[Davros-1]

My Daughter has bought her first car, four door Vitara Estate auto. Sweet too, new 2ltr V6 and very capable. Reverse light just stopped working - any wisdom on what and where to look for the likely issue? I don't know if this would be a common fault, and have already noted a plug buried in solid mud and dried snot aft of the gearbox...

[fordem]

Start with the reverse light bulbs - if those are good, then start worrying about the switch.

[Davros-1]

Yep, that's the first thing I went through, even had new bulbs ready but not often they both fail the same moment so wasn't that surprised they tested fine.

[swifty_ano]

Fuse?
Then test voltage at bulbs at the rear? If nothing, under the somewhere near the gearbox should be a reverse switch plug. Test voltage there.
Also note, I think there is one at the t/case there should be a 4wd switch.

If not.....no idea how to change those haha

[fordem]

If the bulbs are "known" good, hook up a test meter and see what voltage you get to them, then work back from there - do you have voltage at the switch? do you have voltage to the switch?

The plug "aft" the gearbox is probably the 4WD switch on the transfer case, the reverse light switch should on the gearbox itself.

[Davros-1]

Cheers for that. Makes sense the reverse switch is on the main gearbox. I reckon it's corrosion from the snot encasing that switch - but good advice to use a test light to prove where the power is actually getting...

[Boatbeard]

Just to resurrect a dead post...

I've taken over her car.

Turns out there are three (?) switches on/in the auto that can have any one or combination thereof fail - and completely randomly at that...

Cure = ignored it and hoped it would go away and just as always it still works. Or not.

Fitted a manual switch and everyone is happy, yay for living in SA.

[Gwagensteve]

Except it won’t be any of those three switches- the grease dries up in the inhibitor switch and the contacts stick. It’s a very quick and easy fix. The next thing that will happen after the reverse lights stop working is the car won’t start or you’ll need to rock the shifter back and forwards to get it to fire.

I’m speaking from experience, this is what happened in my vitara auto.

Search for xj cherokee inhibitor switch fix. They use the same auto and the fix is well documented on YouTube and forums. No special skills or tools are required.

[fordem]

I may have missed that we were dealing with an automatic transmission before - I've never seen one with three switches, and the 03-72LE used on the 2.0 V6 Vitara Estate certainly doesn't. The reverse light switch is part of the neutral safety switch on the right side of the transmission.