SSRat

Im trying to avoid having to pull the reverse switch, s4 TII, its all rusted and looks like a bear to remove. its larger than a 24mm i think. I cant really get a good grip on it, obviously.

I checked the fuses, put in new light bulbs, i even replaced the terminals to all the wires on the switch because they were too corroded to clean. im assuming the 4 plugs were in the correct places to begin with. Still no dice.

So i did the relay as per the writeup in the faq. And still nothing. If i put the 12v to pin 87a on the relay the lights do come on, but always, without the key in. Bad switch?

satch

iTrader: (1)

The Black/Yellow wire supplies power to the reverse switch. When the car is placed in reverse the voltage passes on to the Red/Green wire. If the switch is not passing voltage to the R/G wire then the switch is no good.

Lets say you are talking about the relay and not the switch. The relay has a coil which triggers the relay. The coil requires two wires. One is a ground. The other wire needs to be the Black/Yellow wire. When the car is placed in reverse the B/Y wire will trigger the relay to the closed position. This leaves the two pins to the relay. One runs from the relay to the reverse lights. This would be the Red/Green wire. The other wire to the relay would then need to be a wire carrying voltage.

SSRat

So basically run the b/y wire, going to the switch itself, to pin 87 to power the relay? like up through the shifter hole or something (since my relay is in the cabin), correct?
and since the reverse light wires are already connected to the relay at the drivers side kick panel, i dont have to run the r/g at the switch itself to the relay correct?
sorry, im just trying to create the visual in my head. Thanks!

satch

iTrader: (1)

Not really sure what you're trying to do here. If the switch bolted to the transmission is bad and you want to bypass it w/the relay then you have 4 connections to account for. Not familiar w/the pin numbers on the relay but the coil inside the pin requires two connections. It needs a ground and the B/Y wire. Look at the diagram of the relay and figure out which pins they are and go from there. This then leaves two pins to be addressed. The relay contact takes voltage on one side and passes it through the contact when the relay closes and this voltage runs to the reverse lights thus being the R/G wire. You then need to wire voltage to the opposite side of the relay connected to the R/G wire.

The B/Y wire is found at connector FE-02.

satch

iTrader: (1)

Scratch everything I said as I forgot to take into account that the B/Y wire is not related to whether the car is in reverse or not as it is just powered by the meter fuse w/key to on.

You will not be able to use a relay unless you manually trigger the relay to turn the reverse lights on or off. Thus it would be much better to repair/replace the reverse switch. And I apologize for misguiding you.

If you had to manually trigger the relay then it would be more appropriate to just wire in another another two position switch which you could trigger yourself to either be on or off. Again, if possible it would be best to remedy your current switch.

SSRat

Thanks again! I suppose the relay writeup only works if the switch itself still functions somewhat. looks like im up a creek until I pull the trans.

satch

iTrader: (1)

With the car in reverse there should be continuity between the two wires at the switch. If you have continuity then the switch is working, so try to do what you have to and cause there to be continuity.

SSRat

there is continuity between the r/g and b/y on the harness at the switch, but not between the wires on the switch itself. Booo!
maybe ill tap it lightly with a giant hammer.

The only thing i can think of, its super ghetto but i read it somewhere someone else did it, is rig a toggle that the shifter hits when its in reverse and just hook it up between the two wires on the harness. If i can get it to sit right, that is. its only temporary.

SSRat

thanks satch!, i forgot you had mentioned it above. I had also read one of the aussies had to do it that way, lol

what about the 5th gear part of the switch? will not having it connected it affect driveability?

SSRat

^ found it

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=1015671

SSRat

So, check this out!
For once the boys at pep came thru for me, found this little 10 amp door jamb switch (Dorman #85932). I ended up cutting a small bit off the end of the switch to shorten it, rigged up a bracket using a "L" bracket i had laying around, and another piece out of a box cutter. I drilled some holes, added a lil grommet and a bare wire crimp and viola! Instant reverse switch! Actually, it took me an evening, but Macgyver eat your heart out.
The red end piece on the switch is actually a part of a tiny positap. i crimped it on (carefully) for good measure. And everything fit back nicely and inconspicuous.

I tried to silicon seal the inner shifter boot cause it was torn, but not much luck with that. Im waiting for my new one to arrive.

bumpstart

i hope that is fused

SSRat

i just used the b/y to r/g wires at the old switch. b/y is a fused source, right?
ill add in some inline fuses. the only reason i didnt is because i have a switch for my fuel pump that didnt have inline fuses either, so i didnt think it was necessary. r/g wire may need one, huh?

pfsantos

iTrader: (1)

I commend you for finding another way of fixing your problem, but I'm WAY too OCD to approve!

So basically, the problem was the switch? I would have just sourced another one from a member or junkyard. It always scares me when I see things fixed differently. Then again, I still have the stock radio, lol, so that tells you something. If I had done this as an emergency, I'd go back to stock whenever I'd run across a stock switch. Just cleaner.

SSRat

Believe me, id like to "just replace it", however im not going to drop the transmission just for that. Ill want to replace everything then. This is just a temporary fix, to get by inspection til i can afford to do fix it right.

the only metal to metal contact is the end of the red tip that touches the little rod there, which is just a butt conector with one end crimped. i peeled the casing off and pushed it through that rubber grommet. It holds up nice with no arcing, so far.

ITSWILL

iTrader: (12)

I recommend you buy a fire extinguisher to go with your new reverse switch...