# Reverse light..The saga continues



## Bugalou (Mar 31, 2004)

Ok..as the story goes my reverse lights don't work and I can't get the car on the road because I need an inspection sticker and they won't pass it if my &^%$% reverse lights don't work and the bulbs are both good...I got the reverse switch today from the only place in this hick county that was able to get one short of going to the dealer and getting robbed, it was made in Japan so its a good switch : )...The installation went very smooth and the old ones 2 brass looking pimples(the contact points) looked almost worn away so after I stuck the new one on,I was expecting the reverse lights to shine their white brillance when I put the POS into reverse...know what I got?..nothing &%$%# *&%$%%^ *&^%$$#...after controlling the urge to throw gas on the POS and setting it ablaze, I calmly packed all my tools away and gave up...After thinking for a while I was wondering what actually is inside the 5 speed tranny that pushes this switch closed to activate the reverse lights, maybe the thingee thats supposed to do it fell off(NOOOOOOO..please NOOOOOOOOOO) because if it did and I have to drop the tranny just to fix a stinkin reverse light switch I will burn the POS to the ground..I checked the wiring diagram and the wiring for the reverse lights looks very staight forward, the switch closes connecting the battery power to the reverse light wires and the wiring from the switch has a direct path to the reverse lights and then from the reverse lights the wiring goes to ground with no other switches,resistors,diodes..etc..in between..I'll check the wiring out tomorrow afternoon with the volt meter but tomorrow night you may see a glow in the night sky...

Bug


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## 1989SentraOK (Jan 29, 2004)

Nissans can be a bitch sometimes but it's totally worth it.


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## minute rice sentra (Mar 21, 2003)

see for sure if you're getting 12v to the switch, and double check your grounds, also make sure the sockets aren't corroded.


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## BennittoMallito (May 20, 2002)

I've got a switch rigged to manually apply reverse lights. I don't really use it except at night. Sometimes I forget to turn it off.  

The car came like that. I dunno if that will help you pass, but I can have a look and see what's going on if you think it will help. I got a DVM, and my housemate actually knows how to use it so...


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## B11sleeper (Oct 15, 2003)

i have a manual switch too, because something odd happened with the reverse lights wiring one day. 

try jumping the wires together and seeing if the lights work at all. the talilight housings are a bit fussy sometimes about bulbs making contact reliably.

worst thing about those transmissin switches is when they become places for the tranny to leak oil.


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## 50dollasentra (Jan 11, 2004)

B11sleeper said:


> i have a manual switch too, because something odd happened with the reverse lights wiring one day.
> 
> try jumping the wires together and seeing if the lights work at all. the talilight housings are a bit fussy sometimes about bulbs making contact reliably.
> 
> worst thing about those transmissin switches is when they become places for the tranny to leak oil.


^ EXACTLY!!! the transmission switch must be gone. Like b11sleeper is saying they become places to leak tranny oil like mine did. But in your case it is not leeking. Its an easy replacement! not bein mean but HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YUR STUPID ASS?!


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## minute rice sentra (Mar 21, 2003)

whoa, you don't have to get mean.


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## Bugalou (Mar 31, 2004)

I replaced the reverse switch(I said that already)...today I fooled around with it some more, the wiring is extremely confusing in this &%$%# car and the wiring diagram in the Chiltons is totally useless...I pulled up driver side floor sill to get access to the wire going back to the reverse lights and I cut the wire there...I put a volt meter on it(the wire going to the engine bay) with the other lead of the meter going to a known good ground, I turn the ignition on and headlights on then I put it into reverse...I get NOTHING, I should see 12 volts but I get a big fat O...I might have to figure some way of putting some kind of switch on the shifter to engage the battery to the reverse lights when I put it in reverse...Did you say you have to hit a switch in your car to turn the reverse lights on??...Hmm..I think I would be thrown out of the inspection station if I told the peckerhead to turn the switch on when he puts the car in reverse to turn the back up lights on..

Dave


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## B11sleeper (Oct 15, 2003)

if the switch were good, then it completes the circuit with ground being on the other side of the light bulb. Which is why I was saying to jump the 2 wires that normally hook to the reverse switch, the ones in the wiring harness bundle together, this should make the reverse lights be on all the time. 

If you don't get lights, then i would check and see if you get 12v from either of the wires in the wiring harness to ground, this would tell you that there is power getting to the switch.

If you get power there, put the car in reverse, with the engine off and check with the continuity checker to see if the switch closes when the car is in reverse.

if you pass those 2 points then you have a problem in the wire going to the back of the car or it's ground, so then you go to the trunk with the switch bypassed permanently on and check the bulb socket and see if you get 12v between there and a good ground, if you get 12v there then try it to the metal shell of the bulb housing and see if you get voltage there. If you get 12v from the chassis and not the bulb housing then there is a bad wire or a bad ground there. 

If you haven't found 12v anywhere in the trunk, then check continuity between the center conductor of the bulb housing (+) and the chassis, if you have continuity there then you have a short in the wire that activates the lights somewhere.

you checked for blown fuses too ??


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## Bugalou (Mar 31, 2004)

The problem is that there are 4 wires coming out of the reverse switch, if it was only 2 wires it wouldn't be so bad to figure out..The 4 wires come out of the reverse switch then they plug into a 4 wire module and those 4 wires ,which of course are 4 totally different colors , go into a taped up wiring harness going to god knows where...To make things even more interesting the wire that I found under the door jam(which is the same color combo thats on the reverse light bulbs} is a totally different color than those eight wires in the engine bay...I'm going to run a jumper direct from the battery to the wire I cut under the door jam and see if the reverse lights go on..I tested the 4 wires that come from the engine bay(which plug into the 4 wires coming off the switch) and one has 12 volts, one is a ground,one has 1 volt ,and the other I don't see a thing..I think the 12 volts is supplied to one of those wires coming off the switch and ground to the other and when the switch closes it sends the 12 volts and ground through the other two wires..to complete the circuit ,..I'm going to plug the wires back together(put car in reverse) and test the one I saw one volt on and the one I saw nothing on and see if 12 volts come up so at least I know I have power up to that point..confusing ain't it??


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## 50dollasentra (Jan 11, 2004)

Maybe you should try the switch on that there transmission! Just by curiousity....this is if you can find the transmission switch i have been cussin about...does the switch screwed in the transmission have like a plug? If so UNPLUG IT AND TEST IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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