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no reverse lights, bulbs or something else?

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 12:47 am
by joatmon
Last night I noticed both my reverse lights were out. I'd swear I had reverse lights a day or two ago, but can't say if it was one or two bulbs worth of light, but I do know now there are no reverse lights.I see from raginfish's excellent Exterior Replacement Bulb Guide thread that the backup lights are:Part number = 7440but it strikes me as odd that both went out, apparently but not necessarily at the same time.I'll check it out this weekend, not really asking for troubleshooting advice, but weigh in with your opinion and I'll see who gets it right when I get it fixed, is it the bulbs, or is it something else?

Re: no reverse lights, bulbs or something else? (joatmon)

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 1:28 am
by ColonelPanic
You sound like you're on the right track to me.. I would have a look at the bulbs, if they are good check voltages. IIRC, I saw a connector on the harness that goes to the backup lights right after the wiring goes outside the body as it heads toward the bumper. From there, a shorter harness goes to the bulb socket. So if i was seeing things correctly, I think the wiring is split at that point, so that would add another possible point of failure.And since you've had a few transmissions, I would investigate the switch on the tranny, perhaps that has some issues or the wiring worked its way loose...Good luck.

Re: no reverse lights, bulbs or something else? (ColonelPanic)

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 1:30 am
by joatmon
Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »You sound like you're on the right track to me.. I would have a look at the bulbs, if they are good check voltages. IIRC, I saw a connector on the harness that goes to the backup lights right after the wiring goes outside the body as it heads toward the bumper. From there, a shorter harness goes to the bulb socket. So if i was seeing things correctly, I think the wiring is split at that point, so that would add another possible point of failure.And since you've had a few transmissions, I would investigate the switch on the tranny, perhaps that has some issues or the wiring worked its way loose...Good luck. so is your choice A) Bulbs or B)something else ?

Re: no reverse lights, bulbs or something else? (joatmon)

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 1:37 am
by ColonelPanic
I say it could be either or both. Start with the bulbs then work your way toward the rest.If it is just the bulbs, who knows - maybe your bulbs died at the same time... My fogs did, so it's quite possible.

Re: no reverse lights, bulbs or something else? (ColonelPanic)

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 1:59 am
by joatmon
Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »I say it could be either or both. Hey Kari, do you see this? This guy is afraid to make a commitment.

Re: no reverse lights, bulbs or something else? (joatmon)

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 2:15 am
by scherry2
C.) the fuse

Re: no reverse lights, bulbs or something else? (joatmon)

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 2:27 am
by ColonelPanic
Quote, originally posted by joatmon »Hey Kari, do you see this? This guy is afraid to make a commitment. ha! No, the issue is that I don't want to settle on one specific thing because we haven't done enough troubleshooting thus far for me to comfortably say it is caused by one individual problem. Ok, I guess I will commit to something since I suppose I have to: D: The backup lights quit working due to the effects of strong electromagnetic radiation which eminates from the tracking device that the government so conveniently placed into your body while you were not looking. Once you go away from the car and let someone else who has not received their implant yet shift the thing into reverse, the lights will work fine.

Re: no reverse lights, bulbs or something else? (joatmon)

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 3:48 am
by Kari
Quote, originally posted by joatmon »Hey Kari, do you see this? This guy is afraid to make a commitment. He's already made a committment to me... I guess your backup lights will just have to be lonely...LOLIt does seem odd that both went out at the same time so I'd vote "something else" but then again we don't know if maybe one was already out. It still seems strange for a backup light to go out at all though, unless you drive in reverse a lot, it doesn't get nearly as much use as say the fogs or something.

Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 5:46 am
by zionzr2
i vote fuse!!

Re: no reverse lights, bulbs or something else? (joatmon)

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 8:03 pm
by joatmon
Well, this one falls into the black hole of (removed). Definitely absolutely confirmed no reverse lights one day, a few days later go to fix the roblem and absolutely confirmed both reverse lights working fine. That's good because now there is nothing to fix, that's bad because now the problem is hiding making it a lot harder to find. and by "absolutely confirmed", I mean absolutely, the problem was not a loose nut behind the wheel.

Re: no reverse lights, bulbs or something else? (joatmon)

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:25 pm
by Baltovibe
With that symptom, it might be the backup-light switch. I had a car that had the exact same problem ... sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. In my case, all it needed was an adjustment on the positioning of the switch.

Re: no reverse lights, bulbs or something else? (Baltovibe)

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:13 am
by scherry2
Quote, originally posted by Baltovibe »With that symptom, it might be the backup-light switch. I had a car that had the exact same problem ... sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. In my case, all it needed was an adjustment on the positioning of the switch.thats what i was going to say if the fuse was good. we use to get switches out of adjustment on the trucks a few years back at work alot