As some of you may recall the JDM Tii 5-speed I got from TigerJapanese had the leads broken off of the reverse switch. Dan at Atkins was kind enough to sell me one from his junk pile. Sadly, it was a tiny thing compared to what comes on the JDM Tii and clearly wouldn't fit.

So I checked the one Dan sent me and it closed the circuit (electricity would go thru) when the plunger was depressed.

I ground out the inside bakelite or whatever black plastic insulator they used down to the rubber diaphram that keeps the tranny fuild in the tranny. Then I got a push-on (like a door bell) switch and epoxy puttied it in so that when the plunger was depressed the switch closed and allowed power to go thru.

Now the reverse lights work! But they are on as long as the car ISNT in reverse!

For you electronics wizards out there, is there a solenoid, diode or some other trick to basically reverse how the switch is seen by the car? I'm sure I can find a "depress for off" switch but then I'd have to go ground out the epoxy putty.

Thanks,

Jim

 

You need a normally open (off) switch. It seems that you have a normally closed switch (closed = on), and when you press the switch it opens the circuit. You might be able to rig up a double pole relay to your current switch.

 

That just might work. I Googled and found this link. Looks like a standard Bosch relay and a diode will do the trick.