’s a good lookin truck!

 

[soulsea]

I picked up this fine example earlier in the week to (eventually) replace my 07 Denali XL. Ive spent 1000s repairing and upgrading my Yukon, so why this?

Ive always wanted a black burb
8 seats suit me better
Only 93k miles
All round better shape exterior and interior
...and its gasoline and liquid propane powered!

Ill attach some general pics below, but for those interested in the propane element:

Its a under-mounted spherical tank where the spare wheel would go, 92L capacity. Filling port is in the rear bumper just under the gas cap. Lines run to the engine bay where there is a stand alone ECU, a pump/condensor, and each bank has an extra fuel rail with piggy back injectors.

Theres a small/discrete control module in the cabin, just under the light control. This allows manual on/off control and to read the gas level.

The truck also has its regular gas tank (120L). The engine always starts on gasoline to ensure correct lubrication of the heads... depending on conditions it will automatically switch to propane after anything from 5-60seconds approx.

Fuel consumption is about 20% worse than gasoline, but the price per gallon is much cheaper (about 3.50 USD equivalent here, compared to about 9 USD for 91 gasoline). Overall running costs are about 40% cheaper on propane.
The other advantage is a much farther total range on long trips of course

Power, sound, smell etc is all the same as a regular gasoline powered car. Gas conversions are very popular here in Europe, I can fill with propane at probably 80% of fuel stations.

The car itself seems to be real nice. Engine and gearbox are silky smooth. Cold oil pressure is 60psi, warm idle is 40. It needs some new tyres, new front brakes and an evap solenoid. The AC is also currently U/S (I suspect the lines to the rear AC unit, just like on my Yukon)....

The car is currently on British licence plates, my next job is to import it in to my country of residence (The Netherlands).... that will take some time and wont be very cheap

Mainly im very happy to be in a Black Burb - was always what I wanted.

Considering I live in a car hating country, my current driveway setup is quite unusual

Pretty cool setup.

I'm assuming you can still run it on petrol only if you want to?

I just worry about you being dependent on natural gas given what the supply situation is going to be for you this winter.

 

[Kapitein]

Pretty cool setup.

I'm assuming you can still run it on petrol only if you want to?

I just worry about you being dependent on natural gas given what the supply situation is going to be for you this winter.

Yes, if the propane is low, it runs on normal gas

 

[89Suburban]

Very unique, thanks for sharing, and good luck with her!

 

[Fubar0715]

That is pretty awesome! So, now you got a pair of LWB trucks - is the Mustang yours also?

 

[B-train]

That is really cool! You will have one of the cleanest 5.3L engines on this forum! LOL. Gaseous fuels burn incredibly clean and the cylinders, valves, etc usually wind up with little to no carbon buildup. Your oil will look new for MANY miles.

Did they turn off AFM when they did that I assume?

 

[Geotrash]

I picked up this fine example earlier in the week to (eventually) replace my 07 Denali XL. Ive spent 1000s repairing and upgrading my Yukon, so why this?

Ive always wanted a black burb
8 seats suit me better
Only 93k miles
All round better shape exterior and interior
...and its gasoline and liquid propane powered!

Ill attach some general pics below, but for those interested in the propane element:

Its a under-mounted spherical tank where the spare wheel would go, 92L capacity. Filling port is in the rear bumper just under the gas cap. Lines run to the engine bay where there is a stand alone ECU, a pump/condensor, and each bank has an extra fuel rail with piggy back injectors.

Theres a small/discrete control module in the cabin, just under the light control. This allows manual on/off control and to read the gas level.

The truck also has its regular gas tank (120L). The engine always starts on gasoline to ensure correct lubrication of the heads... depending on conditions it will automatically switch to propane after anything from 5-60seconds approx.

Fuel consumption is about 20% worse than gasoline, but the price per gallon is much cheaper (about 3.50 USD equivalent here, compared to about 9 USD for 91 gasoline). Overall running costs are about 40% cheaper on propane.
The other advantage is a much farther total range on long trips of course

Power, sound, smell etc is all the same as a regular gasoline powered car. Gas conversions are very popular here in Europe, I can fill with propane at probably 80% of fuel stations.

The car itself seems to be real nice. Engine and gearbox are silky smooth. Cold oil pressure is 60psi, warm idle is 40. It needs some new tyres, new front brakes and an evap solenoid. The AC is also currently U/S (I suspect the lines to the rear AC unit, just like on my Yukon)....

The car is currently on British licence plates, my next job is to import it in to my country of residence (The Netherlands).... that will take some time and wont be very cheap

Mainly im very happy to be in a Black Burb - was always what I wanted.

Considering I live in a car hating country, my current driveway setup is quite unusual

Pretty cool! Clean looking rig, too. You can haul a lot of Amsterdam bicycles in that.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Really nice trio. So your country hates cars? That doesn't sound fun.

 

[Kapitein]

That is pretty awesome! So, now you got a pair of LWB trucks - is the Mustang yours also?

Yes. 2016 6MT with a Roush P2 supercharger. 625WHP / 750 HP

 

[Kapitein]

That is really cool! You will have one of the cleanest 5.3L engines on this forum! LOL. Gaseous fuels burn incredibly clean and the cylinders, valves, etc usually wind up with little to no carbon buildup. Your oil will look new for MANY miles.

Did they turn off AFM when they did that I assume?

I have to be honest, I don't know! The DIC states that it goes in to v4 mode, but I don't feel any difference.

So I'm not 100% sure.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Very nice find!

 

[me51]

If a conversion like this was done by someone knowledgeable and by someone that has experience with US vehicles, then they run fine. Usually you keep the OE gasoline tank and a CNG/LPG tank is added somewhere, in your case they replaced the spare tire with it. Sometimes these conversions are a crapshoot when the conversion shop tells the owner things like "don't tow on CNG/LPG, have it run on gasoline for that" because you then know they just slapped some standard tune on it and called it a day. Adjusting the injection times and other parameters of the gas control module takes some time.

These cars also require something called FlashLube so the valve seats don't burn away, unless the cylinder heads were redone and equipped with different seats. A stock 5.3 is not gas-capable from what I know. The spark plugs are usually changed to a different heat number.

Here in Germany CNG/LPG gas stations are rare, I only know of one (1) in my area. That is probably the reason why "gas cars" never really caught on, even though the German brands offered them equipped like this from the factory. They said that since gas burns much cleaner than gasoline you can extend the oil change interval and so on.

Mine runs on good old dinosaur juice, I don't drive that much so it's ok.

 

[petethepug]

A huge vehicle like that in Netherland will mean lots of thumbs up and they’ll be saying, Like A Boss to you

If it’s the original paint, it’s known to be thin on the water based clear coat and base color. I can’t imagine how they kept it in such good nick unless it was just a Summer vehicle and garaged all winter. Congrats finding a LP vehicle that size!!