Alright, so some of you might have remembered the trouble I've been having with the lights. This time, I think I've given up.

Brake lights, turn signals, park lights all work except for back up. I tried the paper clip test and the lights came on, which led me to believe that either the neutral safety switch is faulty or the "rooster comb" inside the transmission is broken. Swapped out the safety switch twice and checked the rooster comb. Both are fine, and still no lights. Any ideas?

You have a bad connection between fuse block and lights. You will find it the last place you look. I know that is a smart assed answer, but it is the one I heard over & over again that drove me nuts growing up when looking for something… Mothers can be very exasperating at times. The other one she liked to dispense was; “it’s lost it’s where it belongs.â€￾

Some where in that circuit there is a loose spade connection, or pinched / broken wire. You need to get a test light and start at the feed end, or rather, fuse block, of the circuit following the car’s wiring diagram step by step, and checking off each section tested until you get to the back bumper.

My car has the back up light switch located at the console’s automatic shifter, and I had intermittently working back up lights, more off than on. The circuit had a jumper that was added to the floor shift cars which plugged into the harness where a column shift car would have had a switch, and passed over to passenger side kick panel via the dash, than under carpet to console, back to dash to drivers side, and than to the rear bumper. I found a badly crimped spade connector in the secondary harness in the passenger’s side kick panel. I had to wiggle, and gently tug on the wires to find the bad connection.

Your car is not wired like my 67, but the parable of tracing each wire, and inspecting every connection in a step by step systematic way is applicable to your car. Somewhere the circuit is open. This includes checking and remaking grounds at the light socket, and checking light sockets for corrosion as well.

A test light with an alligator clip, and ice-pick probe can be had for under 10 bucks, and will be your friend for this project.

Happy hunting

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

I disagree, WJA. The paper clip test turned on the lights, so there's nothing the matter with the wiring or fuse block. The trouble is either that the switch is not being activated by the rooster comb, or the terminals inside the switch connector aren't making proper contact with the switch terminals.

addictedpunk: have a helper stand behind the car (or back it up to a plate glass window if you have no helper) and watch the lights as, with the ignition on, you slowly shift from park to Drive. If the lights flash on at any point, then you do indeed have an issue with the spacing and phasing between the rooster comb and the switch. If not, focus in on the terminals in the switch connector. If they have spread so they don't grip the switch terminals securely, retighten them.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I think I've discovered the problem. I was shifting from P to D and noticed that the lights flashed on, but turned off. I started messing with the gear selector and they flashed on and stayed on for a bit, but then turned off. The gear selector on the steering column is loose. I think that might be it.

Yup -- you need to adjust your steering column's position and tighten its mounts. If the column is rotated relative to where it should be, the reverse light switch engagement won't line up with the reverse gear engagement.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

So I'm guessing full removal of the steering column?

No. Remove the lower dash cover (2 screws) then loosen the bolts that go through the big bracket and into the column jacket, one on each side up near the underside of the dashboard. This should allow you to rotate the steering column. It's best to do this with the trans shifted into Neutral; rotate the column until the pointer lines up exactly with the "N" on the shift quadrant, then hold the column in that position and tighten the bolts. If you're unable to rotate the column, you may have to loosen the bolts holding the column base plate to the floor pan first.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

What about the shift selector itself? The lever is really loose.

Find and fix the slop! You probably need new bushings in the pivots, which start at the base of the steering column (engine side) and continue on down to the trans.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.