hi all... backup lights on my new crappy old 97 legacy brighton wagon don't work. dug in to the switches on driver's side of transmush - the rear switch went on in reverse, off in neutral; wire to rear sw had 4.7 volts key on/off.

the front switch stayed off whether in neutral or reverse; wire to front sw had 12v key on. jumping the wire from the front sw turned on the backup lights. Can't swap connectors since they are keyed differntly, but I can certainly swap the switch positions. would have to test the 'do nothing' switch after removal.

 

question 1: what does the neutral sw do?

q2: was something reversed and the lights probably never worked?

 

thanks

The switch that you measured 4.7 volts on is the neutral position switch. It connects to the ECU, and allows it to determine whether you're in neutral or in gear. The voltage should drop to less than a volt when in gear.

 

The other switch, with the 12 volts on it, is the back-up light switch, and apparently is the problem area.