355 reverse lights not working

Hello All,
I just found out the my reverse lights do not come on. I checked the bulbs and the fuse. I just took apart the center console and tested the switch with a volt-meter and the switch seems ok. The turn signals work. What else can I check?
Thanks,
--tony

Hi Tony,

Is there power at the switch? If so, check that there is power at the rear harness plug, at the sockets, and if so check the ground wires.

The 348 has a button for the reverse light under the shift gate. It needs to be adjusted out far enough, so that when the gear lever is put in reverse, it pushes the button turning the reverse lights on. There is a nut that locks it down once it has been adjusted. Since the 348's and 355's are similar, yours my have come loose, if you have the same button, and may need to be adjusted and tightend down.

Hi JR, Ernie,

I had 11.8 volts at the rear harness plug. I did a continuity check on the front harness plug connected to the switch and it seemed to be OK. The lights work when I jump the rear harness. So I thought it was a bad switch. I connected everthing back up and they worked! Drove to work, I am back home and it they do not work again, arggg!. I wonder if the harness connections worked loose somehow. I will try to "squeeze" the metal prongs a little and reconnect the harness. Luckily it is just one screw to remove to access the harness.

Thanks again guys!
--tony

Well that doesn't sureprise me. Most of the time when something electrical is going wrong with these cars it can be traced back to a bad connection. You should also look to see that you don't have any broken wires.

Thanks Ernie, I just looked again and they all seem OK. Here is what I did, with an ohm meter, I connected both leads to the harness from the switch. If I put the car in reverse (switch pushed in) The circuit is complete, I get a tone from the meter. If I put the leads from the meter in the rear harness, and I turn the ignition key and I manually close the circuit the rear light turn on.

So I know with a closed circuit I can get the lights to come on.

The harness seems nice and tight when I put it back together. Does anyone know what voltage I should be reading at the harness with the siwtch pushed in?

Thanks,
--tony

Tony,
12 volts.

Thanks JR, I get 12V without the front harness connected. With the front harness connected I do not get anything.

I got brave tonight and removed the switch.





The connections look OK. I saw the following numbers on the casing of the switch 0634 and 8k.
I assume the 8K is the resistance. If I use the ohm meter, I get continuity but very little resistance, under and ohm. Is this definite proof that the switch is bad?
--tony

Problem resolved, new switch came in and car is back to 100%... or at least as close to 100% as 355s can get :-)

Thanks all!
--tony