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No Reverse Lights


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So I'm trying to get my 88 4.0 2wd shortbed to pass NYS inspection.  After replacing four brake lines, three brake hoses and two brake cables, plus two new tires and refreshing the ground to the horn, I have come to the point where I'm trying to get my reverse lights to work.  No voltage at the lamp socket, no voltage at the fuse box.  The fuse is good, and I see a bit of voltage happening when I turn on the turn signals.  I know about the switch on the transmission, but I was hoping that the lack of voltage at the fuse box might point to something else.  Is there a switch in the steering column? 

 

Anyway, I'll probably be under the truck looking at the switch for a bit.  Pain in the balls.

 

Incidentally, does everyone's speedometer run backwards when in reverse?  I just noticed that. 

 

 

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Balls... I broke it pulling it out.  $218 on RockAuto... still looking on amazon.  That was surely the problem, though.  The brass bits were really gummed up, and there are grooves in some of them... so it should be replaced anyway...

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Well, 200 bucks later... still no reverse lights.  I knew there wasn't one at the junkyard, I was there last week.  Anyone have a pinout for the neutral safety switch?  Also, this thing is supposed to be adjustable, but I can't move it around very much.  It seems to be close to the correct adjustment, but the truck won't start in neutral.  It never would with the old switch either... Only starts in park.

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Well, 200 bucks later... still no reverse lights.  I knew there wasn't one at the junkyard, I was there last week.  Anyone have a pinout for the neutral safety switch?  Also, this thing is supposed to be adjustable, but I can't move it around very much.  It seems to be close to the correct adjustment, but the truck won't start in neutral.  It never would with the old switch either... Only starts in park.

 

NSS Pinout at the bottom of this link.   http://gojeep.willyshotrod.com/HowtoNSSrebuild.htm

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Well, 200 bucks later... still no reverse lights.  I knew there wasn't one at the junkyard, I was there last week.  Anyone have a pinout for the neutral safety switch?  Also, this thing is supposed to be adjustable, but I can't move it around very much.  It seems to be close to the correct adjustment, but the truck won't start in neutral.  It never would with the old switch either... Only starts in park.

 

My '88 XJ won't start in neutral either.  Not sure why...  I figured I'll leave it be until it prevents me from starting up at all.

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So I checked my new switch using the pinout from Hornbrod's link.  Turns out that it's correct for park and reverse, and there is no continuity between any pins for any of the other gears.  Maybe it's out of adjustment, but I can't really adjust it at all.  So that explains why it won't start in neutral... sadly, it doesn't explain why my reverse lights don't work.  I followed the wires back to the C101 connector, so I'm cleaning that out now.  It was on my list anyway.

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Cleaning the C101 didn't fix the reverse lights either.  Although i suppose I could clean that thing more... but this should have gotten me somthing.  What the hell were they thinking with that connector?  It's packed full of crap.  Maybe if I have some time later I'll soak that sucker in mineral spirits to get it really clean.

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No, i've never seen them come on in any gear.  I should check that again though, as I only looked at one bulb, and it wasn't on the side I can see from the drivers seat.... I'm pretty sure they're just not getting power.

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 Are you absolutely sure that the 7.5 amp TRANS fuse under the dash is good?  Look for a bent pin in the NSS connector also?

Does the Power/Comfort button work? (it's on the same TRANS fuse under the dash).

That's a good tip.  I'll check that out when I get the truck back tomorrow.  Thanks.

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Thanks very much!  It was the Trans fuse.  How silly of me to think that the fuse that's specifically for the backup lights would be the only one to effect the backup lights.  Ahh, good times.  Anyway, off to adjust my parking brake and try to squeeze an inspection out of someone before Monday. 

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Thanks very much!  It was the Trans fuse.  How silly of me to think that the fuse that's specifically for the backup lights would be the only one to effect the backup lights.  Ahh, good times.  Anyway, off to adjust my parking brake and try to squeeze an inspection out of someone before Monday. 

The first time I saw that posted years ago, I immediately went out to the garage and pulled the Trans fuse to see if it could be true. LOL.

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When I had no back-up lights, I looked at that fuse on my 90 XJ...and said "nah, couldn't be that...that's for the TRANSmission".  I must have looked at it 3 or 4 times before I took a really good look at it with a flashlight and it had a tiny line acroos the top of it...blown...Doh!!

 

Interesting to think that every time I've gone "Doh" or "@%" I've always learned something I could pass on later.  Good to hear you got it fixed.

 

Side note:  Since the Power/Comfort switch is on the same circuit as the TRANS fuse, I can tell if the rear lights are out by noticing that the switch is not working either...or vice versa...Just sayin'

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 Are you absolutely sure that the 7.5 amp TRANS fuse under the dash is good?  Look for a bent pin in the NSS connector also?

Does the Power/Comfort button work? (it's on the same TRANS fuse under the dash).

 

In case someone with a 91 (or possibly 92) has a similar backup light problem, this only applies to a Renix systems. There is no under dash Trans fuse for the HOs. The POWER/COMFORT switch is fed by an independent 10A fuse up in the PDC. Pulling this fuse defaults the AW4 to the POWER mode.

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I have a 1987 jeep comanche 2.5 with a four speed, there is no trans fuse and I am having trouble finding a wiring diagram to start looking. Should there be a trans fuse I assumed it was an automatic thing, The online chilton manual is not helping very much! Any help appreciated!

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