Two years running on LPG

The Corolla got to the two year mark. 

No problems whatsoever related with valve seat recession, or of any other kind that could not be solved without fuss.

Over these two years, the 3ZZ-FE engine ran for 44595km (27710 miles) with a average consumption of 7.80l/100km (30.16mpg US 30.22mpg imperial) saving over 43 per cent on fuel expenses.

Squeaking 5th gear shifting

Shifting into 5th gear was starting to be painful in the ears, not because of the noise volume, but just simply because there shouldn't be a noise!

Turns out that the gearbox actuator (I believe this is the right name), was as dry and dust covered as a desert. It seems that everything needs some taking care of sometimes and this was no exception, after some cleaning and some cooper grease silence settled in again.

Still not working

One more try and still the LPG system doesn't automatically switch to petrol when running low on LPG. A new electric-valve was fitted and plugged to the system but at the test-run to the petrol station nothing happened, had to manually switch to petrol to avoid the engine hiccuping its way to destination.

Actually this is something that doesn't bother me much, everything else works perfectly, and I pretty much never let the LPG tank go dry, it is barely a annoyance.

The 167k service

Fresh oil (5W30), new oil filter, new cabin filter and a set of spark plugs (Denso, gapped at 1.0) were in the menu for the day, plus the chain tensioner o-ring replacement.

The last item on the to-do list revealed itself to be rather easy task, with only one single remark, after fitting the chain tensioner in place, the crankshaft must be turned (by hand) counter clockwise. This is done

to release a tiny hook on the tensioner allowing it to extend and apply the correct tension to the chain (i'll leave the YT video link here).

Serviced at 167643km (38199km on LPG).

Re-styling

In two weeks both bumpers, rear and front, got scrapped.
The rear one seems to be of easy fixing, some polish and it probably be as good as before, the one in the front... well, that one cracked the licence plate, which most certainly will have to be replaced prior to the annual vehicle inspection due in a couple of months.
At this pace, sometime in the summer, I'll get to work driving a Smart fortwo sized Toyota Corolla.

The chain tensioner o-ring

The engine started leaking a very small amount of oil, after some googling, I came to know that the responsible was the chain tensioner o-ring (it also seems that this is a common issue). 

Got to the dealer to buy a new one and get it replaced in the next service, even found a YouTube video featuring the chain tensioner o-ring replacement, so that shouldn't be to hard.

2013 year analysis

Almost 25000km driven this year, a annual distance record for the Corolla.

This year's costs.

Scheduled maintenance: 52,26€

Periodic compulsory inspection: 28,18€

Road Tax: 54,76€

Insurance: 160,84€

Spare parts: 45,91€

Tires and steering alignment: 32,62€

Fuel: 1533,73€ (which 138,95€ in petrol)

Total: 1908,30€ (0,08€/km)

This was the first full year running on lpg and, as a result, the fuel expenses dropped from 14 to 8cents/km... in other words, in petrol alone, the bill would've reached a total of 2526,19€!

One year after

One year after getting the Corolla to run on LPG almost half of the value spent in the system installation is recovered (if it can be said like this).

The Corolla covered 24859km averaging 7.94l/100km (22.4% more than the average shown in the board computer) saving 43.5% on fuel expenses.

For every 100km the fuel expenses (LPG and petrol) are 6.56€, the equivalent of a Diesel that averaged 4.5l/100km.

The engine hasn't died, the valves haven't melted and the tank didn't blow up... still running.

152k service

One more!

Again, oil (5W30), oil filter, air filter and, this time, lubrication of the left front brake calliper guides, they were clanking on rough pavement.

Gladly, this has been a rather dull daily driver... hope it keeps that way.

The odometer is at 152659km (24300km on LPG), next service in 15 thousand kilometres.

Saving 1/4 of the installation

After six months and 12755km after getting the Vialle LPi fitted, a quarter of the value paid  for the installation was achieved in fuel savings, still need more 37752km (estimated) to break-even, his should take approximately one and a half years at current pace.

In other words, the commuting expenses dropped 43.3 per cent... nice!

Engine performance wise, everything is pretty much the same as it was when running on petrol, there is no loss in power or pull in any rpm range.