Need some help!
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Teching In
Joined: Nov 2018
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Need some help! @Kevin Davis , Today 09:21 PM
I have a 1998 Camaro z28 ls1, this car with no motor or transmission when I bought it. Use to be a manual transmission from factory but the owner before me converted it to an automatic setup. I put my ls1 and automatic transmission in the car. I then had a neutral saftey switch installed using a gearshift from an automatic Camaro. I have no reverse lights when backing up but they are getting juice. When I put OEM bulb in nothing happens but if I install an led bulb they stay on all the time. How can I get these reverse light to work properly?
I have a 1998 Camaro z28 ls1, this car with no motor or transmission when I bought it. Use to be a manual transmission from factory but the owner before me converted it to an automatic setup. I put my ls1 and automatic transmission in the car. I then had a neutral saftey switch installed using a gearshift from an automatic Camaro. I have no reverse lights when backing up but they are getting juice. When I put OEM bulb in nothing happens but if I install an led bulb they stay on all the time. How can I get these reverse light to work properly?
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,329
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From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
The backup light circuit is quite simple. Power comes from the TURN / BU fuse to the backup light switch in the right side of a manual transmission or the park/neutral safety switch on the shifter of an automatic on a brown wire. When the vehicle is in reverse, power flows from the switch to the backup lights on a light green wire.
The first thing to check is voltage at the backup light sockets. You should have battery voltage (12V+) at the socket when the ignition is on and the transmission is in reverse (the engine doesn't have to be running so you can test without needing someone in the driver's seat). If the voltage is low or is present with the transmission in other gears then you have a switch or wiring problem. The next step is to move up the line to the switch itself. Test for battery voltage on the brown wire and then for the same on the light green wire when in the reverse position. If you don't have the proper voltage on the brown wire then you have a problem somewhere on the wire between the fuse and the switch (unless your turn signals also don't work in which case the problem could be farther back). If you do have proper voltage on the brown wire but not on the light green wire then the switch is the problem. If you also have proper voltage on the light green wire then there's a problem with the wire between the switch and the lights.
The first thing to check is voltage at the backup light sockets. You should have battery voltage (12V+) at the socket when the ignition is on and the transmission is in reverse (the engine doesn't have to be running so you can test without needing someone in the driver's seat). If the voltage is low or is present with the transmission in other gears then you have a switch or wiring problem. The next step is to move up the line to the switch itself. Test for battery voltage on the brown wire and then for the same on the light green wire when in the reverse position. If you don't have the proper voltage on the brown wire then you have a problem somewhere on the wire between the fuse and the switch (unless your turn signals also don't work in which case the problem could be farther back). If you do have proper voltage on the brown wire but not on the light green wire then the switch is the problem. If you also have proper voltage on the light green wire then there's a problem with the wire between the switch and the lights.
