trunk wiring / reverse light success!

[QSHIPQ at aol.com]

The first diagnostic (and the simplest) for the reverse wiring is to turn the
ignition on, jumper the two wires between the switch and stand behind the
car.  Skipping this procedure can cost a lot of time, money and headaches.
You found this out the hard way.  Bummer.

SJ


montesawang writes:

Thanks to 'Audisport' for telling me to go ahead and
change the reverse switch!

After reading Scott's post about fixing cars for 6
years and never replacing a reverse light switch, I
decided to tackle the wiring before trying to replace
the reverse light switch ($5 at tpc) which I seem
recall reading required dropping the transmission.

Cut out the entire reverse light wiring harness in
search of broken wires only to blow the fuse on the
parking light fuse. (3+ hours cutting and diagnosing).

Replacing the reverse light switch took all of 3
minutes to get the lights working again. Good thing I
have a nice long extension with a flexible head and a
22mm deep socket in my dad's tools (retired mechanic
who never let me help him fix cars)

New reverse light switch has a slightly longer trigger
mechanism and if you are having trouble with your
reverse lights too, then it's cheap and quick to
replace this first.

Now to pick up a bunch of those posi-lock connectors
to fix the wiring harness chop-job I did.