<VV> a satisfying day (very little Corvair)

[J R Read]

Your father should be very proud of his very bright son.
Later, JR


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ramon Rodriguez III" <corvairgrymm at gmail.com>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 9:00 PM
Subject: <VV> a satisfying day (very little Corvair)


> 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
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