back up lights don't always work

98 xj

It seems that the back up lights will work only after car has been running a while...which leads me to believe that the "switch" and or connection is mucked up...

1. what else could cause this?
2. where is this switch / connection

TIA

The usual culprit is the neutral safety switch which is on the side of the transmission attached to the selector shaft. Replacement is an expensive dealer only part but your existing one can be carefully removed, disassembled, and cleaned. Yours seems a little new for this failure, but they all will need it after 6-8 years.

wow!!! pretty cool

is there a diagram/instructions out there to do the job

neutral safety switch

I just cleaned mine today. It is fairly straight forward following the instructions from jeppin.com. I do notice that my gear selector takes a bit more to move it into place, and it is not as well defined as it was. I had thought that I may have tightened it too much when I put it back on, so I loosend it off a bit but no change. Any suggestions?