I went to have my truck inspected yesterday, and although it passed emissions, it failed the general safety inspection. I told them not to do anything and just tell me about it so I could save myself a few dollars, so when I got the keys back, they told me that the driver's mirror is cracked (I knew that), it needs new wiper blades (I definitely knew that), the turn signal switch won't autocorrect from a righthand turn (knew that too, but didn't know it was a safety issue), and the tailpipe is starting to get some holes in it. The mirror and the wiper blades are easy, but the other two I have some questions on.

Turn signal switches have always been my bad luck, the one that is currently in my truck is intact and works, however the little auto-correcter at the top of the switch seems to be made of a softer plastic; for a while it would just bend backwards (not break) and I could hear it snapping as I turned the wheel. I eventually opened it up and tried to bend it back, for a few days it worked but now it's going the other way so it's missing the spinning corrector pegs altogether. I have both the original switch that I took out, and the one that I put in originally to replace it that ended up having defective wiring. Is there a way that I could take apart the non-working one and try to use the plastic components in my current switch?

As for the tailpipe, a way less detailed question: Does that Tiger Patch stuff work? It seems to be some kind of heatproof tape that you just put over the holes and it seals them up... for $4, I guess it couldn't hurt to just try, but have any of you guys had positive results with it?

 

Caleb,

Go for it!! On the switch.. worst case you buy another one if you can't exchange it as is.
For the tailpipe... exhaust can be a bugger but I have never tried the tape stuff. I had like half the pipe gone when I first played with exhaust, so tape didn't quite work for me.

Good luck Bro

 

Sounds like you have a picky inspection station. If they are that picky, they will not pass any type of "patch" on the pipe. You will have to get a new pipe from the store, or get a shop to fix it.

They sell new cancel cams in the "Help" section in the store for the turnsignal switch.

 

Yeah, I work at a Ford dealership now, so I figured I would take it there because a) it's totally free, and b) they can inspect my truck while I work so I don't need to worry about transportation. When they told me the cracked mirror was a problem, I sort of realized what type of inspection place they were; my driver's side mirror has had a single crack in it since I bought my truck and it has passed every year. I guess I will try the muffler patch anyway, if they still want to fail it, I'll shell out a little money and take it somewhere else. At least I got an emissions sticker out of em!

As for the turn signal switch cam, I totally forgot they sold those separately, haha! If I can't cannibalize one from one of the other switches, I'll swing by a local place and pick one up. Thanks guys!