Getting my Nikasil in a twist.

[warren t claim]

Can someone give me a definitive answer as to weather it's safe to LPG an early BMW V8 with the afore mentioned mentioned bores? I believe it is a bit of a disaster prone engine that was easily destroyed by supermarket fuel.

 

Should I talk a mate out of gassing his 540?????

 

Any answers will be passed on. Ta!

[Pete-M]

I don't see why LPG would damage the bores. It was the sulphur in mainly Shell fuel of the late 90's that used to wreck 'em.

[red5]

LPG doesn't damage the Nikasil lining itself - as prev mentioned any use of high sulphur fuels WILL have damaged the lining to some degree. Used to have a lot of problems with lined 2 stroke barrels back in the day - almost always down to fuel type. I guess that if the damage is already there use of LPG can make it more apparent - but that is based on hearsay tbh.

[Station]

Why did fuel/sulphur damage the engine?

I'd be well pissed off if that happened to my 40k BMW!

[ashmicro]

Sulphur-rich fuel is what dissolves the nickel-silicate coating on the cylinder liners. ISTR a big hoo-hah in the US some years ago due to Yank weak as water fuel OM NOM NOM liners.

[CreepingJesus]

+1 to the above. Nikasil's tough as you want, been used in racing engines for decades. High sulphur fuels cause the formation of sulphur dioxide during combustion (IIRC), which causes pitting in the Nikasil. Its' only real weakness (in common with most chromium-based hard coatings), is that it flakes off readily once damaged. Hence self-nomming US engines.

LPG is a hydrocarbon, so shouldn't cause that problem, at least not anymore so than ordinary petrol.