Reverse lights not working...

The message from "Helen Page" contains these words:

You should find the switch on the bottom of the gearlever. IIRC you can peel back the carpet and get at the switch from there. Probably the best bet is to pull the wires off and short them together and see if the light comes on. If it does then it's the switch. Just pulling the wires off and putting them back on may be sufficient. If not you'll need to unscrew the switch and fettle it.

Usually an airleak making the mixture too lean. Since you mention it's happening when you're braking it's even more likely as braking allows a small amount of air to enter the engine via the brake servo.

Either you've a leak somewhere or the mixture is set too lean. Have you had an MOT since it last did it?

Why would you want to fix it? Reversing lights are not mandatory, and aren't tested at MOT time.

In fact the only reversing lights fault you have to repair is where they remain lit when not in reverse, as you shouldn't display a white light on the rear of a vehicle when moving forward. (And before any pedants start, bulbs illuminating a number plate are aimed at the plate itself, not to the rear of the vehicle)

/john

The message from "John Kenyon" contains these words:

While they are not tested at MOT, they /are/ mandatory in that if they're fitted they have to work. A friend has 3 points on her license to show this!

Any lights fitted MUST work ;(

If you take the bulb out does the light count as not fitted?

Surely it's just a transparent piece of plastic if there's no bulb fitted behind.

--Nick.

The message from Nick contains these words:

It's a translucent bit of plastic with a bulb holder and associated wiring, switch and fuse.

Early metros reverse switch is underneath. Reaching it is almost impossible without at least putting the front on ramps. If the wires sre still attached to the switch, then join them and with the ignition on the lamps should come on, if they dont then look elsewhere. Quite frequently the wires become brittle because they are near the exhaust, the wires then snap off from the switch, It is possible to fix temporarily by soldering, but a new switch is best.

mrcheerful

Paint the back of the plastic with black gloss paint, remove the switch and bin the fuse. A piece of snipped wire may not count.

--Nick.

The message from Nick contains these words:

Notify insurance company of modification.

That's just damned silly.

And one of my cars has a Lucas lamp on the back that I'm sure must have been fitted as a reverse light. However, they aren't standard on that model even though there appears to be a switch on the gearbox, and the lamp doesn't work and isn't wired up anyway. So where do I stand? Something that wasn't spec doesn't work.

Same as if I put rear lenses on a Mini that didn't have reverse lights, but I used 3 lens units - There'd be no standard reverse lights, no wiring, no bulbs, just translucent white plastic. Do they need to work to keep plod happy or not?

Can't cost much.

--Nick.

She shouldn't have pleaded guilty/accepted the penalty then. The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 (SI 1989 No 1796) paragraph 23 clearly omits reversing lights from the list of lamps which must be maintained.

The majority of police officers don't have a clue about the difference between mandatory and optional equipment, and just fall into the trap of "if its fitted then it must work". Spare tyres, reversing lights, passenger side door mirrors (when a usable windscreen fitted mirror is available), nearside rear foglights, rear wash wipe, front fogs...

/john

Incorrect. Go and visit:

find out which lights have to be in working order.Reversing lights are NOT listed! /john

Unless it's on when driving forwards. Besides I'm obviously strange as I find it easier to see where I'm reversing in the dark with reversing lights than 2 dim red tail lights.

I tend to drag the brakes a touch when reversing into a tight spot at night, so the brake lights illuminate the way. Not as good as decent reverse lights, but good enough when the car doesn't have them fitted :)

Yeah, they do come in handy when reversing in the dark, brake lights help but aren't great, luckily the worst I can do parking outside my house is bump the kerb if I go back too far.

And of course reversing lights come in handy for letting drivers behind know I'm about to start moving towards them! LOL

Will see if I can get to it when I next work on the car - it's way to hot today, I almost fried sticking the rearview mirror back on! (heat had loosened the glue on the stickypad I botched it back on with a while ago!) How do I "fettle" the switch?

No, MOT was back in October. As it's not backfired lately (and I did a

160-mile round trip recently), can I assume it was just a slightly iffy tankful of petrol?

Oh what fun... ;) Well, I'll see if I can see anything myself but I guess I'll probably end up at the local garage (good people who don't take advantage of a lone female driver :) ). How much should it cost to fix?

The message from "Helen Page" contains these words:

Depends on the switch. Many are "sealed" and can be opened with care so you can find out why they're not working. The wife's Clio window switches were like that - the spring that was supposed to provide the contact force didn't. Does now 'cos I've bent 'em a bit.