I discovered the other day that my reverse lights are permanently on. Doesn't matter what gear is selected, doesn't matter whether I'm driving or stationary, they remain on until the engine is switched off!

Any ideas on where to start with this, and how I might go about fixing it? I'm not sure to start with this, and would appreciate any useful advice more knowledgeable people may care to share.

auto or manual?

possibility is the neutral safety switch on the transmission

(had a ZK fairlane with this issue, and it turned out to be that switch causing the issue - drilled it out a bit and it worked perfectly from then on)

It's a manual.

check the reverse switch on the gearbox
pop the bonnet then take a look at the gearbox, should be a plug with two wires on it
this is the switch that controls your reverse light
pull it out and have alook, if thats not the problem then the wire may be making contact somewhere along the line

check the reverse switch on the gearbox
pop the bonnet then take a look at the gearbox, should be a plug with two wires on it
this is the switch that controls your reverse light
pull it out and have alook, if thats not the problem then the wire may be making contact somewhere along the line

Thanks for that, got it in one. I found the plug without any trouble, and when I pulled it off the switch appeared to have burned out (and the plastic had partially perished as well). $20 for a new one from AutoOne, will replace it tomorrow.

Well, it took a bit longer to get around to doing the job, since the damn thing only turned up today!!!

Anyway...

Replacing it was literally a 30sec job, piece of cake. Unclip the plug, unscrew the old one, screw in the new one, clip the plug back on. Done!

Only problem is that now I don't seem to have any reverse lights at all. Bugger. That's better than having them on all the time (got some interesting looks at traffic lights, lol), but still not a solution. Does anyone know how to test these switches to verify they work? I haven't seen anything like it before (connections for 2 wires at one end, a ball-bearing contact at the other), so I'm not entirely certain how it's meant to operate (other than in the obvious broad operational sense).