I have a 1989 FC convertible and have noticed my backup lights aren’t coming on when I throw it in reverse. I checked and the fuse is good and I’m getting voltage to the light assembly. I’m thinking it may be a reverse switch gone bad and have heard there was something attached to the transmission that triggers when you put it in reverse.

if so can someone tell me if I source a new switch am I with some (not a bunch) mechanical ability able to replace it myself? Or would it involve possible lowering the transmission to get to it?

thank you.

 

its pretty simple to change, you just unscrew it and put the new one in. not sure if you need to do anything else, although while you're under there the transmission mounts live short lives in these cars

 

You can change it without disassembling anything else, it is pretty simple. Did you check the voltage in parallel with a lightbulb or in series? If you have 12V in series (both bulbs removed, measured in one of the sockets) it is indeed the switch. Note that, at least on the S4, the same switch provides the 5th gear reading as well (used to prevent the "shift up" light from appearing). I found aftermarket reverse switch I got lacked this functionality, but it worked perfectly fine for the reverse lights part.