Fuel injector assembly and method of use

A fuel injector assembly for use in installing a fuel injector in a cylinder of a combustion engine, the cylinder having an opening which receives a fuel injector, a bottom wall opposite the opening having a fuel injector bore formed therein for receiving a nozzle of the fuel injector, a cylinder sidewall connecting the opening and the bottom wall, and a fuel inlet passage formed in the cylinder sidewall, the fuel injector assembly comprising:

• an injector sleeve comprising:
• an injector sleeve body having an opening defined by an upper rim, the upper rim connected with a lower end of the injector sleeve body by an injector sleeve sidewall;
• an injector sleeve nozzle aperture defined by the lower end of the injector sleeve body;
• and
• an injector sleeve fuel inlet defined by the injector sleeve sidewall;
• and
• a fuel injector comprising:
• an injector body including a nozzle for supplying fuel to a combustion chamber of the engine and a valve assembly for controlling a flow of fuel through the injector body to the nozzle;
• an electronic solenoid for controlling the valve assembly;
• and
• a lower body which receives the injector body and the nozzle, the lower body including at least one injector fuel inlet for supplying fuel to the nozzle through the injector body;
• wherein, when the injector sleeve and fuel injector are installed in the cylinder, (a) the injector sleeve fuel inlet is at least partially aligned with the at least one injector fuel inlet and the fuel inlet passage in the cylinder sidewall to supply fuel from the fuel inlet passage to the injector body, and (b) the lower end of the injector sleeve abuts the cylinder bottom wall with the injector sleeve nozzle aperture at least partially aligned with the fuel injector bore such that the nozzle passes through the injector sleeve to the fuel injector bore for supplying fuel to the engine combustion chamber.

A method of repairing an engine in which fuel is leaking from a fuel injector cylinder into an adjacent coolant fluid passage, a fuel injector and an injector sleeve within the cylinder, the cylinder having an opening which receives the fuel injector, a bottom wall opposite the opening having a fuel injector bore formed therein for receiving a nozzle of the fuel injector, a cylinder sidewall connecting the opening and the bottom wall, and a fuel inlet passage formed in the cylinder sidewall, the method comprising:

• removing the fuel injector and the injector sleeve from the cylinder;
• installing a replacement injector sleeve in the cylinder, the replacement injector sleeve comprising:
• a sleeve body having an opening defined by an upper rim, the upper rim connected with a lower end of the sleeve body by a sleeve sidewall, the lower end of the sleeve body defining a nozzle aperture and the sleeve sidewall defining a sleeve fuel inlet, the installing step including aligning the sleeve fuel inlet with the fuel inlet passage formed in the cylinder sidewall;
• and
• re-installing the fuel injector in the replacement injector sleeve installed in the cylinder;
• wherein the replacement injector sleeve inhibits fuel supplied through the fuel inlet passage from leaking into the adjacent coolant fluid passage.