Ok, so I've pretty much come a long way with my 91 bird, love that car to death but I know when it is time to ask for help.
My reverse lights have never worked since I had the car but decided to hold off on that till it is just about ready to go as I thought it would be easy, well now is that time. I have searched all over and cant figure this one out. Here is the information on it, its a 91 305 tpi with a 5 speed. Everything in the car works except reverse lights, all the fuses are good, the switch that is on the left rear of the trans is new and the bulbs are new. I cant even get them to flicker

I called a few friends over, they cant figure it out, everything seems like it is in good shape. I cant figure out why they wont come on and that is the one thing that is holding me back from getting it street legal (Have to pass a brake and lamp inspection)

Does anyone have any ideas of what I could possibly do to fix it? or wire it a different way? Im pulling what little hair I have left out.

 

I've never worked on the reverse lights on a third gen, but I just completely rewired the whole rear light harness section of a 92 Cavalier. It was an automatic.

On the cavalier, when the car went into reverse, the reverse lights powered the whole harness so every bulb lit up except the blinkers.

I would try to identify which bulb is the main reverse light (or which wire) and check it with an ohmmeter. Look for a change in resistance when you put the gear in R.

If you see a change, you're just not getting juice to the tail light bulbs.

If it doesn't do anything, it could mean the switch isn't engaging.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

Ill give that a try tomorrow. Really hope I can solve this asap, thank you for that. Lets hope I can figure this out

 

Idk if its the same on manuals, but I think there should be a reverse light switch underneath the center console, that basically whenever the shift lever goes into reverse, kicks on the lights, its how the autos do it anyways. I would check into that.

 

for your manual trans, the switch should complete the hot (+) circuit.
1st I would see if you have power to the switch.
2nd I would use a jumper wire to the trans plug. to see if I could get the lights to work.
I would also make sure that the bulb socket has a complete ground.
it sounds like you started in the right direction. just keep isolating each section of the backup light wiring.
-my experiences with my 92 wiring with an LT1 swap, and now an T56 for the auto, there's usually something simple (ground wire) that keeps something from working.
my issue wright now is speed-o does not work after install of T56.

 

Should have a switch like this on the tail shaft of your transmission.

http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Det...+50060+2060012

Easy check to see if it's the switch, just unplug the connector and jump the two contacts on the harness together. With the key on, the reverse lights should light.

 

So I got a lamp out and began to work until it became too cold for me, I tried out the lights by putting them on the same power line (blue wire) as the brakes are from the back of the car, they power on just fine so from there that's not the problem there, so I assume it has to be something between the switch on the transmission or maybe a fuse? I couldn't get very far seeing how it is night time now but first thing in the morning I see if I have power at the switch it self and I will check the fuse, If I remember right it should have 2 blue ish color wires and a purple, but Im not sure. I remember someone saying that the reverse light and turn signals share the same fuse? or maybe thats just the manuals?
Im so frustrated right now haha, maybe its good that its too dark to see right now

 

Based on the picture Al Hasse put up, I'd say it's likely the threading has come loose and your shifter isn't bumping into the button any more.

Naturally check all your fuses, but my guess would be the circuit goes like this...

Battery>Fuse>Reverse Switch>Lights>Ground

it could be

Battery>Fuse>Reverse Switch>{Relay}
Battery>Fuse>{Relay = ON}>Lights>Ground

If it's the first one, it's probably the switch. If its the second, it could be this mystery relay, the switch or both. I'd need a wiring diagram to figure it out for sure, but those are so difficult to track down... huah. Any one out there got one?

 

...But if I called it here, I get 50 points.

 

Do I get 50 if its the switch? :P

 

Well 89Camaro89MI, you win 50 points!

I checked every inch of the wire and its all fine, I took the plug from the switch from the transmission and it still worked, the switch is new and that doesnt even work. So I assume its something that isnt making contact with something else? Im still going to experiment with it but I know for sure the problem is at the switch itself. Right now I feel like this is

But I love this car so I must fix it!
Anyone has any ideas how I should go about this? I am walking into unfamiliar territory.

 

THAT IS RIGHT!!!

I'm glad you've got this just about fixed.

Upon review, I did notice Project 3.4 Camaro called it before me. In addition, Al Hasse also provided some crucial information. I propose we split the points.



let us know how it goes.

 

O, but right... the switch should just be bumped into by your shifter.

Maybe the bracket it screws into is a little out of place, or it just wasn't threaded in all the way. ??? I'm kinda lost without having a look.

 

Well this one will be an interesting story. I gave a called to my friends Dad, David, he used to work for GM before he got the boot after 24 years, I told him what was wrong and he said let me come down. He took a look and said that the rod that pushes on the reverse switch is probably broken and that we would have to drop the transmission to get it fixed. Well not being able to actually do that at this point in time I decided to put my guitar thinking to work. I took out the center portion of the arm rest area and exposed the bare shift ****. I found the green wire that goes to the reverse lights and spliced a wire into. I strapped a metal clip to the shift **** itself and wrapped the wire around to touching the tip of that metal clip. Then I put another metal "L" next to the shift lever and put a wire from the cigarette lighter and attached it to the metal L thing next to the shift lever. I had to replace the 20 watt fuse for the interior with a 30 because it blew when I did this but now when I put it into reverse those two wires touch and the reverse lights kick on, this is a really crappy way to have done this but I had to do what I had to do. Its almost the same way a toggle switch on a les paul style guitar works (If it only had one pickup) But thats a whole other beast. I'll take pictures tomorrow and post them here. I can honestly say I hated to butcher the car like that But it works now.

 

Could have even used a toggle switch, tho I doubt that would pass inspection, far as dropping the trans its a pita but its doable without a whole lot of tools, the part that sucks is getting it down and back up with like only 12" of room to work....but you have a manual so you are a lot better off than I was cause your trans weighs half what mine does...let me tell you, getting my trans onto the jack to bolt it back up was a B****, was def easier getting it out...an auto weighs right about 200 lbs...

 

Thats exactly what david said that if I was an auto, I'd have a lot more problems to get that thing out. 200 pounds?!?!? Woah! I dont even weigh 140! Im just thankful that they work. Though I do intend to actually fix it the right way soon

 

140 lbs, male or female? I weigh 160 and I'm a guy of pretty average build, 140 is light for a male, lol. And yeah, 200 lbs is not light, I can deadlift 225, and was able to carry it from my car to the porch barely, but when you are on your back with a car 2" above your nose and can't get under the trans to lift it, or have any range of motion for your arms it is not fun....even with help I barely managed to get it onto the jack to raise it up to get the bolts in, but thats the hardest part, is putting it on the jack to get it back in I would rather do everything else twice, than that once, oh and its even funner doing all that stuff covered in transmission fluid,lol.

 

Im male Im about 5'8. I was a track runner most of my high school life outside of music and still run till this day (Mile record is 5 minutes 31 seconds, No way Ill be able to run that again) yea I am a small guy haha.
Im on my own most of the time working on my car so I am very limited to what I can do because no one can help me because they have no clue what I am talking about haha
Thank god I found this website! I have gotten so many great tips and things to do to help me out with my car and I must thank you guys that have helped with my most recent draw back.

 

Ah, I used to be decent at running,lol never did track or anything though, but I did belt off a 6:36 mile once when I was younger, you don't really need someone tech savvy to help pull a trans, only thing you need them for is to help with the weight, and holding it steady if you are using a regular jack instead of a trans jack.

 

Nice work. I can't tell you how many times I've had to rewire stuff creatively, from my Camaro to my Jackson Warrior or my Crate Half Stack.

Glad it's working. Just try not to set yourself on fire.

 

Haha I will do my best not to do that! That would be a bad day indeed