Reverse Lights Not Working

Was installing some stronger bulbs in my back up lights. Put the first bulb in; it worked. put the second one in and the lights stopped working. the brake lights still work and i cant find any blown fuses.

I was using Philips 156828 50-Watt 12-Volt GY6.35 Base T4.

anyone have any idea what happened?

did i melt a wire? i figured a fuse would go before that happened.

 

Reverse polarity, it should fix it

 

i already tried. no dice

 

Seems to me if you plugged the first lamp in and it worked fine then the second one makes neither of them do nothing now it's a blow fuse. Did you try to plug the old lamps back in to see if they work? If the old ones worked when you removed them and they don't now I would say blown fuse? Maybe double check the fuses.

 

The stock bulbs do not work either now. What fuse should the back up lights be on ? The tail lights are fine. And I'm pretty sure I checked every other fuse

 

Did you look at the fuse box on the driver's side under the steering wheel?

 

100 watts of backup lights? Still that is only about 8 amps should not have blown a fuse unless it was only 10 amp. A light bulb does not care about polarity an LED does.

 

Yes I did

 

there is a possiblity you took out a switch but it's important to test both power and grounds at the bulbs.

 

Dumb question? With all the checking you have been doing - do you still have the vehicle in reverse and the ign on?? If you bumped the key or the shift it could be not getting voltage....

 

Yeah I made sure of it a bunch of times to make sure i wasnt going crazy

 

Try shutting down the ignition and waiting 15 sec and re trying???

If no help.. Your gonna have to get a multimeter and check for 12v across the two wires at the plug. Swap the tester wires if the voltage reads negative.
if NG then test one of the two wires to frame ground should be 12v

 

I have done all of these things I just wanted to see if anyone had a similar problem and could tell me that I shorted 2 wires at "x" connecter. I think I'm going to have to follow the wire up to the cab. Anyone have any tips for that?

 

I'd repeat the procedure at the transmission switch...Then you know if it's before or after the trans switch.

 

try checking the fuse box under the hood

 

On MY truck (2012) the manual says fuse 8 at the dashboard fuse box for TRAILER backup lights and Fuse 9 for IG1 Back-up lights, air conditioning system,
shift lock system, audio system

 

From another thread ... post #2
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/94979-reverse-lights-arent-working.html

quote "Sounds like the reverse gear light sensor mounted on the transmission. Idea is when you go into reverse, the sensor gets poked and completes the circuit for the back up lights.

On the manual, it is on the passenger side of the transmission and fairly easy to get to. Not sure where it is on the auto transmission. If you disconnect the sensor or the wiring harness from the tranny and bridge the two wire connectors, with your truck ignition in the 'run' position (not running obviously) and gear selector in reverse, you can check if the lights come on.

Just another thought...when inspecting the wiring harness on my 2009 after delivery, noticed that the wiring to this sensor was bent almost to the point of wearing through. Not much slack on the wire. You might check this as an intermittent off/on condition.
End Quote"

another thread mentions that the switch is "adjustable" as the transmission pushes out a poke rod to the switch in reverse. It said that the switch was on the pass side of the manual tranny.

 

thanks. i am kinda coming to the conclusion that the switch is the problem. and a new one is only $19 on Amazon. Prime ftw

 

Two More Thread quote ...

On the manual, it is on the passenger side of the transmission and fairly easy to get to. Not sure where it is on the auto transmission. If you disconnect the sensor or the wiring harness from the tranny and bridge the two wire connectors, with your truck ignition in the 'run' position (not running obviously) and gear selector in reverse, you can check if the lights come on.

From Thread http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/94979-reverse-lights-arent-working.html post # 2 and a later post says something about a crush washer being re-moved and I assume that this means that removing the washer allows the switch to be pushed into the tranny making the switch close???

Quote
Sorry but I have to revive this thread. I ended up purchasing a new back-up light switch back in June. I installed it and it still didn't work. In the end I removed the crush washer and it worked fine, until this week. Same damn thing as last time, it will work intermittent. I have no clue whats going on. Has anyone tore down a 5 spd tranny and know how heavy the arm is that depresses the switch? I am afraid it is end is bending or something. Only way I can explain the odd behavior. unless coincidence got a bum switch as a replacement? Please Help!!

end Quote

 

So I have come to the conclusion that the switch is bad. When I shift into R (6 speed), the "beep" doesn't sound anymore. So I ordered a new one. I guess I should get new bulbs too? I mean I saw other people using 50w bulbs with no problem. Maybe with a new switch it will just blow the fuse like it should have.