Bongo Fury

Hi All,

Hopefully I will soon be taking the leap into the world of bongos!

Apologies if not in the right section or I am repeating a topic!

I am due to view a bongo this weekend which is a V6 that has been converted to lpg.

I have quizzed the owner on whether or not
It has flashlube fitted and he no clue as to what i was talking about.

I then rang the people who imported the vehicle and they have said that all lpg converted cars that go through them with have the system.

So essentially he is letting the system run out or it's not working / being used at all.

So my question is - do I run away as fast as possible or if the engine seems to be in good working order regards valve seats (e.g not smokey etc) then is it worth a go? It is listed for 3 grand and has done 170k miles (110k of which on lpg). It will likely do a few thousnad a year with me tops.

Spending loads not really an option so I am certainly not expecting perfection from whatever I get.

Could anyone also shed some light around whether the valves/ valve seats are soft and therefore damaged by lpg or are in fact hard and can handle it as I have heard conflicting things.

Thanks in advance.

Hi

Sorry I can't help with your your question, but welcome to BF.

When I was researching prior to having an lpg conversion installed I decided there was no real consensus on the benefit of having flashlube and the installer was also a little ambivalent too. I decided that for relatively little it seemed sensible to err on the side of caution.
If your potential van has done 110k miles without lube your extra few annual miles seems unlikely to tip it over the edge - you'd be very unlucky anyway. That the engine has done that mileage without lube rather suggests it isn't needed in a bongo. As a precaution, you could have flashlube installed now to prevent further deterioration should there be any possibility.

I have had 2 V6s converted to LPG, no flash lube , did my research and they are hard valve seats so no need.....