I cannot believe the irony.

My wife's Subaru Legacy is in the shop today for normal maintenance and a vehicle safety inspection. The back up light switch in the transmission has failed and needs to be replaced.

Aren't you glad the question wasn't related to a blown engine?

You got that right.

Thanks for that tip... I will follow that lead and check it out.

I was thinking it could be some complicated electronics involved !!

Thanks again

Mine is in the gearbox....

They are called back-up lights. They help one see when one wishes to go backward in the dark. They turn on when the vehicle is shifted into reverse.

Would you believe this: A traffic police-man in south Africa gave a motorist a R100 fine because

"The back-up light only works when the gear selector is in reverse position!"

Have a look at the gearbox...Couple the two wires that leads to the gearbox switch together, switch the ignition on...if the reverse light comes on...the switch is faulty.

Many years ago, (when I was less concerned with correctness) I received a ticket for no liscence plate light because the rear bumper was removed, and the plate was just bolted to the rear support. So smart a$$ installed a brake light with no lens over it. So the next ticket was for dazzeling liscence plate light.

Now how was the a$$, me or the cop?

There is a little man under the seat whos job it is to turn on the white light when you are getting ready to back up, his cousin is probably the little man that turns off the light in your refrigerator when you close the door.

The wiring diagram for it will be found in the Haynes Manual (usual disclaimer) for the vehicle in question.

When I was like 16 and had a 15 YO GF she said, "I didn't know you had headlights in the back of your car?.

The switch was always on the (manual) transmission on my previous vehicles, I haven't looked on my current one.

back in the day, when we swapped out trannies, we would just install a toggle switch in the dash and turn the lights on manually..........fine for backing up, and great for tailgaters :)

If you give us a clue as to what the vehicle is, and what transmission type it is, we can probably steer you to the little man with back up light switch.

what about automatics? .............heard they have wonderfull electronic circuits.....

I don't understand you. Are you trying to tell us that a switch is not part of an electronic circuit?

it's manual.the the switch is located in the gear selector.