<VV> a satisfying day (very little Corvair)

[Ramon Rodriguez III]

Today my father brought home his new vehicle, a 2004 GMC Envoy XUV in XLT
trim.

He bought the truck for several thousand dollars under "book" value despite
it being absolutely immaculate and well maintained.  The whole ride home I
never heard the slightest squeak or rattle, it's incredible.

The reason Dad chose this vehicle is to provide a tow vehicle for when I
need to tow newly purchased Corvairs and parts Corvairs home (corvair
content!), he is an amazing guy and does far more for me than I could ever
ask.

So we got the car for a few thousand under NADA book value because the
tailgate was completely non-functional and could not be opened at all.  This
is a fancy electronic unit that opens downward as a tailgate, or swings as a
door depending on what switch you hit.  The dealer (I know the guy) told us
right up front that he has spend the past month trying to get the thing
working so he could sell the truck.  He took the truck to a dealer and they
quoted him well over a thousand bucks to fix it.  He told me he also took
the truck to two different mechanics and both failed to get it working.
There was TONS of evidence of attempted repairs when I took it apart.

So today we got the truck home and I immediately climbed in the back and
took the tailgate apart.  I found some info on the internet that allowed me
to manually release two of the latches so the door could swing open.  I
figured the obvious place to start was the switches.  I pulled the plugs out
of them and was very grateful to find they had only two wires.  I checked
both switches for continuity, both pressed and un-pressed I got nothing.  A
good start, neither one of the two switches was functional..... how did
several people take this thing apart and not test the darned switches?

It'd take far too long to type all the challenges I faced and how I solved
them, but in the end I found there were several problems.  Both switches
were bad, I ordered replacements for $22 each, the bottom left latch was not
working at all.  I disassembled and rebuilt it which fixed it.  Lastly in
the process of trying to make the thing work somebody had bent the bottom
right hinge and the torsion spring underneath, I straightened them.

So now within 6 hours of getting it home I fixed the problem that knocked
thousands off the price for a grand total of $51.00!!  That is a good
feeling =)


-- 
Ray "Grymm" Rodriguez
Lake Ariel, PA