Hi, Shannon!
The only thing between the fuse box and the reversing lights is a couple of
bullet wire connectors and the reverse switch mounted on the gearbox, so
there isn't much to fail by shorting except the wiring. If you have a
short, it's probably due to chafed wiring at some point along the harness.
The harness to the lights disappears into the structure behind the right
door and runs from there to the trunk, so it is pretty inaccessible. It is
possible to remove this part of the harness for inspection, but it's a real
pain. If you have access to an ohmmeter, you could check for continuity
between the green/pink wire at the light and the chassis. If you have it,
you have a short. The problem is that the contact between the wire and
the chassis could be intermittent.
You say you connected the clipped wires together. Sorry if I state the
obvious, but did you put in a new fuse, put the car into reverse, and turn
on the ignition switch when you tested the lights? If you did, you should
either have had lights or wires burning. Do you have a fire extinguisher
for your car yet?
When I replaced the gearbox in my car with a rebuilt unit, I got it
completely installed before I discovered there was no place to connect the
wiring to the reverse switch. There was no switch and no place to install
a switch. I just drove it that way until I had to remove the gearbox
again, then I switched the original gearbox top cover, which had the
switch, with the cover that did not. The point is that your lights won't
work unless the switch is there and the wires are connected to it. Good
luck!
Steve Byers
Havelock, NC USA
'73 Midget GAN5UD126009G "OO NINE"
"It is better to remain silent, and be thought a fool
than to speak, and remove all doubt" -- Mark Twain
----------
> From: Shannon <squeedle@khoral.com>
> To: spridgets@autox.team.net
> Subject: Question about reversing lights
> Date: Thursday, April 23, 1998 12:58 PM
>
> My reversing lights don't work - there is evidence of a short at the fuse
> box (scorch marks) and PO just clipped the wire at the fuse box. I
have:
> replaced the bulbs, cleaned out the sockets, cleaned up the contacts, and
> looked for evidence of a short from the front firewall down to the back
> wall. I haven't yet checked after the back firewall.
>
> What I want to know is, are there typical failure modes - somewhere along
> the wiring harness I should check first? Is there anything subtle I need
> to check for? The reversing lights are the only rear lights that don't
> work. I have actually tried just connecting the clipped wires together
> but they still did not work (there wasn't even any arky-sparky).
>
> Shannon
>
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