Avensis 1.8vvti Lpg Conversion, Anyone Had Any Experience

August 22, 2008

Hi All,

I have recently bought a 2005 Toyota Avensis 1.8VVTi with 13K on the clock. I had to get rid of my Rover 75 due to cylinder head failure and petrol pump/ filter problems :angry: .

Anyway I had the LPG system I had installed on the Rover taken off before I PX'd it. THe garage said it wasn't worth anything to them so I said fine I'm having it. (it cost me £1850 all in originally to get it installed and it will cost £800 in total to have it taken off and reinstalled, much quicker pay back this time I estimate 5-6 months).

I was wondering if anyone else has had their Avensis coverted and how that has gone. In my last car I had no reduction in mpg at all what with is being a SMI system (sequential Multi-point injection system), is there a noticeable reduction on the avensis? :help:

Obviously I will have the flash lube valve protection system put on but has anyon experienced any other problems?

I have a 70L toroidal tank which fitted well in the Rover spare tyre pit, has anyone had this in the Avensis, it looks big enough?

Also, I am getting 43mpg from this Avensis on a combined run to work and back, is this normal or believable :(

In my Rover comparedc to petrol prices it worked out like having a car that did 70mpg, this works out at about 7p a mile, looking the Avensis I have calculated 5p a mile compared to 13p with petrol. What is your experience?

WOuld appreciate any input.

James

August 23, 2008

Shouldnt cause a problem

But get it installed correctly

August 23, 2008

No real experience with LPG, apart from two 2004 avensis' being brought into our dealership fitted with LPG that had very bad running probs.

Turns out LPG system was faulty (one had totally burnt/damaged 2 valves) I noticed on TOTTS (toyota online tech site) that they recommend checking valve clearances every 20k miles (at extra cost) on LPG equipped cars.

Mart.

August 25, 2008

Hi All,
I have recently bought a 2005 Toyota Avensis 1.8VVTi with 13K on the clock. I had to get rid of my Rover 75 due to cylinder head failure and petrol pump/ filter problems .
Anyway I had the LPG system I had installed on the Rover taken off before I PX'd it. THe garage said it wasn't worth anything to them so I said fine I'm having it. (it cost me £1850 all in originally to get it installed and it will cost £800 in total to have it taken off and reinstalled, much quicker pay back this time I estimate 5-6 months).
I was wondering if anyone else has had their Avensis coverted and how that has gone. In my last car I had no reduction in mpg at all what with is being a SMI system (sequential Multi-point injection system), is there a noticeable reduction on the avensis?
Obviously I will have the flash lube valve protection system put on but has anyon experienced any other problems?
I have a 70L toroidal tank which fitted well in the Rover spare tyre pit, has anyone had this in the Avensis, it looks big enough?
Also, I am getting 43mpg from this Avensis on a combined run to work and back, is this normal or believable :(
In my Rover comparedc to petrol prices it worked out like having a car that did 70mpg, this works out at about 7p a mile, looking the Avensis I have calculated 5p a mile compared to 13p with petrol. What is your experience?
WOuld appreciate any input.
James

Hi James,

I am living in Germany and running a 2003 T25 AV II break with automatic gear box since March of this year. I bought this car used (43000 km) and installed a BRC Sequent24 system. I have used it for about 10000 km and I'am very satisfied. Before, I used 7,2 l/100 km, which is of course great. After, I had exactly the expected increase of about 20% or 9 l/100 km. This increase indicates the installation is well tuned, and not burnong too lean. My FL consumption is 1/1000. During the summer time. the switch to LPG is smooth and rapid. During cold mornings in March, it took about 1 km. I cannot feel a loss of power, and the engine runs very smoothly and silently. I am driving 22000 km/year, and gaining 4 Euro/100 km. In Germany, the cost per l LPG is at present 71 cent, and 154 cent for Petrol 95. I will be in the green after 3 years, when everything works out well, and plan to keep my car a total of 6 years. The system cost me 2600 Euro, insurance included.

The 1ZZ-FE engine is known for having an increased chance of valve recession when running on LPG. The use of FL is needed to slow this process down.

Important: It is recommended to have the valve clearence measured at the installation, and to monitor the clearance every 25000 km. The latter is written in my service booklet, and requested by BRC in order to benefit from the warranty. The cost of the intervention is around 60 Euro. This is the only sure way to know how the engine reacts under particular usage conditions. When after 2 controls, the clearance did not move, one can space them to 50000 km.

What you need to know, is that valve clearance adjustment is expensive (450 Euro), since it requests about 7 hours of labour. My technical English is to weak for me to explain in detail why, but I know this from german forums. In Germany, people drive much faster, and burnt valves are not uncommon on several car makes, in particluar Asiatics, Fords and certain Opels. I imagine that in the UK, the situation is more like in the Netherlands, where such problems are much less frequent. In case valve recession is making its way, one can have the clearance readjusted to + 0.1 the max tolerated distance: 0.45 instead of 0.35 mm. Toyota workshops know how to do that. But better is to buy a car with an engine that shows no valve recession problems.

I am willing to answer questions to youo and anybody else interested.

Best regards from Kehl, near Strasbourg (where I work).

Jan ;)

BTW, do you read french or german?

August 26, 2008

Dear All,

THanks for all your comments, I appreciate it. From you have all said it should be fine as long as I have the flash lube system put on again to protect the valves. I know someone who had a Warrior truck with LPG, blew his valves in 15K, turned out they did not install the flash lube system. He has had it put on and has had no problems since.

Thansk again all

James

August 26, 2008

Dear All,
THanks for all your comments, I appreciate it. From you have all said it should be fine as long as I have the flash lube system put on again to protect the valves. I know someone who had a Warrior truck with LPG, blew his valves in 15K, turned out they did not install the flash lube system. He has had it put on and has had no problems since.
Thansk again all
James

Hi James,

enjoy the LPG on your Avensis!

Best wishes

Jan

August 26, 2008

Just be aware, Toyota EXCLUDE any form of warranty on ENGINES when LPG has been installed, regardless of whether it has any form of lube system fitted

Kingo :thumbsup: