Advice: Provincial Vehicle Inspection

[paullo]

Hi,

Need advice on the following:

1- Should we be going somewhere more Defender-friendly for the PVI? The Richmond Canadian Tire guy seemed like he was just trying to find stuff wrong with it so they could make a few extra bucks. To add to this, their inspection fee was 2x the cost of what we were initially quoted simply because it's RHD!

2- Is there somewhere that's going to be more cost-effective to get the work needed done than a shop that doesn't really know a thing about RHD Defenders?

3- We were told we need a new windscreen/windshield. Is there somewhere in BC that actually has AS1/AS2 certified glass that will fit but won't cost a fortune? Heated glass would also be nice, since I have to replace it anyways.

4- Various exterior light issues; Daytime Running Lights, High Level Rear Brake, turn signals, etc. I could well do these myself, as they don't seem to be overly complicated. Has anyone done DRL's themselves?

5- This one just doesn't make sense to me; we were told in the inspection report that the blower motor only worked on high speed and that it needs to be a dual-mode (low/high) in order to pass. I'm pretty sure that this is utter BS! How does the interior fan have ANYTHING to do with the overall safety of the vehicle.

I could go on, but I'll leave it at this for now. ANY help in any of the above is greatly appreciated. PM me with a phone number if you're happy to discuss over the phone.

Many thanks,
Paul

[Greg S]

Several user friendly Defender shops around including owners in the club. Check the banner ads at the top of this forum page. Banner changes every time you change pages. There are some there. We don't allow just any advertiser!

Glass. I just went to my friendly neighbourhood glass shop about a month ago. The bill for a new tinted windshield for a 1986 90 was $168 custom cut on-site and installed. They made sure it was the proper glass that came out of it and the proper, legal one, that went in. Of course it now has a stone bruise in it and is split from top to bottom but that has nothing to do with the shop or the glass.

DRL is a kit installation. Yes I believe you can do it yourself. High level rear brake light is easy enough to do yourself as well. Mine doesn't have one. Is it not required on an ex-military 90? What do you need to do for the turn signals? One thing mine had to have is reflectors; most brake and park lights have them built it, the military ones don't so separate reflectors were added. I seem to have ripped one off at the teeter-totter at Founders Day.

Your blower motor should already be dual speed. My low speed is so low it is barely noticeable. How are they testing it? You may have a wire off or faulty switch.

[ANDYD]

I just had a new heated windscreen fitted, (old one was cracked). Expect to pay big-bucks (around $1000) by the time you get one here and installed. Luckily I was covered by my insurance so just $200 was my part.
Another option is Don at RoverTech (North Van) has a bunch of clean, used Defender windscreens that he is selling for around $100-120 each.

He can also give you some good advice with you BC inspection.

Cheers, Andy

[skeena river rover]

Does not make sense to me! When i imported mine i did NOT go to crapy tire. They always find something to bitch about. I when to a local mechanic and no problems at all! Only some comments about seeing a defender for the first time of his life :D
When i got the sticker icbc was more difficult. They had problems with such a long VIN number. But everything when well. So my advice go to a mechanic that has a passion for cars!

[paullo]

Thanks for the quick responses gents!

Had a good chat with Rob (Van. Island) today and he has confirmed alot of what's been said - going to Canadian Tire was a mistake, that the fan motor is in fact dual-speed and shouldn't have any bearing on passing inspection, etc. Have placed a phone call to one of the sponsor's in North Van and will hopefully hear back tomorrow with some better news than what I got yesterday.

Once the Provincial Vehicle Inspection is behind me, I am going to be much much happier.

Cheers,
Paul

[HeadDamage]

There is a big difference between the out of province and the from the US inspections. When I last had one done Cantire kept trying to make me pass the US inspection which is not needed for a vehicle that is 15 years old or older. This might be part of the problem that you are running into.

[Dave_F]

When I bought a RHD 1191 Defender I had to get it provincially inspected.

I took it to Don at Rovertech and he did install daytime running lights, and a high brake light. Other than that it was fine.

A lot is dependent on the year of the vehicle. I don't think your model would need the 3rd brake light, but maybe the DLR...good idea to have them anyway.

Cheers,

[LandyAndy]

When I brought my '85 ex-mil D90 in all I had to swap out were the headlights for LHD NAS spec ones, stick orange & red reflectors on the front & back side corners & take my bonnet light pod off. Other than that it passed at Crappy Tire (2nd time) in S'Arm..... taking into account it's fitted with 3link front suspension, exo-roll cage, 4" lift... etc etc.... sounds like the guy was a tosser & had not got a clue what he was doing.

For an '86 I'm 99% certain you don't even need DRL's, they cane in about 98 I think... :roll:

BTW, when we did ours in '07 we had to use Crappy Tire as they had the contract with ICBC for out of country imports. They took photo's of the vehicle that were sent to ICBC with the file.