Fuel distribution, combustion, and flame propagation characteristics of heavy duty engine with the liquid phase LPG injection(LPLI) were studied in a single cylinder engine. Optically accessible single cylinder engine and laser diagnostics system were built for quantifying fuel concentration by acetone PLIF(planar laser induced fluorescence) measurements. In case of Otto cycle engine with large bore size, the engine knock and thermal stress of exhaust manifold are so critical that lean burn operation is needed to reduce the problems. It is generally known that fuel stratification is one of the key technologies to extend the lean misfire limit. The formation of rich mixture in the spark plug vicinity was achieved by open valve injection. With higher swirl strength(Rs=3.4) and open valve injection, the cloud of fuel followed the flow direction and the radial air/fuel mixing was limited by strong swirl flow. It was expected that axial stratification was maintained with open-valve injection if the radial component of the swirling motion was stronger than the axial components. The axial fuel stratification and concentration were sensitive to fuel injection timing in case of Rs=3.4 while those were relatively independent of the injection timing in case of Rs2.3. Thus, strong swirl flow could promote desirable axial fuel stratification and, in result, may make flame propagation stable in the early stage of combustion.