reverse lights don't work

[Kailua Carrera]

Hi all, My 85 Carrera reverse lights don't work, not sure when they stopped working.
I checked the fuse and the bulbs and they LOOK fine and my turn signals work fine so there has to be a "Da Kine" switch thats engaged when I put it in reverse thats not getting the message??!! Mahalo

[Flojo]

check the signal sender on trans

[KTL]

The switch is actually mounted on the nose cone of the transmission. It's activated by a pin inside the trans that physically pushes into the switch and closes the contacts.

So take a look under the car and see if the wires are still connected to the switch. These wires are often damaged by people mistakenly thinking they need to be removed in order to take the engine/transmission out of the car. Also people often can't figure out how these wires are removed from the switch and they just cut them. So yours could be cut and spliced and the splice(s) may be failing.

The wire connections are bullet style pins that just push into the switch body. If the wires are messed up, you can easily repair the connection with a soldering iron. The wires are simply soldered into the bullet pins and therefore all you have to do is pry the male pins out of the switch so you can heat them up with the iron to release the damaged wire and solder.

Reverse Light Switch Woes

[timmy2]

Before you crawl under the car. Pull the 14 pin connector off at the fuse panel and jumper male pins 5 & 6 together and turn on the ignition. (Numbers are on the connector housing)
If the reverse lights go on, the problem is in the engine harness or switch as mentioned. Or corroded terminals at the 14 pin connector.
If not, it is likely in the tail lamp area.

[ossiblue]

Originally Posted by KTL

The switch is actually mounted on the nose cone of the transmission. It's activated by a pin inside the trans that physically pushes into the switch and closes the contacts.

So take a look under the car and see if the wires are still connected to the switch. These wires are often damaged by people mistakenly thinking they need to be removed in order to take the engine/transmission out of the car. Also people often can't figure out how these wires are removed from the switch and they just cut them. So yours could be cut and spliced and the splice(s) may be failing.

The wire connections are bullet style pins that just push into the switch body. If the wires are messed up, you can easily repair the connection with a soldering iron. The wires are simply soldered into the bullet pins and therefore all you have to do is pry the male pins out of the switch so you can heat them up with the iron to release the damaged wire and solder.

Reverse Light Switch Woes

Good advice^^.

You can check the function of the circuit by removing the wires from the switch and joining the ends together--the lights should come on. If the do, then the switch or the pin in the transmission is bad. Don't discount the pin. It wears down and becomes too short to depress the switch enough to close the circuit. You can remove the switch and test it by manually depressing it and see if it closes the circuit. If all is good, the pin has likely worn too far. I don't know the exact length, but someone probably does.

[KTL]

Very good tip about connecting the wires. I totally didn't even think of that!

Good point about the pin wearing down. That link covers a lot of the discussion about the length of the pin

Reverse Light Switch Woes

[Kailua Carrera]

Many Mahalo to all your advise, the problem was the connector under the car, it was barley hanging there so a little soldering did the trick! again thank you guys.

Mike

[lespaul]

Just want to thank those who started and contributed to this thread. VT would not pass my '78SC for inspection because of no back up lights. Checked the bulbs and circuit -- all good. Then, read this thread and took out the back up switch -- also good. But, I had no pin! I have had the car for about 5 years and never had reverse lights. Who would have removed it and why is a mystery. Anyway, cut a drill bit to 52 mm and tapered the end that engages the switch a bit and after some experimentation and reduction of length to 51.7 mm, I am good to go. Thanks again!

This is an easy fix --- especially with a lift.