[Vwdiesel] OT Somewhat--diesel tractor

[Joe]

As a certified electronic technician, I can't tell you how many times I've
tried to explain to people that di-electric grease is NOT conductive.  I
gave up.  It was intended for spark plugs so the boots don't stick to the
plug.  Think it started with certain Chrysler products, but I could be
wrong.  Plug voltages are so high (thousands of volts) that's it's more of a
static electricity spark which doesn't really require a direct electrical
connection.  So yes, this grease "could" be your backup light problem, if
it's only one bulb.  But if it's both, then it's the contacts in the switch.
If you have the big multi-wire switch, you will discover the contacts inside
are VERY tiny and can barely handle the amperage of 2 bulbs.  Here's a good
link for that:

http://brokevw.com/reverseswitch.html

It's quite easy to re-wire the big molex connector to use the 5-pin switch
in place of the 4 pin.  The costs of the 4-pin replacements are insane!