84 C20 3/4 ton Emissions Equipment Question

[Atti2dz2]

Hi there. I'm new to the forum here, and I am grateful to those that make these sites possible, for all the members with their combined expertise, and for any help that I may find here.

My questions have to do with a truck I recently bought sight unseen. I had to drive about 4 hrs to pick it up, and since it was running fairly well I drove it the 4 hrs back home without incident. What I had failed to consider when agreeing to purchase this truck was that the seller lived in a different county than I, and one without any type of emission testing requirements. This was brought to my attention when I attempted to register the vehicle. It failed the emissions inspection because, as the tech explained to me, "You gotta bad gas cap, no smog pump, and it's burnin' too much fuel." So now what? I don't know where to begin. I don't even know what equipment they are expecting to see functioning down at the inspection station. Now, keep in mind that I'm comfortable turning wrenches and getting dirty, and given the right parts and decent instructions, I can fix just about anything. I just haven't been able to find this info about what is needed, and where it needs to go. Does anyone know where I can find what I'm looking for? Or am I throwing time and money away to even think about getting this thing through the registration process? I have considered taking the utility bed off to make a trailer out of it, so at least this fiasco wouldn't be a complete loss

The details as far as I know:
Former Location: Navajo County, Arizona
Current Location: Maricopa County, Arizona
Year: 1984
Model: C20 3/4 ton P/U, 2dr Cab
Motor: 350 (5.7L) V8, 4bbl
Trans: 3 Speed, Auto

Thanks for welcoming me here, and in advance for any suggestions you might have.

[74 C-10 Shorty]

Welcome to the site, if you know someone outside of Maricopa or Tucson  see if you can use their address to register it, otherwise you need to put all the smog junk back on, easy way would be to go to a Pick a Part and find a truck that has all the stuff, and pick up a shop manual for your truck it'll show all the parts and how it's installed..

[rich weyand]

Here's some sources for the shop manual.  Bishko has a reprint, and they have it on cd.
reprint: http://www.autobooksbishko.com/item.cgi?id=3052
on CD: http://www.autorepairmanuals.biz/site/573683/product/BISH-2917
original: http://www.faxonautoliterature.com/1984-Chevy-Truck-Repair-Shop-Manual-Original-Pickup-Blazer-Suburban-Van-FC-P14188.aspx

But these are probably the best and cheapest:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000E4W190/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

[bd]

This government site may help with your research: Arizona Department of Environmental Quality,

... as may this guide: Arizona Testing Manual for Air Pollutant Emissions,

... and this non-government, private site: DMV Org.

Oh, and... Welcome to the Forum from Central California!

[74 C-10 Shorty]

One option would be alternative fuels..

[Atti2dz2]

Thanks for the quick response everyone! I thought I had posted this reply this morning, but apparently that was merely a FB response, and doesn't show u here where it really matters. So, once again, thank you.

I would rather avoid trying to skirt the law on this one by registering out-of-county. I've done this in the past with another vehicle I once owned, but that was 20 years ago and I don't know how viable an alternative that is these days, not to mention that I don't need any legal troubles either. I might look into that option if I can't find another solution that doesn't empty my thin, little wallet too much.

I subscribed to the Alldata service to gain access to manuals, etc., yesterday. I haven't had much opportunity to see what information is available there, but I hope it is sufficient in the end. Even if the info is there, I'm not confident in that I will be able to tease the correct information out of the tangled web of multi-year, multi-model info offered. I was hopeful (I realize a bit unreasonably so) that someone would be able to tell me "You need to have this, that and the other installed on the vehicle, and you might also check this, or that, to help bring your emissions into compliance." When I get home tonight, I will attempt to look through the manuals, as well as the links posted here, and see if I can make sense out of it.

Alternative fuels had not even entered my mind until it was mentioned here. What is involved in converting a vehicle to one of these? Any idea about what it might cost, and what are the pros and cons of doing this to an older vehicle?

Thanks again for all the help!

[74 C-10 Shorty]

Well, I've never done it myself but when I lived in Mesa a friend of mine had a 68 Nova and he put a 540 and ran blown alky, all he did was fill out the forms for alternative fuels and took it to a station and they did thier thing and that was it, now that was about 8 years ago maybe things have changed by now I don't know. Maybe this site can be of help???...

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/laws/state_summary/AZ

[bd]

Atti2dz2, you can also download and research the 1984 Service Manual that we have in our Technical Pages.  The manual takes several minutes to download, so save it to your hard drive for future reference.  Begin with page 6E8-1 (1019) then review the Introduction on page 6E8-4 (1022) that outlines some of what emission systems are used on which engines.   

[Atti2dz2]

Thanks for all the info. What a great resource this has turned out to be.

After looking into alternative fuel conversions, that doesn't appear to be a viable option for me because of the costs of doing so. Apparently the work has to be done by a state certified tech, and they require a load of paperwork to back it up. Maybe some day.

I did find a partial solution, at least, in that I found a shop here in the valley that will diagnose my emissions system, tell me what is missing and what needs to be adjusted/replaced to the pass emissions testing requirements. They will also tell me what they will charge to do the work, and then I can do it myself, have someone else do it, or let them do it. If I choose to do it myself, they won't charge a dime for the diagnostics. So, at least it appears, that I have found exactly what I was looking for. I won't have a chance to take it over there until next week, and once I do I will let you know what I've discovered.

Thanks again, and I hope everyone has a nice, safe holiday!

[Jason S]

It sounds like you found a place to take care of what you were looking for; in the meantime, here is a quick rundown about converting to LPG (i.e., propane). 

http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php/topic,23550.msg196375.html#msg196375