just bought this wagon and brought it up to BC. the guys at Canadian Tire said it will not pass inspection because the center vents are not blowing air. what are they talking about? How do i fix this?

Man - your inspections are insanely detailed if they fail you for that! (By the way the center vents are not meant to blow hot air during heating season. Only cold air during cooling season.)

Most likely it is dead/failed vacuum pods which actuate the flapper valves to direct air in the HVAC system. Unfortunately no easy fix other than disassembling the dash, which is a tedious procedure, not for the faint of heart.

There is a small chance that the vacuum manifold behind the passenger airbag has had a vac line or two come off, this happened on my car, which affected flapper valve actuation. You can search for removing the air bag.

Rgds and good luck,
Chris W.
'95 E300D, 372K

__________________
Objects in closer are mirror than they appear.

If the temperature wheel was selected to max heat the centre vents will not blow any air, as chris said - they only work with cold air. Check the temperature adjuster wheel setting.

__________________
2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)