Reverse Lights Switch Location

Where is the switch that makes the back-up lights come on?

My car doesn't power the Parking Brake light on the dash -- it comes on for
the Self Test cycle when the key is turned on -- and the back up lights do
not work. I was thinking there was someting in common, so I have set about
ripping the center console open. I found the parking light switch, but the
reverse switch is nowhere to be seen from inside the car. Crap! I was hoping
to find a connector that was not plugged in, but that seems to not be the
case.

I found that I have 12v at the tail light housing, but when a lamp is
connected, the volts go away. I think this means that the reverse switch is
very dirty. It will pass voltage, but no current.

I'm using my Bentley to follow the wires out, and the diagram shows the
voltage going into the left lamp housing, then coming back out on another
pin and going to the right housing. This appears to be accurate, if I
measure the voltage on the left side connector, I can make the voltage come
and go by removing and inserting the reverse lamp on the right side. The
lamps are good.




"Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
...
> Where is the switch that makes the back-up lights come on?
>
> My car doesn't power the Parking Brake light on the dash -- it comes on
> for the Self Test cycle when the key is turned on -- and the back up
> lights do not work. I was thinking there was someting in common, so I have
> set about ripping the center console open. I found the parking light
> switch, but the reverse switch is nowhere to be seen from inside the car.
> Crap! I was hoping to find a connector that was not plugged in, but that
> seems to not be the case.
>
>
>

If you have a manual transmission the backup light switch is in a small
threaded plug in the right side of the transmission.
For the automatic it is in the console under the shift lever.


"Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
...
> Where is the switch that makes the back-up lights come on?
>
> My car doesn't power the Parking Brake light on the dash -- it comes on
> for the Self Test cycle when the key is turned on -- and the back up
> lights do not work. I was thinking there was someting in common, so I have
> set about ripping the center console open. I found the parking light
> switch, but the reverse switch is nowhere to be seen from inside the car.
> Crap! I was hoping to find a connector that was not plugged in, but that
> seems to not be the case.
>
>
>

Manual trans.

Can I see the switch just by lifting the car, or is the muffler and heat
shield in the way?




"Jack" > wrote in message
news:GAf0g.2028$7w6.1551@trnddc02...
> If you have a manual transmission the backup light switch is in a small
> threaded plug in the right side of the transmission.
> For the automatic it is in the console under the shift lever.
>
>
> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Where is the switch that makes the back-up lights come on?
>>
>> My car doesn't power the Parking Brake light on the dash -- it comes on
>> for the Self Test cycle when the key is turned on -- and the back up
>> lights do not work. I was thinking there was someting in common, so I
>> have set about ripping the center console open. I found the parking light
>> switch, but the reverse switch is nowhere to be seen from inside the car.
>> Crap! I was hoping to find a connector that was not plugged in, but that
>> seems to not be the case.
>>
>>
>>
>
>

I'm pretty sure that you can get to it without removing anything because
it's at about the same location as the transmission lubricant filler plug
except on the opposite side of the transmission. The heat shield starts aft
of this location.


"Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
...
> Manual trans.
>
> Can I see the switch just by lifting the car, or is the muffler and heat
> shield in the way?
>
>
>
>
> "Jack" > wrote in message
> news:GAf0g.2028$7w6.1551@trnddc02...
>> If you have a manual transmission the backup light switch is in a small
>> threaded plug in the right side of the transmission.
>> For the automatic it is in the console under the shift lever.
>>
>>
>> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Where is the switch that makes the back-up lights come on?
>>>
>>> My car doesn't power the Parking Brake light on the dash -- it comes on
>>> for the Self Test cycle when the key is turned on -- and the back up
>>> lights do not work. I was thinking there was someting in common, so I
>>> have set about ripping the center console open. I found the parking
>>> light switch, but the reverse switch is nowhere to be seen from inside
>>> the car. Crap! I was hoping to find a connector that was not plugged in,
>>> but that seems to not be the case.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>

Cool. Thanks. I'll look for it tomorrow.

Did you see my other post about why I am looking for the reverse switch? I
think it is very dirty because I have static voltage at the back up lamps,
but as soon as I insert the lamp, the voltage goes to 0. I suspect there is
voltage but no current, I think this is a result of a very dirty switch.




"Jack" > wrote in message
news:h9g0g.2041$7w6.388@trnddc02...
> I'm pretty sure that you can get to it without removing anything because
> it's at about the same location as the transmission lubricant filler plug
> except on the opposite side of the transmission. The heat shield starts
> aft of this location.
>
>
> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Manual trans.
>>
>> Can I see the switch just by lifting the car, or is the muffler and heat
>> shield in the way?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Jack" > wrote in message
>> news:GAf0g.2028$7w6.1551@trnddc02...
>>> If you have a manual transmission the backup light switch is in a small
>>> threaded plug in the right side of the transmission.
>>> For the automatic it is in the console under the shift lever.
>>>
>>>
>>> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> Where is the switch that makes the back-up lights come on?
>>>>
>>>> My car doesn't power the Parking Brake light on the dash -- it comes on
>>>> for the Self Test cycle when the key is turned on -- and the back up
>>>> lights do not work. I was thinking there was someting in common, so I
>>>> have set about ripping the center console open. I found the parking
>>>> light switch, but the reverse switch is nowhere to be seen from inside
>>>> the car. Crap! I was hoping to find a connector that was not plugged
>>>> in, but that seems to not be the case.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>

or a bad ground. Any source of high resistance can yield this symptom.


"Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
...
> Cool. Thanks. I'll look for it tomorrow.
>
> Did you see my other post about why I am looking for the reverse switch? I
> think it is very dirty because I have static voltage at the back up lamps,
> but as soon as I insert the lamp, the voltage goes to 0. I suspect there
> is voltage but no current, I think this is a result of a very dirty
> switch.
>
>
>
>
> "Jack" > wrote in message
> news:h9g0g.2041$7w6.388@trnddc02...
>> I'm pretty sure that you can get to it without removing anything because
>> it's at about the same location as the transmission lubricant filler plug
>> except on the opposite side of the transmission. The heat shield starts
>> aft of this location.
>>
>>
>> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Manual trans.
>>>
>>> Can I see the switch just by lifting the car, or is the muffler and heat
>>> shield in the way?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Jack" > wrote in message
>>> news:GAf0g.2028$7w6.1551@trnddc02...
>>>> If you have a manual transmission the backup light switch is in a small
>>>> threaded plug in the right side of the transmission.
>>>> For the automatic it is in the console under the shift lever.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
>>>> ...
>>>>> Where is the switch that makes the back-up lights come on?
>>>>>
>>>>> My car doesn't power the Parking Brake light on the dash -- it comes
>>>>> on for the Self Test cycle when the key is turned on -- and the back
>>>>> up lights do not work. I was thinking there was someting in common, so
>>>>> I have set about ripping the center console open. I found the parking
>>>>> light switch, but the reverse switch is nowhere to be seen from inside
>>>>> the car. Crap! I was hoping to find a connector that was not plugged
>>>>> in, but that seems to not be the case.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>

Let's discuss the bad ground for a moment. The ground for all of the tail
lights is the same, but only the reverse lights are giving me trouble. If
the ground was the source of my issue, wouldn't the other lamps exhibit some
kind of strange behavior?





"Jack" > wrote in message
news:k6n0g.433$_s5.330@trnddc04...
> or a bad ground. Any source of high resistance can yield this symptom.
>
>
> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Cool. Thanks. I'll look for it tomorrow.
>>
>> Did you see my other post about why I am looking for the reverse switch?
>> I think it is very dirty because I have static voltage at the back up
>> lamps, but as soon as I insert the lamp, the voltage goes to 0. I suspect
>> there is voltage but no current, I think this is a result of a very dirty
>> switch.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Jack" > wrote in message
>> news:h9g0g.2041$7w6.388@trnddc02...
>>> I'm pretty sure that you can get to it without removing anything because
>>> it's at about the same location as the transmission lubricant filler
>>> plug except on the opposite side of the transmission. The heat shield
>>> starts aft of this location.
>>>
>>>
>>> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> Manual trans.
>>>>
>>>> Can I see the switch just by lifting the car, or is the muffler and
>>>> heat shield in the way?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Jack" > wrote in message
>>>> news:GAf0g.2028$7w6.1551@trnddc02...
>>>>> If you have a manual transmission the backup light switch is in a
>>>>> small threaded plug in the right side of the transmission.
>>>>> For the automatic it is in the console under the shift lever.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
>>>>> ...
>>>>>> Where is the switch that makes the back-up lights come on?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My car doesn't power the Parking Brake light on the dash -- it comes
>>>>>> on for the Self Test cycle when the key is turned on -- and the back
>>>>>> up lights do not work. I was thinking there was someting in common,
>>>>>> so I have set about ripping the center console open. I found the
>>>>>> parking light switch, but the reverse switch is nowhere to be seen
>>>>>> from inside the car. Crap! I was hoping to find a connector that was
>>>>>> not plugged in, but that seems to not be the case.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>

Jeff Strickland wrote:
> Where is the switch that makes the back-up lights come on?
>
> My car doesn't power the Parking Brake light on the dash -- it comes on
> for the Self Test cycle when the key is turned on -- and the back up
> lights do not work. I was thinking there was someting in common, so I
> have set about ripping the center console open. I found the parking
> light switch, but the reverse switch is nowhere to be seen from inside
> the car. Crap! I was hoping to find a connector that was not plugged in,
> but that seems to not be the case.
>
>
>


There is a switch that screws into the side of the transmission (you
have a manual gearbox as I recall).

He

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...& hg=23&fg=15

Item #15

--
-Fred W

Jack wrote:
> or a bad ground. Any source of high resistance can yield this symptom.
>

No, a bad ground would cause the 12V to be there any time the shifter
was in reverse (with or without the bulb in) but the light would still
not light.


--
-Fred W