Hello All,
My back-up lights have decided to stop working. Bulbs appear to be fine. Where's the best place to begin looking for the problem? I've wiggled & giggled the gear shifter but no obvious short found there. Thanks in advance for the advice! ~ Joe

|QUOTE|fun71 said: Hello All,
My back-up lights have decided to stop working. Bulbs appear to be fine. Where's the best place to begin looking for the problem? I've wiggled & giggled the gear shifter but no obvious short found there. Thanks in advance for the advice! ~ Joe|/QUOTE|


Joe,

The switch for the back up lights is inside the console, on the passenger side of the gearshift. If you take out the passenger side seat, there is only 3 screws holding the side of the console on. You might be able to see if the wire is off, or check to see if you have power in there. i won't guarentee that you can get to everything by just taking off one side, but you might get lucky.


Evidently I made a mistake. My switch is inside the console. 71's must be different.

|UPDATED|8/20/2002 11:49:10 PM|/UPDATED|

Hi Joe,

The Switch for the backup lights is on the transmission.

If you have a four speed, the switch is activated by the reverse linkage bellcrank via a small link to the switch on the drivers side of the tranny. It is common for the small linkage to lose a keeper and dangle from the bell crank or switch. It is also possible the wire has broken, most commonly at the switch at the solder joint. The wire is actually a pair. Green and black as I remember. There is a connection in the engine compartment that may have come loose, follow it from the tranny up. Rarely the switch is bad. Usually it falls apart before it fails internally but a simple continuity check should verify that.

If you have an automatic, the switch is internal to the tranny. It is the only electrical lead on the tranny but I cannot remember which side. The lead is most commonly the bad item. It is a little harder to verify the switch as it is activated by hydrolic pressure. Best to have a helper and LONG leads to your test meter.

Both switches are "gound side" meaning the test should be for continuity not power.

Alex

Wow!

Now that's what I call an answer! I need to set aside some time to work on this but you can rest assured that I'll have a copy of that post by my side when I do!

~ Joe