Reverse Lights Not Working?

[supaphattony]

hey guys just wounduring on my 89 r32 both reverse lights dont work? i hav also tryed changing the globes.

[GTR-N1]

I hope an R32 owner comes on soon to let you know if there's a separate fuse. Have you checked that yet Antonio?

Got a multimeter? Cheap these days.

If you're in the eastern states, will you be coming to our R32 21st Birthday Event in October?

The thread is in the Events section of every state (but not NZ).

[blind_elk]

Not sure if there's a separate fuse, but, like all cars, there is a switch in the gearbox. Have you checked that it is still working?

[andymoocow]

not sure if this helps, but in my R33 GTST i put the car in reverse, and NO reverse lights come on, HOWEVER whilst in gear, if i move the gear lever to the left the smallest amount then both lights come on, i take my hand off the gearstick and they go off......

[mad082]

andrew, sounds like the contact for the switch in the gearbox is a bit dodgy.

[pipster11]

had a gearbox change?

seems that when i had my 32, the prev owner changed the gearbox and forgot to unplug the switch and ripped the connectors off the loom

[andymoocow]

andrew, sounds like the contact for the switch in the gearbox is a bit dodgy.

when i first realised it, i played around with it whilst in reverse, just seeing how far i had to push it to get it to work. Then figured it was something a bit iffy......

You dont by chance know if its something thats easily fixed? Not that it bothers me. You dont have to get the gearbox out to fix it do you?

[mad082]

i really don't know where the actual switch mecanism is in the gearbox. it may possibly be hidden just behind a cover on the side of the gearbox, or it may be actually inside the gearbox, which would mean box out and opened up to fix.

[bluejeans]

not sure if this helps, but in my R33 GTST i put the car in reverse, and NO reverse lights come on, HOWEVER whilst in gear, if i move the gear lever to the left the smallest amount then both lights come on, i take my hand off the gearstick and they go off......

same here

[t_revz]

rev switch on 33gtst is the most forward switch on drivers side. never had to do it but heard you need to unbolt trans crossmember to get a little angle on trans to be able to get a spanner on it

[SWITZER]

My mate had the same problem with his 89 32gtr lights didnt work when putting it into reverse but if he held the gear stick to the right they would come on so we new the bulbs were fine and just left it alone but this got worse till no matter how hard you pushed the stick to the right they wouldnt come on so got underneath it and bridged the wiring connector and yep they came on so we thought yep swicth is the problem so bought a new one from nissan about 80 bucks i think it was, jacked it up and yes you have to undo gearbox crossmember and drop the back of the box down to have any chance of fitting your arm up there went to undo the swicth and found it was loose and had been winding itself out it screwed in a couple of turns and what you know they worked fine when put into reverse but we put the new swicth in anyway seeing as it cost 80 bucks

[Spurdo]

yea i've got the same problem, except mine stopped working after i was reversing the car off some stands one time and backed into my flatmate's car behind me, only damage was it broke my reverse lights, but even when i replaced them they wouldnt work, got a test light onto the connections and they were dead. i checked all the fuses in the fuse box and everything was good, any ideas??

also yea the reverse light switch in the gearbox is pretty easy to get out, from memory its near the speedo drive, you dont really wana put an open ended spanner on it or you might round off the nut (it will be on there really tight) ideally you need a socket with a slit up the side for the wires so they wont be in the way

[t_revz]

sounds like when the globes smashed it shorted and the load burnt out the gearbox switch before the fuse blew. unlucky

[Spurdo]

sounds like when the globes smashed it shorted and the load burnt out the gearbox switch before the fuse blew. unlucky

that never even occured to me. must investigate this. thanks!

[ssstylin]

I had the same problem on my car when i bought it, it was simply the gearbox switch!

[supaphattony]

cheers on the feed back guys helped heaps!

[Turbz_13]

Having the same issue with my car atm.

But currently the box is out for a clutch change!

Ill try screwing the 2 switches back in when I get back to it this weekend.

When you pay bridge it, you mean bridge the 2 switches??

Where can I get new reverse and neutral switches from?? I haven't been able to find any!!!!

[89CAL]

Having the same issue with my car atm.

But currently the box is out for a clutch change!

Ill try screwing the 2 switches back in when I get back to it this weekend.

When you pay bridge it, you mean bridge the 2 switches??

Where can I get new reverse and neutral switches from?? I haven't been able to find any!!!!

I cant find on here where it says to bridge it out but anyway, You can unplug the switch and loop a bit of wire between the two terminals in the plug from the gearbox and your lights should come on (remember key has to be in the 'on' position)

If you do this and there is still no power to the reverse lights then you may have the same problem I had. I had a dirty plug in the engine bay on the RHS of the car (This is in an R33 so not sure if the 32's are different) which was only sometimes allowing a full connection to the reverse lights from the gearbox. Just had to clean the plugs and it was all good

But I would check your globes and all fuses as well, check for voltage at the connector for the plug if you dont want to loop it and see what you can find

[Jack0R33]

I have a similar issue, but different in a way. I haven't checked it completely, but when i put the car into reverse and start reversing, the reverse lights blink, they're not on or off, they're blinking. I'll look to see if it's a random blink or if there is a steady pattern and when it starts to blink.

[Jack0R33]

I figured out what mine was, when i shift into reverse flimsily (if that makes sense), the reverse lights don't always turn on, i need to give it a slight touch pushing it to the left, in the direction of the passenger seat, and it flicks on with no problems.

So basically, if i shift into reverse and pull to the right a bit, the light is off, if i leave it in the middle it could flicker, but if i push it to the left and leave it, then it's always on. So i don't see a problem with mine because all i need to do is shift a little bit more purposefully and it'll work.

PS: Don't need to hold it in the left position to keep it on, just a push into that position secures it there.