Dakota backup lights switch?

From : jmc

Q: well were getting ready to leave this fair but rainy climate for something a little warmer. thusly i had the truck in to have the lights converted back to us standards. over the last three years ive had no backup lights as theyve been rewired to be turn signals - the uk requires white turn signals in back but oddly does not require backup lights. ive hated not having those lights and was looking forward to actually being able to see what i was backing into at night. but alas the mechanic tells me that the lights dont work and theyve traced it to the switch. i of course have little idea what hes talking about. acquiring a part isnt too hard well be back in the usa for a couple months between tours... but is the switch something i can replace myself i dont know if australia requires backup lights or not but i do want them working asap. so my question is where exactly is this switch is it user-replaceable why did the thing break in the first place it was explained that the switch would be activated whenever i put the truck in reverse whether or not its actually lighting the lamps. is that true thanks for any help! jmc .

Replies:

From : tom lawrence

so my question is where exactly is this switch is it user-replaceable why did the thing break in the first place the switch is easy to replace. its on the transmission. need to know year and auto/manual trans to pinpoint it but if you have a manual trans the back-up switch is screwed into the passenger side of the rear housing. with the ignition switch on disconnect the connector from this switch and jump the two terminals in the connector. if the backup lights come on youve got a bad switch. unscrew and replace. on an automatic trans its a combination park/neutral switch and is located on the drivers side very close to the shift linkage. the pinouts here could vary based on your year but if its a three-pin connector one pin will have voltage on it with the ignition on. jumper this pin to both of the others one is the neutral sense the other is the backup lamp feed and check the lights. as above if they come on the p/n switch is bad. this unscrews as well but youre going to leak fluid as you change it so be prepared with a drain pan and replace the lost fluid after youre done. if you dont find any voltage at the connector check for a blown fuse probably did that already but if you have no voltage check again. if voltage is there but jumping the connector pins doesnt light the lamps youve got problems upstream and then you need a wiring diagram to start tracing things out. .