Well it had to happen sooner or later, something expensive broke.
In this case it was the diesel injector pump. It didn’t break exactly, more like it started leaking, spraying diesel out as we drove. Definitely the girlfriend’s fault.
Initially I thought that if I ignored the problem it would fix itself, but unfortunately like a relationship going downhill, it just got worse.
I tried to fix it myself but could barely even see where exactly the leak was coming from, so I took it to a mechanic.
One of the funniest moments of the trip – the mechanic accidentally set the diesel on fire 😀 unfortunately I don’t have a video, but imagine an old guy flapping around and blowing hard at a small fire.. it cheered me right up! Luckily he managed to put it out after a few seconds with no damage done.
Long story short I had to drive to the nearest big town (spraying diesel along the way) and leave the truck at a mechanics for a week. They had to send the injector pump off to Auckland to a specialist to rebuild it, which was pretty expensive… more than half the cost of the truck!
On the plus side we stayed at a motel next door to KFC.
Service & fix the leak + $3,367
Total: $13,139