Hi guys,

Well, I'm not sure whether or not this is a common problem or what, but my reverse lights don't work. Bulbs are good, wiring is good, fuse is good, so I am assuming it is the reverse light switch. I remember about half a year ago I tried accessing the reverse light switch but it was damn near impossible to remove it.

Does anyone have any pointers/tips as to how to access the reverse light switch?

The transmission was rebuilt and the engine was replaced (JDM) and gaskets were replaced prior me purchasing the car. Work was done by someone who owns multiple rx-7s. (owns is present tense, not past tense)

Thanks in advance.

 

Is it a JDM transmission also? IIRC JDM transmission don't have a 5th gear switch which also if IIRC changes the plugs that would go from the switch on the transmission to the engine harness.

Have you gotten under the car to look at the plugs? On my JDM transmission the wiring and plugs were broken off reverse switch (which I hear is very common). If they are broken off you'll see two cylindrical prongs coming off the switch. All you have to do is use some bullet crimps to create a patch for your engine harness. One bullet crimp on each prong with wires coming off the bullet crimps that then plug into your reverse switch.

 

pretty sure it's the usdm transmission. i've gotten underneath the car to look at the connections but it seems that the connections are just fine.. i highly suspect the switch itself, i just can't take the damn thing off because of its location.

 

On an 87 S4 there is a connector of two plugs located near the Brake Master Cylinder. The connector is FE-02 which joins a plug from the Front harness to the Engine harness and these two plugs have 6 wires each. The Front harness plug is smaller than the the Engine plug so it slides into the Engine harness plug. On the smaller plug (Front harness) there is a Black/Yellow wire that should have voltage w/key to on. Jumper the voltage from the B/Y wire in the smaller of the two plugs to the Red/Green wire of the smaller plug w/key to on and the reverse lights should light up as this jumpering of two wires at FE-02 bypasses the Reverse Switch as well as the two wires from the Engine harness. This will help to diagnose what specifically is your problem.

 

So if the reverse light turns on when i jumper the voltage frmo the b/y wire, that means that the switch is bad, correct?

 

Or the wires (two of them) from the Engine harness are suspect.

 

so the Red/Green on the female plug is the +12 v for the reverse lights? Assuming i have any +12 v supply, couldn't I just supply the red/green with the +12v and jump it like that instead of taking power from the black and yellow?

 

B/Y wire from the F harness passes voltage onto the B/Y wire of the E harness which supplies the Reverse Switch with voltage. When the switch is activated the voltage passes onto the R/G wire in the E harness which connects to the R/G wire of the F harness which eventually connects to the Rear harness and that harness connects to the reverse lights. The car doesn't need to be in reverse to do it my way. Also, if the car were in reverse w/key to on then the R/G wire of the E harness (larger of two plugs) would have voltage on it only if the switch was working properly along with the switch being provided with voltage via B/Y.

 

thanks, i'll try to get to this tonight. appreciate your input

 

Oh I guess I never asked if it was S4 or S5..I guess I could have read your forum name and put it together...or you could have been more specific :P

 

Its a great idea to make friends with a local mechanic who will let you use his shop\lift on the weekends or evenings, or whenever. Get it up on a lift and you can have that switch out in 5 minutes. Whole different story working underneath a lift opposed to on your back.

 

what size wrench do i use to remove the reverse light switch? oh and i do have a friend who owns a shop who has a lift... maybe i'll ask him if i can borrow it.

 

I don't remember off the top of my head, but when you get it up in the air you'll be able to access it very easily, and find out the size. Had mine out last week to test it, got a new one coming soon, like 32 bucks. Lifts rule

 

do you have a turbo 2 or a regular gxl? because the turbo 2 transmissions use a different reverse light switch, and is about 7 times more expensive as the regular base transmissions. (probably should've mentioned that it is a turbo2..)

off topic, did turbo II ever come 2+2? I was told that it came as an option if you wanted 2+2 but was extremely rare to come by.

 

I knew the trannys were different for n\a cars and turbo cars. Didnt realize the reverse light switch would be that much more! My cars a base model, so yeah, I get the cheap switch, haha.