Reverse lights won't shut off

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brandon2701

brandon2701
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I'm installing a new B&M pro ratchet shifter and going from column shifter (stock) to console shift (aftermarket)......I have located my back-up light switch and have re-routed it to the new shifters switch. and now the back up lights wont turn off, any help would be fantastic thanks a bunch. The car is a 68' dart 270 originally with a slant six and was a column shift but now has a 360 w/ a console shift the car is an automatic and i now have a reverse manual valvebody in case any of this info helps you understand any tweaks the car might have. Thanks a bunch.
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2 wires. When they are connected the lights come on. When separated the lights are off. The problem would have to be in the switch adjustment.
Do you know if you have a normally open or normally closed switch ?
 
when i took off the stock switch is appeared to be closed then open when i moved the lever back and forth. and yeah its 2 wires and yes again to the wires part. why does it matter if the swtich is closed or opened? and can you tell me how to adjust either way that way if i am wrong then i can still adjust it. thanks
 
A brake light switch is a good example of a normally closed switch. To push the button on it opens the contacts.
Some switches are dual toggle. It would have 3 contacts. 2 normally open and 2 normally closed.
 
Well Red, it should not matter what the switch "is." If B&M had it set up correctly, it should only be CLOSED in reverse

Either the switch is out of adjustment on the shifter,

the shifter is out of adjustment with the gearbox

the switch is bad

or it's wired wrong.

What Red is referring to is "when a (spring loaded) switch is at rest"

A spring loaded switch, laying on the table, with the plunger or lever NOT pushed in by you or a linkage, and that will NOT complete a circuit, is "open" and is referred to as "normally open" or n.o.

A three terminal switch that switches contacts --that is, center pin to one, then switches center to the "other" ALWAYS has one set of "normally open" contacts and one set of "normally closed" contacts. When you actuate the switch lever/ plunger, it switches to the opposite set of contacts. these are normally labeled with one contact "n.o." the center "c" for "common" and the closed one "n.c."

But B&M should have this documented. The switch they want you to use for reverse, should be all set up and marked in the destructions.
 
This diagnosis applies to all electrical problems! :icon_smi:
67Dart273 said:
Either the switch is out of adjustment ...

the ... is out of adjustment with the ...

the switch is bad

or it's wired wrong.
Click to expand...
What I want to know is where the tail lights appear in the wiring harness. I have the same issue, but it's because my junk was a cobbed up POS before I bought it and the PO never had the backup switch wired at all.

I think I could figure it out if I had a wiring diagram or knew what to look for. I'm pretty sure once I find that wire(s) all I have to do is splice it into the backup switch so it closes the circuit in reverse.

Maybe I'll just leave it idling and start cutting wires util the back up lights either go out or the car quits, whichever comes first. :read:
 
I assume your car is late 70-74? Here's a link to some shop service manuals:

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=132309&highlight=manual,+download

If your neutral safety switch works, the backup light switch should be right there, same switch on the transmission, so that harness should come down from the firewall with the neutral safety going up to the starter relay, and the reverse lights going to the bulkhead connector If you have a 4 speed, same deal, only no neutral safety, of course

About 8-147 of the '72 manual

shows wires B1-18BK (B1A-18BK) and B2-18BK going to pins "W" and "Z" of the bulkhead connector

50npg2.jpg
 
Yaaay! Now I have some real information to work with!

Thanks, 67Dart. I never even bothered trying to troubleshoot it, just pulled the bulbs. There are/were no wires or plugs of any kind attached to or anywhere near the transmission that I could ever find. Now hopefully I can check continuity at those bulkhead connector pins to verify the location of the reverse lights and re-connect them somewhat similar to how Ma Mopar originally intended.
 
green1 said:
No wires to trans? Wrong.
Click to expand...
What do you mean "wrong?" You ever seen my car? It is a resto-mod that was originally an automatic, now a 4-speed and I did not do the conversion. But I've had both the trans and the engine out and I can assure you there are not now and has not been for at least 5 years or more (as long as I've owned it) any wires going to the transmission. And the rest of wiring that was there when I got it has been mostly replaced by me because it was all crap.

Just a few more loose ends to tie up. Front markers and something else, I forget now...
 
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