Through New York state, Sunshine had been acting strange. Later, about 80 miles from Manhattan, she gave up. Stopped on the side of the interstate, and not starting. After a couple hours of diagnosis, I decided the problem was likely a faulty injector pump. Luckily, I have AAA with the RV package, alloting us a tow up to 100 miles. Little did we know that AAA would have us pay one tow company just to pull us 6 miles off the interstate, then not have a tow truck to have us towed any further, after saying one would be waiting on us. So, AAA told us that New York AAA doesn't have RV coverage and they nearly completely refused to tow us. Finally, after hours of phone calls back and forth, we solidified a tow truck for 14hrs down the road. So, now we had paid out of our pocket for a tow to no where to wait on a AAA tow truck that would be 14hrs down the road. After a nap, we got towed into Long Island for Sunshine to be parked while the Injector pump was ordered from Eddie at International Diesel in Long Island, they were very helpful.

 

Slideshow on changing the injection pump on GM 6.2L diesel

This process is about as difficult as it gets without opening up the motor for these diesels, but the job is not impossible. With just a few hand tools, it can be completed.

First, the intake and intake manifold must be taken off. This is pretty easy, just remove all of the obvious bolts and pull the intake manifold off with the gaskets. Next, all of the wires, and hoses that lead to the injection pump need to be taken off and marked, or noted as to where they go. Now, the high-pressure injector lines can come off from the injection pump (ip). Removing them from top to bottom was the best method, being certain to mark which one is for each cylinder, correct placement is crucial. Now, the ip is loose, aside from three bolts that are accessed by taking off the oil fill tube at the front of the engine. I gained access to the bolts by bumping the engine with the starter, and feeling for the bolt. Take three off and be sure not to drop any of them, or you will regret it. The ip should now slide out. I transfered a few parts from the original to the new injection pump. Then, when installing the new injection pump, be sure that the pin on the wheel goes in the same way the old one came out. Finally, my favorite step, installation is reverse of removal. One important final step is the timing. The whole ip body rotates to align marks stamped on the engine and the injection pump body. Now, button everything up, and it is almost ready to go. Just disconnect the glow plugs and where the lines connect to the injectors and turn the engine over until fuel comes out of the lines. Connect the glow plugs back and the injectors and it should be ready to go.

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Plenty of small things have gone wrong and been fixed and replaced along the way, but here is a running tally of the issues we've dealt with.

- Alternator #1 - Austin, TX (We realized the original alternator was inoperable)

- Battery set #1 - Austin, TX (The batteries were completely toast by the time we reached Austin)

- Glow plugs and re-wire - Somewhere in West Texas (The desert is brutal. First it was the first and to this point the only drive that has beat us. We could not make the drive in the night, we pulled over at a rest stop and got some rest. This meant driving through the desert in the day: lesson learned. When stopping along the route to re-fuel and get some refreshments, smoke was billowing from the passenger front wheel well. We first attributed it to the known sticking brake caliper. However a fire had started on the wire harness from a leaking injector spewing veggie on the wires. A quick stop to replace a couple glow plugs and re-wire some of the engine harness, and we were off again.)

- Starter - Carlsbad, NM (We couldn't figure why Sunshine cranked so slowly even with charged batteries. After inspecting the starter, smoke was billowing out during cranking. Elliot and Sergio biked to the neares O'Reily and got the 50lb starter just in time before close while Andrew and myself stayed behind to pull the old starter off in the alley behind a Shell station.)

- Alternator # 2 - Santa Fe, NM (We drove 7 hours through the night to Santa Fe with the headlights barely lighting the road, and nearly turning off each time the glow plugs turned on. So, we checked alternator and realized it was not working. After replacing it with a better quality part from Autozone, we should have stock in this company by now, we were back on the road.)

- Battery set # 2 - Santa Fe, NM (The batteries would not hold a charge and were replaced when the alternator was)

- Passenger Brake Caliper & Pads - Long Beach, CA (This caliper has been a thorn in our side and had finally gotten to the point that we had to change it. We replaced the caliper and pads, then bled the brake lines... It didn't help)

- Passenger Brake hose - Hollywood, CA (The brake still needed to be fixed, so we finally found a brake hose for the passenger side, replaced it, bled the brakes and finally... finally have fully working brakes. Even if they still dont stop very quickly)

- Throttle Cable - San Fransisco, CA (The throttle has gotten stuck several times along the way without be too big of an issue. However, the cable actually broke off while in a city without an autozone. So, the throttle cable was mended McGiver style and we were off on our way yet again.)

- Injector Pump - Long Island, NY. The injector pump went out about 70 miles from New York City. We towed Sunshine, and they ordered the pump for replacement.

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