Recently purchased a 90 GXL. The back-up lights don"t work, (bulbs o.k.). Where should I start?
The hatch open light stays on. Any ideas?

 

I say your hatch close sensor is dead/malfunctioning.

 

My hatch light stays on because I don't close the hatch all the way. usually only one side locks in and I have to physically push down on the other until it clicks. Visibly, you can't tell it's open, but the light stays on until I push both sides closed.

 

Sorry if the tone of my message sounds condescending. I didn't intend it to be, but re-reading it, it totally sounds sarcastic, and like I'm suggesting that you're an idiot or something. I just had a similar problem as yours and the solution was much simpler than I had expected.

 

yeah i have the same issue some times just gota realy slam the lid down. my backup lights dont work either(bulbs good) i wonder why?

 

Cuz mazda put a crappy reverse button on the tranny. Mine doesnt work either. I'm just gonna hook it up to a switch.

 

my hatch light would stay on too regardless (almost) of how hard i slammed it...

then i realized the reason it was not shutting all the way is that the trapped air in the car was keeping the hatch from closing all the way...

i would just roll down a window or something, and then close it and it would close everytime, and the light would go off....if i didnt have any doors or windows open it would close, but the light would stay on...go figure

 

Ditto. But it's probably the sensor.

Steve

 

same here for me....

 

i have never seen mine off. where is the sensor so i can rip it out. maybe i will just take the bulb out. when its a track duty car you can break stuff and not care too much.

 

My 89 GTU does this as well... I'm taking apart the locking mechanisms to find the switch tomorrow and probably hard wire it shut

My hatch closes very nicely, so I know it closes. I dont need to be informed, thank you very much

Hopefully it won't be too difficult to find/fix.

 

Hi! Mine's doing the same thing, and I had the same idea. I'm in Canada though, and the weather has kept me from doing it. Let me know how it goes!

 

push down firmly on the right hand side once you've shut it, and see if you hear a small click. if so, it'll be shut properly now...

 

my reverse lights didn't work and I bought a new reverse switch from Autozone for $27. It was really easy to replace and now the reverse lights work.

 

Update: Fixed!

There's a black wire connecting to each locking mechanism, running down into the spare tire well. Simply disconnect one at a time and test! Easy, took me 30 seconds this morning.