71 Buick failed emissions. husband did tune-up with new parts, why do you need receipts?

Question

Husband has 71 buick skylark, it failed emissions test, he did tune-up himself with new parts, didnt know he needed receipts, they will not reinspect without receipts, they did not state that the first time it failed. Can they do that? What should we do?

In Nj We couldnt get historic licensed because it needs a garage and we could only drive it on limited mileage, jersey sucks!!! He has another car, this is his play car.

We were told we couldnt get historic license we have allstate insurance, they dont offer historic license!!!

On the paper we got after it failed it said not eligible for waiver since it failed idle emissions test.

Answer 1

where are you that a 71 is not exempt ?
76 and older are exempt in California

i would move !
i thought it was just california that was screwed up

Answer 2

Well first don't panic because I think your in good shape unless the engine's in poor condition. First, the emissions level your 1971 vehicle has to meet are much less stringent than the levels met by new cars. In fact, you might be able to register your car as an antique and have even more lenient treatment from the emissions testing. The typical gas that failed with your generation car was Carbon Monoxide (CO) due to incomplete fuel combustion. So if you've changed your spark plugs, plug wires, distributor cap and rotor as well as your air filter, your well on your way to passing the test. Make sure the engine is timed properly. Then try adding some "gauranteed to pass emissions" to your fuel tank from CRC Industries. Follow the directions on the bottle and get your engine real hot before you have it tested. They'll see the new tune-up parts on your engine. Next time you'll get a different service agent and chances are you'll pass the test one way or the other. If not, they'll just give you more time.

Answer 3

Did they tell you why it failed? Its a huge bother that each state is different. NJ must have different, more strict rules.
Without knowing all the details, I would suggest buying a carb rebuild kit, and some vaccum lines, and go ahead and rebuild the carbs and replace the lines. Than go back and test it again, with the recipts for the carb kit. Some of the culprits may be the carb needing a rebuild, leaking carb base gasket, vaccum leaks, EGR valve and EGR system dirty, and maybe the choke is out of adjustment too. Heck maybe the tune up cured the issue, but a carb rebuild won't hurt anything and is fairly easy to do, and at least he can go back with something in hand.

Answer 4

Any time a vehicle fails inspection, the inspectors want to see that whatever was wrong was fixed properly, in some states it's the same with Air Conditioner freon, before it can be filled they want to see receipts for "O" rings seals or anything that could have caused the leak in the first place.

Answer 5

Go buy a PCV valve (about 3 bucks) and use that as your repair.

But that won't help if you fail a secomd time, they need to know you spent a certain amoiunt of money on the repair (it varies from state to state) to get a waiver.

Most parts stores track sales by phone number these days (for warrantee purposes) I know Advance does....I'm sure the store can give you a duplicate receipt.

Answer 6

I agree with the guy that said put some "GTP (Guaranteed to pass) available at Autozone. I personally used this to pass a emissions test in Ohio with a 79 CJ-7. It works....

Answer 7

You shouldn't have to pass this car, it is made before the smog laws came into effect.

But take it to another shop, they don't need receipts, they can look and see that the parts are new.

Answer 8

Go to a different smog emissions place to have the car tested.

Answer 9

You need reciepts in case it does not pass they can give you a waiver for it and pass it.

Answer 10

VERY INTERESTING QUESTION!

Why isn't it exempt?
where do you live?