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ReverseLight '67E

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After 20 years of ownership I decided it was time to connect the reverse lamp. In the spare tire well are two wires (not original) coming from the reverse lamp. The reverse lamp socket had two hot buttons and the bulb had two hot buttons as well. The book shows a single Green-Brown wire going to the reverse lamp. That wire was under the left hand boot floor with a piece of tape on end. Using a voltmeter I found with the lever in R and ign on, 12V. I used ohmmeter to make sure one of wires coming out of lamp was not ground, and connected it to the active harness wire. The lamp lit. Hah that was easy. But not so fast, turns out the lamp lit whether gear level in R or not, just needed ign. on. So maybe switch, I assume in gearbox, is bad? How about the double pole lamp fixture? Having driven car for 20 years without lamp no rush but any ideas?
Jay, '67 Etype
 
Depends on what type of double contact bulb.
If it's single-filament, those were often used in US marques for interior lights (to avoid grounds).
1003? 1004? something like that.
If double filament, then one wire in and case is ground, choose high or low intensity (and watch out for lense melt on high intensity).

Does the 12V signal go away when you shift out of reverse?

The first paragraph was for information only.
Just to make sure there isn't something else, like old fuel pump wires that you connected to.
12V feeds the reverse switch, and bets are there is a reason the PO had the wires diconnected and taped off.

Switch, yes, maybe.

However, if I recall my MK2, it's a push-to-contact, so it may just be stuck.
Try removing the switch, and work it by hand to see if it will free up, then order a new one if it's stuck.

If the solenoid (metal rod) is stuck in, it's bad, but with most Lucas stuff, you can get them apart and clean the corrosion out.
Wires may be touching on the switch.
That would be a semi-easy fix with movement and a hot glue gun to stabilize them.

Dave
 
Sorry, guess my writing skills are not what they use to be. The wire is the correct color according to wiring diagram for the reverse lamp (green-brown) and the problem is that the light is on whether the lever is in reverse or not, meaning if you shift out of reverse it does not go off. I assumed the wire was taped off since that was a way of stopping light from going on. Thanks for the info on bulbs, By the way, where is the reverse switch?
Thanks, Jay
 
Top cover of the transmission.
Gotta pull the console and tunnel.
I don't think you can access it from the shifter boot.
 
Cover must be removed for access. Put an ohm meter on th' switch and TAP it to see if it will open (go to zero ohms).


It really IS likely th' switch is at fault.
 
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