(WRITE UP) reverse/5TH transmission switch fix
 

this is for when the reverse switch does not turn on your reverse lights or only occasionaly turns them on.

the reason: the switch needs to handle around 7 amps for the reverse lights to work. That load causes the contacts in the switch to gum up with carbon.


the solution: we are going to wire in a 5 pin relay so that the switch wont need to see 7 amps of current to turn on your reverse lights. instead, its only going to require 50mA to turn on your reverse lights!!


we are going to use the pins 30, 86, 87 and 85

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...4444/relay.jpg

Side going to the rear of the car, on pin 30 of a relay.
Side going to the front/dash, on pin 86 of the relay
Fused (10 amps) 12+ volts on pin 87 of the relay
Ground on pin 85 of the relay.

once you get your relay its time to find the wires we need to tap into!!

on the drivers side floor is the kick panel. this is where the fuses are and CPU is located also. once the plastic kick panel is removed the wires are exposed like this.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...4/DSC00465.jpg
your gonna find 3 plugs that fit right between the fuse box and CPU. 2 are green and 1 is a faded yellow. i removed the foot rest just for easier installation but you dont have to. once you find the yellow plug, unplug it. in this plug you will find a red/green wire. its going to be red WITH A GREEN stripe. mine had blue dots on it also.

this is what we are looking for:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...4/DSC00466.jpg

once you find this wire you simply cut it in half. leave room on both side's to work with!!


now we are ready to solder!!!:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...4/DSC00469.jpg

make sure to solder and use shrink tubing when doing this.

heres what one looks like all soldered up and heat shrink applied.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...4/DSC00467.jpg


once you finish soldering all your connections its time for a new home!!! well after looking i found the perfect spot!! bottom bolt holding the fuse box in.:

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...4/DSC00470.jpg

the 12 volts wire going to pin 87 should be Fused (10 amps). i ran mine from the ignition so that it sees power only when the key is turned on. i also ran a fuse that's easy access for me if it ever decides to go.
do not solder your wires directly to the relay!!! when purchasing relay's, ask for the pigtail also!! this way if it ever decides to go its an easy fix.

sometimes this will NOT fix the problem but 90% of the time it does.

Looks good.

The failures I see are from the wires braking.

at the bottom of the relay? it looks this way but there is a cavity below the relay where the wires go.PLENTY of room.

No no, on the Reveres / 5th gear switch. Instead of running a new wire for the 12v power, you could have just come off the Black / Yellow wire which supplies the 12v fused ignition power to the tranny switch. Jump off the B/Y before the tranny switch and run that to pin 87 and take the Red/Green wire and put the on pin 86 (which you did) to activate the 12v relay, then put the Red / Green wire heading to the reverse lights on pin 30, like you did.

It would be a little easier that way.

you can pretty much run the 12 +volt source from anywhere you want (as long as it's a good source). i have no dash at the moment so this source was easy for me. people with the dash in could simply find another source for 12+ volts like you mentioned.

**edit**
credit goes to icemark for supplying the info.

I just pulled the 5th gear/reverse switch off my TII tranny, opened it up, cleaned it and reinstalled... works fine now.

i tried that also until it gummed up in 3 months afterwards.

Well you don't just want to take 12v from anywhere. You need to take it from some where that can supply the current without causing issues. Taking current from the original fuse would be the best place.

you must have missed this part so ill write it again;)

I read that part, problem is, you can get it "anywhere" you want. Since most places are fused for a certain amount of current for the specific devices that are on that fuse. So you options are very limited. So when you say "as long as it a good source", its mainly the battery or the original fused location.

Not trying to start anything :(

i know my friend. im not either. nothing wrong with a good debate!!;) hence the wink.
i cant see switching on the relay causing to much of a voltage drop though.
your right, you cant just pick any source, a GOOD power source good come from the battery, i feel the IG1 ignition switch to power on the relay will be sufficiant. if not, its not that difficult to move.

Well im not saying that. The way you have it is fine, you picked a location and fuse that is fine. If some other person with little electrical knowledge took this on and decided to grab a wire that was say on the room fuse, they could easily pop it, duh, but then they decided to upgrade the fuse to a high amp, say 10amp, now the other little lights, clock and other little items on that room fuse are in trouble if a short happend some where on the circuit.

Well anyways, good thought, I actually never thought of this. As long as the next person knows what a"GOOD source of power" means, I guess they will be all set :)

meh - you CAN get creative when picking the power source. You can pull it from say the power door lock circuit. Unless you plan on locking your doors while still in reverse :D The other thing to be made aware of is I don't think those bulbs pull 7A, I could be mistaken but I don't think they are 40ish W bulbs.

Two things I would've changed. -
First - I despise those pigtails. Go to Painless Performance and get a few 80133's
https://static.summitracing.com/glob...rf-80133_m.jpg Much nicer than the pigtails for many reasons.
Second - I very rarely cut wires. Instead what I do is pick the terminal out of the connector so I can strip back the sheathing and solder a wire onto it. This way should you ever need to go back to the original wiring - it's pretty damn simple.

I'm doing this for a different reason - my driveway is 137' long, curves, goes downhill at a silly angle and right off to the side is a 25' drop to a brook...... oh yeah - I back down my driveway and I smoked the rear lenses :D I need brighter bulbs. Anyone have some suggestions?

Could you elucidate a few of those many reasons?

Im sure there are a few that would lock the doors when putting it in reverse. Ofcourse what are the odds. Question is, why would you even want to put it on a different circuit anyways?

True, total is about 54 watts which is about 4.5 amps. The 5 bulbs for the brake lights take up a lil over 10amps. Should have caught on to the 7amps for 2 bulbs.

the way i did it, you HAVE to cut the wire. one side of the wire needs to go to the pin 30 and the other to the pin 86. after all, it isnt that hard to solder back together a wire is it?

No...... but you'll need to pull an EXTRA 1/2 out of the wire somewhere :D
You didn't have to cut the wire. Terminal 86, the turn on could have been the factory turn on, 87 power from anywhere - Justin - there is soooooooooo much extra built into each circuit - I really doubt it would blow the PDL - Yes other places are better which is why I added 15 extra circuits for all my lil goodies (5 = alarm and 4 = standalone) 85 = grnd 30 can get soldered back to the wire that leads out to the reverse lights. When the relay is closed it's just getting 2 power sources. Make sense? Serioulsy I'm a few deep into the Octoberfests.

Few reasons why the bases are better than the pigtails.
I think that the wires used in the pigtails are cheao
With the bases I get to use my own wires
With the bases I get to use my own wire colors
I get to wire the relay to do a bunch of different things if I want to utilize a DPDT or a DPST relay.
The relay base mounts becuase not all relays have a mounting tab
The relay base can be ganged with the painless fuse block to make a nice little unit
The relay base can be ganged with itself so you can stack them together.
DelCity.net has repacement termainals

It's really just a bitchin little piece.....

Sorry to bring this up from the dead but....
I was reading this and wondering . What about when the reverse lights are always on when the wires are connected? :Wconfused

Sounds like either the switch is bad or mixed up with the 5th gear wires.

Reverse lights
 

Bump from way back here. I have a similar problem. My taillights only work if i put it in reverse and push forward on the shifter a bit. Its touchy and annoys me. Do you guys think this procedure would work to get the lights working whenever the shifter is in reverse? Regardless of the shifter position (while in reverse)