Backup lights not working

Check parking lamp relay under hood for parking lights. Then scan for codes as I tmay be the central timer module in kick panel. And check purple wire on whatever engine you have to see if power is going from there if it gets to back up light then it's a ground problem or short in wiring.

Sjweir
Aug 12, 2015.

Thanks but it was the reverse back up light on the transmission.

Hello,

If the fuses are good it sounds like the reverse light switch which is the gear range sensor here is the location so you can check it out.

Please let us know if you need anything else to get the problem fixed.

What happens to the radio display when you turn on the running lights and when you adjust the dimmer rheostat? Do the tail lights work?

Rats. The original radio would have cut the diagnostic time in half. Instead of a simple dash light rheostat, they use pulse-width dimming, which means a computer module is involved. I'm going to have to dig for a service manual to see exactly how the system is wired. In the meantime, if you can find a rheostat in a salvage yard, substituting it would be the quickest way to determine if the old one is defective.

These have an extremely low failure rate on Chrysler products. One thing though that can take them out is the wire to the radio. If that is not sealed well and it touches the metal case of the radio, that could damage it. The most common thing I've run into when aftermarket radios are involved is when the installer hacked off the original plugs, then covered the bare ends with electrical tape. Tape will unravel into a gooey mess on a hot day.

Yup. If that's built into the headlight switch and it looks like a metal spring wrapped up in a circle, you have the older style. Then we have to look somewhere else. With either type, check the terminals in the connector to see if any are black or discolored, or if the plastic connector body is melted.

Just so I'm clear, is the dash light rheostat built into the head light switch, or is it a separate wheel on the dash, next to the head light switch?

Do you see that curved spring inside a ceramic white disc? If you have that, check if there's voltage on it around the middle, when the head light switch is pulled out to the running light position.

If you have the common older-style rheostat, it will be an off-white ceramic disc, about 1 1/2" in diameter and about 1/2" thick, near the knob end of the switch. On one side will be a groove all the way around that the wire-wound resistor sits in. THAT is what looks like a spring. You'll also see a little contact touching that spring.

The cluster could have a problem, but for all of the lights to not work, the likely cause would be a loose pin in one of the connectors. Those can usually be soldered to the copper circuit, but you have to be careful if that is a flexible plastic sheet. Overheating it will melt the circuit.