Propane powered pickups

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Shadowrider

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I ran propane on an old F150 for years. Propane and NG don't hurt an engine that's new enough to run unleaded fuel, it's the older ones that don't have hardened valve seats that don't do well. Well there is one issue. If it's a carbureted engine it'll dry various seals out in various places if you don't switch it over and keep fuel in the bowl and run it on gas regularly.

Mine ran so clean I eventually ended up with 7 non-foulers in it. It was that worn out and I had quit changing oil altogether. No real need when you are adding 2 quarts a week. :D There's no way it would have went nearly that long on gas.
 

cowadle

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the old propane systems we used to run had heat exchangers mounted on the inside fender and plumbed into the heater hose to make the propane vapor faster. the newer throttle body propane systems were much nicer but i didn't ever have one of those.
 

swampratt

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Propane will dry a carburetor out and if ran long enough with no gasoline you can have a pitted carb that will never act right.
Pitted as in holes forming in the casting.
GM made a 400" SBC and a 402" BBC
The 402 was a .030" over bore 396" BBC
But of course we all we know this stuff.
 

SoonerP226

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I knew people with propane-powered trucks, but I don’t recall any of them converting them back. My dad converted his Ford 4000 tractor back to gasoline, but it wasn’t long after that when he converted it to diesel.

He also converted my grandpa’s Ford 861 back to gasoline; IIRC, the hardest part of that was plugging the hole in the carburetor where the propane jet had been. It had actually sat for at least a decade between the time my grandpa died and the time Dad un-converted it; I don’t remember it ever running on anything other than propane, so it must’ve been a good 30-40 years that it was set up to run on propane, and didn’t seem to have any issues related to that.

Of course, that’s not exactly apples to apples, as the 861’s updraft carburetor is a whole lot simpler than a truck’s.
 

Roy14

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Saw two farmers meet head-on in Kingfisher County one evening, both running propane. They had to replace asphalt.

There was also a Wichita PD officer that was killed when she was filling up. They think she lit a cigarette.
I’ve often considered picking up an old propane powered farm beater but that is the reason I never have. Diesel is just a whole lot more friendly to deal with.
 

PanhandleGlocker

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Propane will dry a carburetor out and if ran long enough with no gasoline you can have a pitted carb that will never act right.
Pitted as in holes forming in the casting.
GM made a 400" SBC and a 402" BBC
The 402 was a .030" over bore 396" BBC
But of course we all we know this stuff.

I was hoping you’d chime in.
I guess this would be a 402 I think. Although badge says 400. Still learning all this stuff.
 

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