A Minor Irritation

When we were leaving Louisville, Kentucky in mid-August, the "Check Engine" warning light came on. I immediately pulled to the side of the highway and the light went off and did not come back on for the rest of the trip. I utilize an engine monitoring system called VMSpc that I run on the laptop and connect to the engine diagnostic port under the dashboard by the steering column. The "diagnostics" feature said that I had a 164-2 error which meant "Injection Control Pressure - Invalid Data". Later, I I talked to Caterpillar Customer Service and they recommended that I have a Caterpillar service tech look at it.

When we got to West Memphis, Arkansas, I had Riggs Caterpillar Service take a look. The tech said that he thought it was a "Huie Pump" going bad. He said that they did not stock the part, could order it but, I could probably wait until my next service appointment which will be in October in Texas.

So, upon leaving Hot Springs, Arkansas last week, the same scenario happened with the "Check Engine" light. I pulled over and the warning light went off and did not come on again. When we arrived in Monroe, I went to Cooper Truck Center. They said they did not have the pump and could not get one anytime soon. So, I called Caterpillar Customer Service again and they said that I really needed to get an "official" diagnosis so that the part could be back-ordered on a priority basis. They were concerned that we could be stranded on a highway somewhere and need to be towed and then have to wait for the pump.

So, we set the alarm for 7:00am this morning, packed-up the coach and trucked on over to Cooper Truck Center so that they can do an in depth analysis. MA & I took Gypsy in the Jeep, got a haircut, ran some errands and visited with MA's sister, Francis Louisew. After several hours of running diagnostics, they came to the conclusion that the problem was the Injector SENSOR, not the pump. This was good news since the sensor will not cause a breakdown problem, only a "reporting" issue. The bad news was that they could not figure out how to get into the top of the engine from inside the coach bedroom to replace the sensor.

So, I am left with a sensor problem that has not been resolved. It has happened only two times BUT, it is something that bothers, no, IRRITATES me.

This is a downside to living in a motorhome full-time. You have to vacate your home whenever it needs mechanical work.