[fastback ry]

I put in a new taillight harness for 2 reasons. 1-reverse lights were inop, 2-the old harness was brittle and there were broken wires. My reverse lights still dont work. Is there a switch in the gear shift that activates the reverse lights when you put it in reverse or does my problem lie some where else? While I'm on it, whats the correct bulb for the reverse lights? Fuses where checked.

[The Greek]

The B/U bulb should be an 1142. It's a weird bulb in the fact that it doesn't ground through the bulb's base as a regular single filiament bulb.

There should be two contact points on the bottom of the bulb. One is power in, and the other is ground. A wire will lead from the bulb socket to a ground terminal coming out of the wiring harness. The terminal will have a couple of black wires connected to it and is secured to the body with a screw.

There should be a switch on the trans. that gets activated when the linkage is placed in reverse. The switch has two wires for this circuit. Both of them are black/red stripe and these are hot wires. The power to the bulb circuit is completed when the switch is closed by the trans linkage.

If you have an auto-trans, the switch is built in to the neutral safety switch, located on the trans gear selector lever, but the wire colors will be the same for the manual trans. or auto.

[The Greek]

See previous post, having problems with site.

[60's Refugee]

Greek,
Automatic or manual tranny. Answer that first, then we can narrow down the problem.

H

[fastback ry]

It's an automatic.

[The Greek]

60's Refugee, it ain't my car! If you reread my post, you'll see that I was trying to keep the information a broad as possible. Not knowing which transmission "fastback ry" has, I did include the fact that the B/U lights switch is incorporated into the neutral safety switch with the automatic transmission and that the wire color codes are the same regardless of which transmission that you have. I want people to know this.

[The Greek]

Did you check to see if the correct bulbs are installed? Is the neutral safety switch positioned correctly? There's a procedure for doing this with a small drill bit or with a piece of mechanic's wire.

[bradsalex]

When i saw the topic title i knew that you had to be in the military, using the term "inop" isn't a civilian thing. I too am stationed on Ft. Belvior, what unit are you with? I work on the airfield.

[fastback ry]

Greek, yeah, I got the right bulbs in there and no I havent checked to see if the switch was positioned correctly. How do you check for proper positioning?

Bradsalex, I work at DTRA. Are you the one with the ivy-gold coupe?

[The Greek]

Neutral safety switch adjustment C4, C6 transmissions:
1. Loosen the two switch attaching bolts.

2. With the trans. selector lever in "N" (neutral) position, rotate the switch and install a No.43 drill bit (.089") into the pinhole that's in the side of the switch. It must insert at a depth of just shy of 1/2 inch and be through all three holes (there is two holes that must line up behind the outer hole). If it goes in just shy of 1/2 inch, it's in all three holes.

3. Tighten the switch attaching bolts and remove the drill bit.

4. Check the operation of the switch. The engine should start only when the trans. selector lever is in the "N" or "P" positions.
5. The back up lights should come on only in the "R" (reverse) position.

[fastback ry]

Thanks, Greek. I wont be able to get to if for a couple of weeks but I appreciate your help. I'll let you know how it turnes out.

[fastback ry]

Reverse lights are ON!!! Thanks for all your help Greek, I really appreciate it!!! Awesome job!

[The Greek]

Fastback, I'm glad you got things sorted out.