8 replies to this topic

[ford212.809]

Whenever I direct the shifter into reverse, the back-up lights come on
"sometimes." This car is driven alot at night & the mentioned lights work
about 40% of the time. Any experiences with this? Where should I start
to trace down the problem? Thanks in advance...

[SKperformance]

their is atleast 30 threads on this subject including one from a few days ago

[ford212.809]

their is atleast 30 threads on this subject including one from a few days ago

SK, What keyword do you suggest in the search? I have tried several. Thanks.

[amf1932]

Whenever I direct the shifter into reverse, the back-up lights come on
"sometimes."  This car is driven alot at night & the mentioned lights work
about 40% of the time.  Any experiences with this?  Where should I start
to trace down the problem?  Thanks in advance...

If you jiggle the shift selector will the lights come on? If it does then the backup light switch is out of adjustment or just plain bad.

[G & C Johnstone]

With both lamps in and out the previous answer suggesting a switch problem is most likely.

However in my case with only one lamp failing:
On my es300 1996 one of the reversing lamps was intermittent. The bulb was good. If a bulb is doubtful you can most times finish it off if you give it a flick with your finger to test the strenght and integrity of the filament. My faulty lamp came on and went out when I raised and lowered the boot lid. There were broken wires inside the the wiring loom where it needed to pivot with the boot lid. I had to repair four wires that had been boken but were still making a circuit because their insulation was still intact and keeping the wires in contact. Only the one lamp was not going and then only sometimes. The wiring form may have been damaged during manufacture by an extreme distortion strain and the failure saved itself for me.
This kind of fault would annoy the life out of a general mechanic and a specialist auto electrician would start thinking about building extentions to his house if a few of these type problems lined up.
First prove the bulbs by swaping them into another place that works. Then have a tease of the wiring loom at the boot hinge.

[ford212.809]

I just got home from work and I will be investigating BOTH of those
suggestions shortly. I will let ya'll know what I find out.

[ford212.809]

I just got home from work and I will be investigating BOTH of those
suggestions shortly.  I will let ya'll know what I find out.

Well "shortly" turned out to be about 30 hours.
Ok, found out that I had a short in the wiring harness along the trunk hinge. Every time I raised & lowered the lid the parking, reverse, and the license lights
would short out. Got out the trusty $3 tester and - sure enough, two wires were completely severed. Guess 7 years of wear & tear took its toll. Anyway, I mended the wires - LIGHTS!!! Now I have to figure out a way to reroute the harness as to not interfere with the lid hinge on the drivers side.

[G & C Johnstone]

Good Oh.

On my car the hockey stick bend of the wiring form was good enough to have lasted a million open close cycles. The wires were contained in a capped conduit down the boot hinge and joined a larger form in the rear guard with more than six inches to loosely taped feed to allow movement. The up down flex could not have caused the break but a severe sudden strain might have.

Apprenticeship of "Back Yard Mechanic" is a lifetime long.

[ford212.809]

My harness was "packaged" just as you described on your car. The wires that
were damaged were inside that package. The looked they were cut clean inside
the harness by a ghost. Oh well.....