I fitted my palio 1.2 car 2002 model with cng in aug 2006. At the time of fitting my odometer was at around 51, 000 kms, now in mar 2010 it reads at around 86, 000 kms. I could like to share my experience of the last 31/2 years & running on cng for around 35, 000 kms with others:
my average with petrol was 10 on a/c & 12 w/o ac in delhi traffic.
my running cost on cng is around rs. 1.30 to 1.35 per km. However, he had taken my precious & quality time in waiting in q at cng station every alternate day - a minimum of 15 minutes to 1/2 hour.
the cng kit didn’t had lambada. The pick up was very bad. On ac moving the car from standstill was a task, I had to many times switch off the ac. After some time I inquired and was told to install advancer. After that the pickup problem got solved to a grat extent. The car was ok on ac also.
everytime I went to the workshop for services invariably I needed to visit cng workshop for tuning and other minor works like pins of contact getting misplaced etc, as the service garage used to disturb the setting of gas kit.
in the last service at 86, 000 kms(i.e. After running on cng for 35000 kms) the car has developed a unique problem. It is running fine on cng but giving problem on petrol. The problem is that it does’t start properly on petrol and when starts the engine dies off if the accelerator is moved down quickly. However, a very slow movement of accelerator is fine. Due to this problem I am not able to start the car on petrol and then put it on cng as I normally does after running it for 1 to 2 kms on petrol. I am starting the car on cng on emergency mode.
the workshop(authorized for fiat-tata) has done the following checks but not able to find the problem;
changed fuel pump in the tank with new pump - checked twice, changed ecu - checked twice, also checked ecu with the tester - found ok, checked all injectors - found ok, changed common rail with a new one - problem persisted, changed throttle intake with a new one - problem persisted, checked timing - found ok, checked blockage in the manifold - found no blockage, checked fuel filter - ok.
after doing the above tests they say that perhaps the problem is with the valves. According to them as the car has run on cng for 35, 000 km may the valves have started malfunctioning. Let me see this also - however, this is a massive job removing the entire engine. I have already spent 3 days undergoing all this tests.
I don’t no whether all cng cars face this problem after so much of running.
as of now I am running my Honda city smt 1.5 and palio is standing motionless because I don’t want to risk it on Delhi street with problem in running on petrol besides the car is also heating up very fast.
however in morning office rush I miss my palio as it is old and easy in the Delhi mad office rush. Driving in Honda has added 10 to 15 minutes to my office journey as I am careful with it - doesn’t want any scratch.
however, no more conversion on cng after my experience of 3-1/2 years - not worth taking pains with my daily driving of 45 kms - better to take a diesel car.
any suggestion on palio problem would be welcome.