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Using CNG in the Transit Connect


padman63
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Hello,

I am looking for info on the CNG option on the TC. When this option is installed are you committed to using CNG ONLY? Or are you able to switch between the two fuel types? Anyone who has any info and opinion of the CNG on the TC please share it with me! Thank you!!

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Hello, if you convert your TC to use CNG or LPG, an in dash switch is installed to use either fuel. Iv'e gotten a conversion estimate in Ontario Canada. It is around $ 4000 + Taxes. No government incentives? hope I answered your question.

Hi, You mention an in dash switch installed. Is that to switch between CNG and PROPANE, or can you still use regular gasoline? Also the conversion cost you mention. I am thinking to order a new one with the CNG kit. That is $315, is the $4000 you speak of an aftermarket install cost or am I looking at additional after purchasing he new kit with a new order? Thanks for the info!!!!

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  • 2 months later...

Hi, You mention an in dash switch installed. Is that to switch between CNG and PROPANE, or can you still use regular gasoline? Also the conversion cost you mention. I am thinking to order a new one with the CNG kit. That is $315, is the $4000 you speak of an aftermarket install cost or am I looking at additional after purchasing he new kit with a new order? Thanks for the info!!!!

The $315.00 pays for only the hardened Valves and Valve Seats. LPG/CNG does not have the lubricating ability of Gasoline and would cause excessive wear to normal valves. The $4000.00 would cover the Fuel Tank and Valving, plus, the Injection System and Labor. Our Transit will come with this option also so we can switch later on if the price of gas gets too high. One more week till it gets here.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I took a flight from Detroit to Phoenix to pick up a Transit Connect one of the only CNG prepped vehicles available in the country. There is a specific option Transit Connect XLT Premium with the CNG 90G prep. It has harden valve seats and valves. There is a temperature difference and flash point for CNG vs Gas. If you run CNG without the 90G prep you will void your warranty. The CNG tank mounts behind the rear seat and is filled under the hood. The actual CNG is not installed at the factory nor dealer but an after market company. There is also a different computer that is installed which is part of the prep package.

When I got to Sanderson Ford, Arizona from Detroit with check in hand all they had was a white Taxi Transit. Ford will not put a cruise control in the commercial Transit Connect. The wiring was not there to install a cruise control and a new steering column lacked the wiring hookup to the vehicle. They would not paint it red as promoted. I know Bate and Switch. Once they got you there your stuck until you buy. I didn't I took a flight to N. Carolina to pick up one of only 3 red XLT Premium Passenger vans with full windows in the country. There were none with the 90G prep except in Arizona and California. California will not sell a vehicle to be registered in Michigan.

Arizona has CNG to the public at about 12 locations around the city. Detroit only has one that you have to be a member to get through the gas company gates.

Needless to say I can't run CNG on mine without voiding the warranty. The purpose of vehicle purchase was for CNG and wheelchair access as I live in Phoenix in the winter and Detroit in the summer. GM stopped production of the Astro/Safari and the Transit Connect is the only production passenger van without modification that a person in a wheelchair can sit. It will not hold my Braun Lift as it weight is over 500 lbs or 1/3 of the vehicle weight capacity. I had to go to a Roll-A-Ramp system.

Make sure CNG is available in your area. Check School systems, municipal bus systems, municipal road yards, fleet servicing stations. Most times you will have to join some sort of cooperative. Driving across the country you will not find open access and have to join several type cooperatives to gain access. Phoenix to Detroit is 9 tanks of gas not even 20 MPG. Some points it can't even get out of it's own way through the mountains empty. You would have to join 9 different services to obtain CNG while traveling across country. I would wait until they bring the diesel to the US at 54 MPG to worry about CNG. They are going to start production in one of the Detroit plants this next year instead of shipping from Turkey.

Edited by W8PIE
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It is now Christmas day and we are still waiting for Ford to dig our TCXLT from the lot in Maryland. Ours will come prepped for CNG/LNG so if we want to swap out from gasoline later we can. In the northeast, CNG is only available on a limited basis. Here you find LPG. Many here heat and/or cook with it. What I have to find out is if the dealers are allowed leagally to fill a motor vehicle. Fuel taxes must be paid one way or another. When I had a diesel car, I paid it annually. This was in Mass. where, at that time, no tax was collected at the pump. Electric cars now pay that way. Here in N.H., I do not know how it is done. Mileage is what it is based on. Our plans now are to move to Ketchikan, AK where gasoline prices are about $0.80 per gallon higher than on the mainland. The Diesel option has to take into account that Diesel cost more per gallon than Prem. Gasoline. What you gain in MPG, you loose on the higher price. Where you live and how you drive will let you decide which way to go. We ordered the option so we will be able to make that choice.

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  • 2 months later...

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