Wed 19 June 93,273.1 mi filled up a few days before, ie. some city driving. 93,416.4 mi: +??? gal 15.92mpg Filled at a petrolane (Tuolumne Cty?). Tank hot but it filled OK. Camped off-road in Independance CA (Inyo National Forest). Thurs 20 93,630.5 mi: +17.6 gal??? 12 mpg???! Turned down once in Independence CA "not licenced for motor vehicles". Obviously a fuck up. Filled up at an independent distributor in Lone Pine. Surly ass. (Note: the only un-friendly person I've run into so far also...) At 17 gals I should have believed my gauge and lack of mist out the vent. Came through Death Valley. (395, 136, 190, 374) to Beatty NV Rt 395. No one in NV would sell me propane "we're not licensed for motor vehicles". Short on fuel because of the asshole/crook. Heading S. to Las Vegas. Run out of fuel, fill from can. Camp off-road (157 in Toiyabe National Forest). Fri 21 Didn't record milage, fuel, etc Filled at a Petrolane in North Vegas. Friendly help, cheap fuel -- $0.59 not incl. the usual taxes. Headed N. on 15. Topped off a number of times: +3 gal (where?) +2.5 gal in St. George UT. +6.5 gal in Long Valley Jct UT (14/89). Bryce Cyn looked like a mall, was plugged up with the Winnebago Battlestars. Went to Kodachrone State Park (rt. 12 to Cannonville, S.) 25 mi. which was practically empty. No helicopter rides, 1 hr. photo services, etc. Unfortunately plagued with clouds of tiny merciless bugs crawling in every orfice. Planned on staying two days because of fuel unavailability on weekends. Sun 23 94,250.8 +9.6gal (Bryce Cyn) 17.25mpg Decide to move to Red Cyn National Park (backtrack 12). Discovered -- most places sell LPG Sundays (had never even looked.) Bought 9.6 gal at Bryce. Changed plans, headed south/eastward ASAP. Topped off along the way: +1.5gal. 94,400.0 +9.6gal (Marble Cyn AZ) 13.44mpg? 104F in the shade. Tank hot as bath water. Kid atgasstation did't know how to operate equip. I did it. Would not take fuel. Luckily he was friendly, let me hose it down, tried again 20 minutes later, took 9.6 gal. Terrible mileage. Some other factor is operating. Top-off level? I filled but did not "pack". I don't trust this mpg calc. Driving was all up/down multi-thousand foot altitudes also. +0.5??? +0.9 (both in Gray Mtn AZ) Again, gas station attendents didn't know how to oeperate. Less friendly this time. Woman was reluctant. Tanks hot, not hosed down. First time, the meter-resetter hung; fuel pumped but didn't register! (Hence unknown reading.) Turned pump off, on, etc. While woman left (?!) Just as I un-hung meter, starting filling, another woman came out and gave standard spiel: "we're not licensed for motor vehicles" so stopped at 0.9gal. Headed to Sunset Crater National Park AZ for the night. Mon 24 mileage unknown +9.4gal Flagstaff AZ "packed it" Filled up at Ferrellgas distributor. Cold tanks (70F at 8AM), filled quickly. Operator packed the tanks; when mist showed, he closed the vent, filled until the pump stalled. Hence mpg not calc'ed since it was "overfilled". Wall map showed Ferrellgas distributors (about a dozen in AZ); Holbrook, Show Low and Springerville. NOTE: nearly every small town had a propane dealer on the outskirts of town. Many independent, some with limited hours. Anything "RV" related had LPG. Show Low had three including Ferrellgas. +8.7gal Springervill AZ 30.6 gal since Sun 94,250.8 in Bryce; 455.9mi; 14.89mpg. The packed-tank in Flagstaff may have lowered the mpg number somewhat. (Entry into NM) Camped in Datil NM (BLM free campground, genuinely friendly and interesting camp host, Mark). *Great* campground -- "primitive" ie. water and shitters only. Tues Heading to Socorro, stumbled upon VLA. Welcome to NM. 840.4 +2.0 Ferrellgas, Magdelena NM +5.0 Sorocco Gas, Magdelena Tank filled excessively slow at Ferrellgas, and operator was afraid to let it run slowly. After hosing it down, it still filled slowly (though tolerably) but the operator was afraid, and the boss wouldn't be there for an hour. I left. One mile up was Socorro Gas. Operator let it fill slowly. +12.5gal Silver City NM 1018.7 14.26 mpg When it filled slowly, he put it on his delivery truck, which groaned a bit but filled at a reasonable rate. Mileage has been shitty and erratic. I decide to swap back to the old seat-of-the-pants method, which means low revs and lower vacuum. (I was driving by the instrumentation; revs between 2000 - 3000, vaccuum as high as possible.) Wed There is another Silver City fillup on Wed as I head out of Gila/NM to El Paso. Should be a receipt for it. Fri 27? June 95282.6 mi +5.1gal 16.39mpg An actual LPG fill station (photos). Tanks filled slowly but acceptably. 411.5 +1.2gal +6.5gal Cortez Gas, Alamagordo NM 16.74mpg Sam story. Tanks hot, filled slowly (but acceptably) but operator freaks out. I go round back and hose it down. Fills normally another 6.5gal. Mileage is high and stable -- new trend? Sat 29 June +14.2gal American Propane, Albuquerque NM 95651.7mi 16.9mpg Lots o propane in Albuquerque. Friendly shop, open Sat and Sun. High mileage even includes "packing" the tank about 0.5 - 1gal. Headed to Erika & Scots. Wed 3 July 95748.4mi +1.7 +3.4 Ferrellgas, Santa Fe NM Same story, except the operator turned on the pump before connecting the hose and opening the valve, and so caused a vapor lock. Disconnecting and restarting solved it. They had Kendal 'D' (Kendal III) 15W40 oil. They told me it was very low sulphur, and something about acids forming with std. oils that eats bearings, some LPG side effect. Worth checking out. Thurs 4 july? 96031.3 +.5 KOA Bloomfield +.5 KOA Tanks *cold*, even after further cooling with water still would not fill. Went to Arrow Gas Co. Same problem. It would take .1 gal at a time, tanks cold. From the way it would fill (take .1 gal, you could hear it seep into the tank) we determined that the tank valve was stuck. He patiently put in 1 gallon to get me to Randall's Repair in Farmington. Randall's is an LPG-only shop. He claims to have designed a plate-like LPG adapter to fit inder GM fuel-injection units. It was 1/2 inch high, consisting of two plates; lower milled-out plate carried LPG to the two intake manifold ports; top plate covered the milling and held the bellcrank-operated fuel valve. Up on the lift, he replaced the tank valve in about 20 minutes. He said the slow-fill problem was because of the dual check valves (other up at the filler assembly) so I bought a replacement filler-only Acme. Back on the ground, I could not fill the car from the gas can. The top check valve was stuck! Out in the parking lot, I replaced the filler check valve with the plain connector. Instant success -- it filled faster than it ever did. Now I'm not sure which valve was the problem. I tend to think the top one, but the .1 gal per fill evidence speaks otherwise. +000 Tank drained of course. +4.5 from gas can +9.9 gal, gas station in Farmington. Filled extremely quickly. Too fast -- splash liquid out vapor valve. 96056.1 +3.0 Arrow Gas, Bloomfield Because of the fuckups above, it's probably not possible to calc mileage. Too bad, because I think it was one of the highest mileage runs yet; 282.9 miles on one tank full ... In Gallo Campground, Chaco Cyn. Under the cliff overhang are hundreds of small swallows, living in mud nests attached to the overhang, and flying acrobatics in the late-afternoon air currents. Two older french-speaking tourists ask the Nat'l Park Ranger about the birds under the cliffs: "Excuse me, what are those birds flying under the cliffs?" "They're called cliff swallows. This is a good place for them. There are lots of them around here." Does anyone else find this as terrifying as I do? Mon 8 July 96204.1 +5.1 Arrow, Bloomfield Filled up after Chaco Cyn. 96262.0 +7.0 Hardware store, Bayfield CO tank packed. 17.01mpg (calced back to 96056.1) 96393.3 +6.6 Sagauche CO 96486.5 +2.3 Fairplay CO dead pump, really. Would not pump anything. Attendent was afraid it was going to "blow up". NOTE: describe why tanks will not "blow up". ie. need for oxygen. scenario: hot wire in tank would boil, possible over-pressure, but not flame/blow up. etc. Arrive in Boulder CO Wed 10 July 96610.4 +10.0 Empire Gas, Boulder CO Filled full on "cold" tanks. Employee told me about CO smog laws. LP dealers no longer can covert cars to LP? :: no one carries LP parts? 17.6mpg 96749.0 +8.0 Pueblo CO Empire Gas 11 Thurs 96906.0 +10.7 packed, early AM cold tanks. Filled from a truck, which have a higher pump pressure than stationary delivery systems (told this by a number of LP dealers.) Presumably because they always fill hot tanks left out in the sun ie. houses. LOCATION? S. of Raton/NRA Whittingtom Center. Check receipts and map. Should be "obvious". 15.80mpg. Low because I think the tanks packed fuller than usual due to low temp and hi pump pressure. NOTE: before fixing the fucking valve, tanks would stop filling at about 16 gallons (?), with the dash guage at 3/4 full max. Now it always shows "F"! 97005.4 +8.5 Las Vegas NM Petrolane Packed again. Guage shows "F". 11.69mpg. Inexplicable except for tank packing. Guage is "F"-er than ever. A number of LP dealers all in a row. Should have visited one of the smaller ones. (I have noticed a tendency towards the larger ones (Petrolane, et al) to be the first you come across, ie. choice location.) 12 Friday 96239.2 +6.8 Jemez Pueblo NM Awful pump ... the worst setup I've seen yet. Screaming, groaning pump, would barely start or deliver fuel. Leaking pipes and valves. Friendly though. 96329.5 +8.0 Espanola NM Ferrellgas Packed full. 21.89mpg?! Hmm ... tank packing? Funny -- (21.89 + 11.69) / 2 == 16.79 mpg ... almost certainly tank-fill-level related. Car running fine the whole time. Sat 13 July Taos is overrun. What a terrible mess. The KOA on the outskirts of town is now RV hell, $12/night, solidly in the commercial ring around town. Stumbled upon the Orilla Verde Recreation Area. No helicopter rides, dirt road, no RVs. 4 mi. S. of Taos center on W. side. Went to Erika & Scots for the weekend. Mon 15 July Heading home! 97488.7 +8.0 Ferrelgas Santa Fe NM Tank not filled; stopped filling when mist seen in vent in spite of the story. (Rule of thumb: urban dealers far, far more cautious (I think too cautious) than rural ones... dumbness not related.) 97690.3 +11.9 Durango CO gas station 16.94mpg Tues 16 July 97847.0 +6.0 Moab UT Outrageous price. Only bought 6 gals. Dealers moved out of town cuz of natural gas installed. (There was a Ferrellgas on the N. edge of town.) 97896.9 +4.4 Green River UT, Petrolane Packed. Slow pump (it stalled twice) hot tank. 19.86mpg?! Fill-level I'm sure. 98094.7 +8.1 Chevron, Salt Lake City UT Tanks very hot, I calced it should have taken 12 gals. Attendent stopped filling at first sign of mist. Annoying. 98191.1 +8.9 Wendover UT Petrolane Packed. Filled from a truck, tanks were hot and it filled slow. (Nearly 5p and I'm sure they wanted to go home.) 17.30mpg calced back to 97896.9 98298.4 +5.5 Elko NV Mini-truck stop, open til 8p. 98421.2 +8.0 Winnemucca NV Filled by cute inexperienced kid. Not packed but full. Wed 17 July Final day. 98579.0 +10.0 Sparks NV Petrolane Full but not packed. 98795.7 Home. -------------------------------- -- LPG is low carbon per unit volume -- c3h8! -- Tuneup -- did not vary one bit the entire trip. Lower power at high altitudes. (Does mixture vary with altitude like a venturi carb?) Need to check plugs, points, etc. No oil used. One oil change at 95749. Was still clean yellow with no odor. Check Kendal "D" oil, cooler and filter from REAL GOODS -- Describe: energy to move a particular vehicle constant, independent of engine size. ie. good 6 vs. v8 same MPG all other things being equal.