5-90
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Hammerspace
If you get the reverse lights to drop out on you, please make a note of any other symptoms and report back. This is definitely a strange one...
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Reverse light help
- Thread starter billyjp2
- Start date
If you get the reverse lights to drop out on you, please make a note of any other symptoms and report back. This is definitely a strange one...
xj88superjeep
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- NJ
LOL... you guys are going to have me under the hood of that Jeep tonight playing with the vacume lines again. I'll be the first person to admit I'm crazy, but I swear I would not make this up! When it happened, I was like "what happened to my reverse lights?" Then after I hooked the lines all back up, there they were! I was a little surprised that the vac lines had anything to do with the lights, but how can I argue with cause and effect? If I can recreate this tonight, I WILL post video! If I can NOT, I will still post the video of me trying so you all can get a good laugh...
5-90
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Hammerspace
Heh - I don't care about posting video - I just want to know what other symptoms you encounter, and confirmation on which line you Dx.
It's just strange - vacuum has nothing to do with the AW4, and the reverse lamp switch is purely mechanical. There's no reason for the loose vacuum line to cause trouble with that circuit, but that never means it didn't happe. I'm just buffaloed as to how it screws things up!
xj88superjeep
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- NJ
Well........ I feel sheepish! My reverse lights would not come on at all tonight... no matter what I did... I could not make a video because the e-brake (that I never use) would not keep the Jeep still while in gear so I could walk back, and I had to check in a reflection. It was definitely the vacuum lines to the airbox and the trapdoor at the front of the airbox that I screwed with, but that is moot, because as I said, no reverse lights at all now, so I guess I just have a malfunctioning switch, and the timing of the vac lines being messed with was coincidence. I did not mean to give any misinformation, and everyone has my humblest apology!
Don't feel sheepish about the reverse light post -- they can be a real pain to diagnose. A little sheepish perhaps on checking for operation -- you can just turn the key on without starting and put into reverse.
You probably know this already but you can check the NSS for continuity at the underhood plug.
You probably know this already but you can check the NSS for continuity at the underhood plug.
redneckboarder
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- cumberland RI
hmm maybe i should look in to this too, i have an nv3550 which was swapped in place an unknown 5 spd tranny an dmy reverse lights dont work and i can start it without having it in neutral or engaging the clutch. so just get a new NSS and re wire it will fix my issues?
billyjp2
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Indian Orchard MA
you should have to engage the clutch to start it. and 5 spds dont have a nuetral safety switch
redneckboarder
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- cumberland RI
well i dont hafta, i forgot once and hit the starter while the jeep was in gear and the clutch wasnt in and the starter drove it forward a bit...so what engages the reverse lights on a 5 spd?
5-90
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Hammerspace
The NSS is replaced by a "Clutch Safety Switch" on manuals - the switch is atop the clutch pedal.
The reverse lamp switch is still on the transmission case. However, it's just a small bung with a wrenching hex on it - if you had it out, the transmission end of the thing would be threaded and have a roundish actuator tip that would be engaged by the reverse shift fork inside the case.
It's typically a two-wire (not self-grounding) switch, so you just have to make sure that you've got it secured mechanicaly and that the wiring is good.
The reverse lamp switch is still on the transmission case. However, it's just a small bung with a wrenching hex on it - if you had it out, the transmission end of the thing would be threaded and have a roundish actuator tip that would be engaged by the reverse shift fork inside the case.
It's typically a two-wire (not self-grounding) switch, so you just have to make sure that you've got it secured mechanicaly and that the wiring is good.
maybe newer xj have a clutch safety switch, but my 89 can be started with either the clutch pedal pressed down or not. when the slave went out on mine i was able to start the jeep while in first gear and the clutch engaged.
redneck, as 5-90 has said, there is a reverse light switch on the side of the transmission that control the reverse lights. i ordered mine through the dealer, IIRC it was around $30
xjbubba
NAXJA Member # 1524
- Location
- santa barbara, ca
:confused1The reverse (back-up?) light won't work, unless tranny's in reverse
. A manual tranny in reverse---if the engine is not running--doesn't need an e-brake. What am I missing?How did you determine the "reverse lights" weren't working initially?
This thread is getting more confusing with each "update".
xj88superjeep
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- NJ
:confused1The reverse (back-up?) light won't work, unless tranny's in reverse
How did you determine the "reverse lights" weren't working initially?
This thread is getting more confusing with each "update".
You can feel free to ignore my posts in this thread. I had an issue when I had some vacuum lines disconnected, and my reverse lights stopped working, then they started working again when I reconnected the vac lines. Now I have been educated by others that they are not related to the vacuum system... When I did my test to see if I could recreate my issue, it was unrelated to the initial post, and just a test for my specific circumstance. Sorry for the confusion!
im confused as to whether you have an automatic or manual transmission as the original post was about manual transmission reverse lights.
xj88superjeep
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- NJ
PLEASE DISREGARD MY POSTS IN THIS THREAD... I WAS MISTAKEN! Thank you
5-90
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Hammerspace
So before we put this tangent to bed, were you actually able to re-create the fault or no? I'm still curious about that one.
(Everyone else can disregard this - but I'm still stonkered by it. And yes, I know it's unrelated to the original issue, but I'm a "Collector of the Odd"...)
xj88superjeep
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- NJ
No, My reverse lights are not functioning at all now, so I can only assume my NSS/reverse light switch was in the process of going bad when I witnessed the condition described earlier.
ParadiseXJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Paradise, CA 95969
OK, call me nuts, but my issue with back-up lights (90 4.0 AW4) was even after I had cleaned and revamped the NSS, my back-ups still didn't work. I believe I've posted this more than a few times, but, the 7.5 A fuse on the block under the dash marked TRANS controls the Power/Comfort switch (if equipped) AND the back-up lights.
I've confirmed this on several other similar models yet nobody here seems to believe that the fuse does anything other than power the LED on the switch. Different model, different control, so on an AX15 it may be different (I have no personal knowledge of this). But it sure seems worth exploring since it's worked for me and others I know.
I've confirmed this on several other similar models yet nobody here seems to believe that the fuse does anything other than power the LED on the switch. Different model, different control, so on an AX15 it may be different (I have no personal knowledge of this). But it sure seems worth exploring since it's worked for me and others I know.
xjbubba
NAXJA Member # 1524
- Location
- santa barbara, ca
You're probably correct. I say probably, because I don't feel like digging up my re-wire notes I developed while in stalling the Chevy into my '88 XJ. BUT, as I recall, there is a plug in the wiring harness, buried in the engine compartment, that is wired differently for different trans/engine combos. My 4.0/Pejuot combo had a factory installed jumper in that plug that routed the back-up light circuit through that 7.5A fuse. I blew it once, when the wire connected to the back-up light switch shorted to ground.
So, if your manual tranny app's back-up lights don't work, check that fuse, as a first step.
The back-up light switch on the manual tranny is easy to check. Place the tranny in reverse, and put an ohm meter accross the two switch contacts. Continuity indicates good.
Like 5-90 says, on the manual tranny, the back-up light switch looks like a bolt with two prongs sticking out of one end. The threaded end has a ball that protrudes half its diameter. When then tranny is shifted to reverse, the internal shift rods slide over that ball, pushing it inward, connecting the two prongs together. This completes the back-up light circuit, applying battery voltage to the back-up lights.
I wish I had known this before I jumped at the neutral safety switch (and broke it all apart).
My back-up lights hadn't been working before I changed the NSS, so I changed the NSS and the back-ups still didn't work. I checked the connector and reverse had continuity when it was supposed to, so I knew the switch wasn't the problem. Then I went searching and found your post, went out to the Jeep and sure enough the 7.5 amp was blown and replacing the fuse made the reverse lights work again. (My Jeep is an 1989 Laredo 2 door with AW4 & NP242)
