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Assistance request - 15 days and counting until re-inspection

crazedyak

crazedyak

That Guy
Joined
Apr 1, 2011
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The Durned South
1987 Chevy Blazer K5 Silverado with 154,000 miles.... All original parts (seriously original... I replaced the original ball joints, and drag link yesterday... Wild event to say the least. Thankfully there are some great threads on here that helped me along)

Went out to get VA Safety Inspection today (5/27) and unfortunately chose the "Inspection Nazi from hell". He nailed me on some wild stuff, and stuck the horrid "Rejected" sticker in my window. I'm pretty much screwed on driving it unless I'm driving it to the shop for re-inspection.

Some of the items he hit me on I can fix, and some I am goning to have to troubleshoot. Looking for any advice to help narrow my troubleshooting as I have only 15 days to get re-inspected, or I get to pay full price for re-inspect.

1) Rust holes near tailgate - I can fix this, but seriously there are 2 holes on left and right side each is about 4 inches long and 2 inches wide... Silly, but he failed me on it. Stated exhaust fumes could come into the cab, but when I showed him that I have a side exhaust he just shrugged.

2) Defrost not blowing hard enough - Not sure why, but all the air out of the vents is very minimal... Any ideas?

3) Windshield wipers do park - When I turn on the wipers they stay on after switching off, unless you turn and hold the intermittent switch on the column. They stop then, but they don't cycle to the the lower position. They stop exactly where ever you turn the switch at. He seemed like this was a huge deal... any ideas?

4) Reverse (aka back-up) lights inoperable - I bought 2 new bulbs today, and will put them in tonight to make sure it's not burned out bulbs.

5) Power door locks inoperable - This is not a Pass/Fail criteria, but he noted it. When you hit either driver or passenger lock/unlock button nothing happens at all. No sounds anywhere, no activity anywhere.... Any ideas? this is more of a creature comfort and not as important as the above 4.

6) Small Virginia Tech sticker on left lower winshield - I can scrape this off myself, but the "Inspector" was willing to scrape it for me at a $23 charge. That's right $23 to scrape a sticker off.

7) Lastly was headlight aiming... My headlights are not aligned in accordance with VA State requirements. He would happily align them for $8 each. $32 to align headlights... what a scam.

Thanks to all who look at this... and seriously if you can help I would GREATLY appreciate it.

Sloan
 
Find another inspector?

Seriously failed you for that crap. Must suck there. I am sorry but I have no helpful advice.

Defroster not blowing hard enough? Does your truck have AC, the AC fan is alot stronger, search on here I think you can change the motor to get a more powerful breeze coming out. Non AC trucks the fans are very weak.

Far as the windsheild wipers it might be your switch. Mine is broken. Won't ever turn the wipers off. If they operate just fine and park it is your switch.
 
All I can say is, I'm glad we don't have that crap here.

It's a money generation scam for the state. That's all it amounts to.

Number 1, Duct tape.

Number 2, make sure your vent doors open and close the way they are supposed to with vaccum supplied or the cables are right, whichever system you have. 1987 should be vaccum. After that, check voltage at the blower fan.

Number 3, never have looked into why some wipers do that. Got nothin'.

Number 4, You're headed in the right direction.
 
#6 and #7 are priceless. Cant believe some one would pay to have a sticker scraped off:haha:
 
I swear I am going to buy a damn Blazer just so I can go out and refresh my memory on some of these things.

Windshield wipers have a "park switch". When you turn the wiper switch to off, it turns off the main wire, and puts power to the low speed winding through the park switch.

Here is where I need to look at one. Its been so darn long since I worked on a GM.
You should be able to take a cover off the motor, and see a plastic cam in there with one notch in it.
The park switch contacts ride on that cam and the wiper keeps running until the switch hits that notch which kills power to the motor.

Check to see if the cam is turning and the switch contacts are not stuck.
If you are not sure what you are looking at, post a pic and it should jog my memory.

Defroster, fast check, put it on defrost, take the wire loose from the fan motor and hook 12 volts straight to it.
If it blows great, its a bad resistor pack or fan switch. If the motor runs hard but not much air, then its the vent doors. If the fan does not do much, bad fan motor or weak one. Might be a fan blade slipping on the shaft, but that is rare.

Backup lights? Auto or Manual? Hopefully the bulbs will fix it, but check all your grounds in the back while you are there.

Door locks? Buy a couple of monkeys and train them..........

Headlights, that one is tricky. Best way, if you cannot find a decent price shop with the machine, is find a car about the same height as your Blazer with a good sticker.

Park it on concrete about 10 to 15 feet from a wall or garage door.
Mark where the front of the front bumper is on the concrete.

Turn on the lights, and you will see the main hot spots on the wall.
Circle them with a pencil.

Park your Blazer with the bumper in the exact same position and adjust your lights to match the marks on the wall.

Most of the time that will get you close enough.....
 
I would fix the stuff you can and just go to another inspector. Sounds like he uses inspections as a way to bring in extra money for the shop. I'm sure everything he noted could have been fixed there for a substantial fee. A hole.....
 
K5 DOES have A/C, but the compressor is locked up

My tail light covers have torx screws, and I can't find my torx heads for my screwdriver... so off to Advanced Auto tomorrow morning. More to follow on the Back-Up Lights

The Blower is functional... I have pretty good airflow when I switch to A/C Max (not cold, more like outside air temp), Vent and Defrost at the Foot level, with decreased airflow at the dash level, and almost nothing at the defrost level.

I went ahead and changed the A/C Motor Blower Relay as I had one for some reason. The blower doesn't blow any harder or softer with the new relay. Here is what I found out tearing into the area below the passenger side dash...
1) I removed the glove box
5766742520_f999a53f21_b.jpg


2) I removed the 3 screws holding a vent piece in place
5766742520_f999a53f21_b.jpg


3) Noticed that the small plastic piece on the vent door was broken, and not holding the vent closed.
5766742528_9de915d3a2_b.jpg


4) If I reach my thumb up and push towards the front of the truck the vent closes.
5766742538_611d5fef66_b.jpg


5) The right side kick panel Air Vent NEVER moves open, it stays closed at all times...
5766742542_e9b9fe29ac_b.jpg


I'm stumped... Plenty of air movement at the foot level, but the higher you go in the dash the less air flow... Guess I might have a blockage.
 
wow

if you want that AC flapper piece, I think u can get them at ClassicParts.com

and really, I'd find another inspector
all that crap makes me cringe more than smog here in CA, but then again we don't have rust either. Your inspections are to the highest suck level.
 
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My wipers don't park. I figured they never did? I just shut them off at the bottom. This is something that can be fixed?
 
I think vehicle "inspections" are nothing but another scam states use to increase revenue and garages use to do the same--few vehicles with serious mechanical defects ever get taken off the road due to the inspection revealing them..if you know someone in the biz with an inspection station its not too diffucult to get them to "overlook" a lot of "defects"...yet others like you who dont,get raked over the coals..23 bucks to scrape off a sticker??--I'd have slapped that rapist!...

Your defroster might not be working right because the vacuum actuator on the drivers side of the lower heater outlet might have no vacuum getting to it,or the diaphram ruptured in it..my '85 Suburban has a bad one,I took the linkage off it so I can manually position the heat/defrost flapper,so I can keep the windsheild clear..

Most of the things you were "flunked" for are NON ISSUES!--I have never had anyone see if ny defroster "blew hard enough",and as long as my wiper blaeds MOVED when the switch was turned on ,and stopped when shut off,again,no problems!--(I have had a few shops replace my wiper blades without asking me first though,because they were "streaking"--one time I had just enough cash to pay for the inspection,and it caused a scene at the sales counter when I was presented with a 20 dollar charge for them installing 2 "winter wiper blades"-

-since the garage was a place I had gone too for years ,and they were willing to let a few things slide on my old plow truck,I paid the "ransom" by charging the blades on my visa card--but I dont go there ant more,since one guy I knew there died,things are a lot different,they screw as many customers as possible every chance they get now)...but as far as wiper switches,no place I ever got a sticker from cared if they had the original switch or a toggle home brewed one as long as they worked!..

The thing I get denied a sticker for most often is a non funtional E-brake--here its hard to keep one working,cables either rust and bust,or they seize up--my Ford Contour passed for its ladt sticker with flying colors EXCEPT for the E-brake cables (or real calipers) being seized up,but the guy told me he'd pass it anyway ,but dont come here next year with them still seized or I wont get another one...the E-brakes in my truck had rusted cables all frayed and ready to snap,so I clamped on some new cable with wire rope clamps and lubed the piss out of the pedal cable and rear wheel cables ,it did allow them to work good enough to get a sticker,but the pedal cable is so rotted on its casing I'll probably have to replace all the cables this year..

Few places here remove a wheel to inspect brake pads,but they all love to jack up a vehicle and point out ANY play in a ball joint or tie rod ,because that means failure and $$$$$ for them to be made...emission tests are a great source of revenue (and aggravation for the poor owner!) too..I know several places that will "fudge" a test so you'll either flunk or pass,depending on your relationship with the garage..they dont like you'they'll make sure you flunk ,and have to pay to get the vehicle to pass--while friends can drive a pile of scrap and get a sticker,often withoout it even being "inspected"..

Here you cant use tape to cover body rot,it must be covered with sheet metal,or at least Bondo,and no sharp edges or screw heads can be left exposed--sdome places are anal about this,others gave me stickers with fist sized rot holes and wheel wells all rotted thru and never even said a word!..I think many times when they emission tested most vehicles here ,and I came in with my old "exempted" truck,I often got a sticker despite there being a few things I thought would flunk me ,because the inspectors were so sick of every car taking up to an hour to test got them burnt out--when they saw me in my old truck that only had to pass "safety",I was in and OUt in 10 minutes with a new sticker!..:D

I dont drive vehicles with truly "dangerous" defects,I'm not that stupid...mostly I think the ONLY reason people GET inspection stickers,is so cops wont have another reason to pull them over--smell their breath,see if the car smells like a roach,or if they have warrants ,or were wearing seat belts etc...more revenue!!..
 
What about some bumper stickers for the rust holes? Would lookless sketchy than ductape and you could preten they were always there?
 
Well in an effort to be the good Samaritan I changed out the back-up lights, but with no luck.. They still do not works as required. Any ideas???


The small plastic part on the vent has been ordered from classic parts. The actuator will need to be ordered in the next 48 hrs, but waiting to make sure thr exact right part is ordered. there was some confusion as to what the right part # was.

Thanks all
 
on the steering column is the reverse light switch, down near the firewall. Make sure you have both wires connected. You can also adjust the switch's position with the screws on the side of it.
 
A new wiper motor will probably fix the wipers.
Check for power in and out of the switch for the reverse lights but usually its the connector behind the left side of the rear bumper that gets corroded at the terminals and needs to be bypassed.
All I would do for now for the blower is lock the vents in place so it blows fully to the defrost for inspection.
If duct tape doesn't fly fill the holes with expandable foam and shape with a razor after it dries then paint it.Used car guys call it rocker in a can.
I just aim the headlamps on a garage door as stated earlier.
I'm glad my state no longer has safety inspections and no smog testing 25 years and older.
 
The only helpful advice I can give is.......Move to another state.
 
For one, this is not a government scam. The VA State Police control the requirements but they don't get a penny for the sticker or repairs, the shop gets all of it. It actually cost the state to make the stickers to give to the inspection stations. Most of the things that you need repair/fixed is for safety for you and others on the roadway. I agree with most things they require. I think the duct tape/bumper sticker would keep the gases out. I would scrape the rejection sticker off and go somewhere else to have it inspected. I learned this the hard way once also. If I was you, I would call the local VSP Headquarters and request to speak with the Trooper thats works in the safety division and file a complaint on the inspection station for charging so much, Good Luck.
 
Here,once you flunk the inspection,your vehicle's VIN & plate # are in a computer file linked to the Registry--you cant just scrape off a rejection sticker and try going elsewhere,tight away when they enter your info into the computer,it'll red flag you and tell them you have already been rejected..you have one free re-test attempt,if you fail again,you have to pay the next time you attempt passing the inspection..also the computer will refuse to let your car be inspected if you owe excise taxes ,or have an expired or suspended license too--they wanted it to also list warrants and have the inspectors call police if someone with one out on them showed up for a sticker,but so many shop owners refused to be put in that position I guess they didn't impliment that part of the "tracking"..

The shops here get only a partion of the sticker charge,not even half of it if I remember correctly--so its in the states favor to have as many vehicles "fail" as they can--also gives the shop profits repaiting the "defects" too...so there is little hope of just going to get a sticker and coming home with one,without having them find something "wrong" with your vehicle....
 
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