New vehicle safety inspection standard for Ontario

The inspection required for registering a vehicle in Ontario is going to get a whole lot stiffer as of July 1:

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/trucks/pdfs/passenger-light-duty-vehicle-inspection-standard.pdf

For the most part, I have no problem with it -- safe is good -- but there may be some things that could be problematic for us. For example, those who disabled the factory air adjustable suspension could get caught in requirements aimed at commercial vehicles.

A big problem is likely to be rust repair:

Quote :

Edges of the hole prepared for repair must not exceed 200 mm in length or extend within 50 mm of tunnel, rocker, seat - support structure or firewall / bulkhead (see Figure 1).

No “pop” rivets, arc welding or flame repair for high strength steel, TIG or MIG stitch welding is acceptable.

Other highlights that caught my eye: The SRS (air bags) system must be fully functional, but ABS does not. An attached trailer hitch must be inspected. There is now a road test that may be prejudicial against the "big car ride" as it has very subjective wording. And a sloppy gear indicator is also going to be an issue now.

Just another attempt to get old clunkers like ours off the road. Between these new safety standards and the emission Nazi's lots of older cars will be sent off to pasture. And its all in the name of safety and/or clean air...so who can complain???

I see a business oportunity here: Register your car here in the sunny state of Georgia and drive it up there. All I would need is the VIN...... and $40 a year per tag.

I don't know if it is still on the books, but there was a provision in the federal excise act prohibiting a Canadian citizen from driving a US registered motor vehicle.

Can't be... think about all those Arizona registered U Haul trucks here that have never been to AZ...

Appreciate the offer but:

1. Insurance companies will not underwrite vehicles registered out of Province
2. To be legal, all vehicles belonging to a Canadian must be registered in province within 6 days (at least here in Ontario)

Might work if you register a business in Georgia, buy the car in the business name and insure it in Georgia for use out of state by an employee (you). Don't know how often Georgia needs an Etest but it would give you a good excuse to go down and visit Robert.

Went through the manual briefly and there is nothing there that would preclude us keeping an old vehicle compliant, just more difficult. There is certainly work arounds and disagree about the ABS. My interpretation is "if it is on the car and is part of the operation, then it has to work". For instance, unless they run the VIN for RPO codes, removing everything associated with the air lifts, including the compressor and level controls, should be enough.

I'm sure after a couple of months, the pragmatic guys in the trade will work things out.

Bill

Quote :

Note:
Vehicle with a GVWR of 4,536 kg or less is not required to have a functioning ABS system. An active ABS tell - tale is not cause to fail these vehicles; however, ABS tell - tale must be recorded on inspection report

Just an FYI, there is no etest here. No inspection.

I think you can add "steering damper" to your list. I removed mine and noticed no difference, as apparently many others have done. I looked for a replacement but couldn't find one, although since then, I believe I've seen references to substitutions that will fit.

After looking through the document, it appears that the vehicle inspection will require about three days of labor and set you back about $1000!

The inspection program in Pennsylvania is very similar. But since it's not done by the State, rather by private mechanics, most of them are "reasonable". I still remember the requirement that all headlamps "must be of the sealed beam type". I haven't looked, but I assume that requirement was quietly dropped some years ago. I don't know about; no spinner hubcaps, and no body rust holes larger than a dime!

Sloppy shift selectors? GM standard equipment in the early '90s. Look at the linkage and you will see why.

The damper is still available. Moog SSD77, Monroe SC-2922, TRW 16217 all cross reference to the original 4993536. Nobody seems to list them for the Roadmaster, but they were used on the Fleetwood of the same era and fit just fine.

paart wrote:

Sloppy shift selectors? GM standard equipment in the early '90s. Look at the linkage and you will see why.

Uhh I guess. Use would play a part in that. My OCC with 110k miles, the shifter is tight and crisp. My 9C1 with 173k, well sometimes you have to hunt for reverse. I'm sure the linkage could use a refresh but it works well enough. It might be an inspection issue, if for example drive is reverse.

buickwagon wrote:

Quote :

Note:
Vehicle with a GVWR of 4,536 kg or less is not required to have a functioning ABS system. An active ABS tell - tale is not cause to fail these vehicles; however, ABS tell - tale must be recorded on inspection report

I stand corrected. Trying to get my Smartcar through the current regs and my local guy here told me the ABS has to work. Just had the replacement parts flown in from Britain.

Bill

My understanding under the current regs is that neither ABS nor SRS have to work on any vehicle, but if they were installed, they do have to tell you they don't work (eg: tell-tale must light). ABS and SRS were always considered optional (for the manufacturers), over and above the legislated safety systems under CMVSS.

The change is that SRS must work on all and ABS must work on GVWR > 4536kg.

buickwagon wrote:

The change is that SRS must work on all and ABS must work on GVWR > 4536kg.

Considering the Smartcar is only 822kg I guess I'm good.

Bill

when it comes to a safety certificate in ontario,.its always best to "know" someone,..

I,d be damned if i would fly parts in from anywhere to certify a car ,.......

Well...When you're 106,you've had time to meet a few people.

phantom 309 wrote:

when it comes to a safety certificate in ontario,.its always best to "know" someone,..

I,d be damned if i would fly parts in from anywhere to certify a car ,.......

Actually, the shipping on the parts from Britain turned out to be cheaper (5 pounds) than if I had it shipped from the Canadian source, and the part was cheaper. Only did that because the German engineers of the car decided to use the ABS sensors to determine VSS information. Bad reluctor rings not only throw ABS/ESC codes but a CEL as well.

Bill

convert2diesel wrote:

phantom 309 wrote:

when it comes to a safety certificate in ontario,.its always best to "know" someone,..

I,d be damned if i would fly parts in from anywhere to certify a car ,.......

 Only did that because the German engineers of the car ,.....decided to over engineer as usual,.
Bill

ACK tongue babay