Fiesta 2009 Mk7(?) no reverse lights

[DarrenNewsgroup]

The reverse lights on my daughter's 2009 Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCi Zetec don't come on.

First question, is this a Mk7 or Mk6 car? Some say 7 and others say 6. The Ford plate on the driver's door says JA8 which I have seen mentioned in engine parts websites.

I have searched the forums about no reversing lights and found useful stuff, mostly pointing to the reversing light switch. This is what I have done so far...

• Checked the 2 bulbs (one each side). They work in another car.
• Checked the 7.5A fuse 3 in the passenger's side fuse box. It buzzes out fine.
• Unplugged the reversing light switch under the bonnet. Yesterday I jacked the car up and unplugged it from underneath (that's how the guy did it on YouTube). This afternoon I realised that I could see it from the top of the engine bay - much easier.
• I inserted some wire between the 2 plug connectors. This should simulate the reversing switch saying "we are in reverse". The lights did not light up with the ignition on (key to II position), nor with the engine on (key to III position). I jumpered the connectors numerous times with different implements, even a single core 16A cable to ensure a good connection.
• With the 2 plug connectors jumpered I measured 0V across the reversing light (of course it didn't light up). I confirmed that the rear side light(?) lit up and had 12V going across it.
• The thing was to try and see what the reversing plug was supposed to be doing. I know the reversing switch is simply an open/closed switch so the 2 plug connectors must feed a voltage from connector pin 1 into the reversing switch and then from the switch back to connector pin 2. This voltage should either be 0V, floating or 12V?
• So I took the rear light cluster and put it in the engine bay next to the battery. I put the cluster on top of a towel to ensure it was insulated and couldn't touch anything accidentally. I jammed a wire into the wire track going to one side of the indicator light and connected the other end to the screw at the back of the battery negative terminal. I jammed another wire into the wire track going to the other side of the indicator light and connected the other end to the battery 12V. The indicator lit up as expected.
• I removed the end from the 12V battery terminal and inserted it into the reversing plug connector pin 1 and turned the ignition on. The light did not light up, so I take it pin 1 does not feed 12V. This makes sense as the reversing switch only needs to break the 12V or the 0V line so break the 0V and don't have a 12V wire running through the engine bay if possible.
• I repeated the same thing but now had pin 1 going to the same indicator light track but the other wire from the other indicator track went to the 12V battery (instead of the 0V screw). I turned the car on and the indicator light did not turn on. I assume this means pin 1 does not have 0V otherwise it should have lit up.
• I tried the same technique using pin 2 and never did the light come on.
• I take it that the wire is floating instead of 0V or 12V. Should it be that?
• I assume all of this means there is a wiring issue or perhaps I subtly missed a step out from the above tests. Should the above have lit the bulb in one of those cases? I would have thought so.
• I might try and repeat the above another day to confirm everything was done correctly (and the fault is elsewhere).

Does anyone know the wiring diagram so I can track it down a bit further.

Thanks

Darren

[casuk]

Had the exact same issue not so long ago and it turned out to be the reverse trigger switch.  replaced and it's all working again, the car audio guy who was installing the reverse camera was at it for ages trying to figure it out doing similar to you but in the end it was the switch,  it's been fine since 

[DarrenNewsgroup]

Thanks for the reply. However when I remove the wiring plug from reverse trigger switch (I assume you mean the one that is the one inside the gearbox) and connect a wire from one pin of the wiring plug to the other pin this should be the same as the reverse trigger switch closing and so the reversing lights should light up. I didn't see that, so I don't see why replacing the switch would fix anything.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful but could someone explain why replacing the trigger switch should work in my case.

Also if I replace the switch does oil come out of the hole and if so do I need to top it back up again or will it just be a few drops? Should I jack up the front of the car to help slow down/prevent oil loss? This hardly seems to be mentioned in other threads.

Thanks

Darren

[King683]

I also have a 2009 fiesta and the Haynes manual says that it is a mk 7. What I think is causing the confusion is that other parts of the world call it the mk 6. I would consider putting the car i to reverse and testing it for continuity to see if it is shorted internally, a multimeter with a continuity buzzer should be sufficient take the electrical connector off and put the multimeter probes on each connector and if the buzzer sounds it in theory good. Hopefully attached is two pictures of the wiring diagram from the haynes manual, one for keyless system and the other with out. Hope that this helps.

[DarrenNewsgroup]

Thanks king683. She has the "without keyless system". I'll try and check it out tomorrow.

[casuk]

12 hours ago, DarrenNewsgroup said:

Thanks for the reply. However when I remove the wiring plug from reverse trigger switch (I assume you mean the one that is the one inside the gearbox) and connect a wire from one pin of the wiring plug to the other pin this should be the same as the reverse trigger switch closing and so the reversing lights should light up. I didn't see that, so I don't see why replacing the switch would fix anything.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful but could someone explain why replacing the trigger switch should work in my case.

Also if I replace the switch does oil come out of the hole and if so do I need to top it back up again or will it just be a few drops? Should I jack up the front of the car to help slow down/prevent oil loss? This hardly seems to be mentioned in other threads.

Thanks

Darren

Im not sure was the guy who done the camera, he was at it for around 2 hours, saying its a loose wire I'm sure if it, but it turned out to be the trigger switch, jump down the scrappy and see if you can pick one up for a few £ and try it, will rule it out if it not the issue 

[DarrenNewsgroup]

Today's update....

Fortunately my new voltmeter (DVM) leads arrived today (my old leads were playing up and unreliable) so I managed to test for 12V using my DVM without resorting to the light cluster.

With the ignition switch set to II position I confirmed that fuse 3 (reversing light) had 12V on it, as did fuse 2 (stop light).

Thanks to King683 I know the (c1/2 in King683's picture) gray wire going into the reversing switch plug should be 12V but it was 0V. This confirmed my previous tests. I inserted a temporary wire into the spade connector side of the (c1/1 in the picture) blue wire of the reversing switch plug and connected this temporary wire to the 12V terminal of the battery. The reversing lights lit up, yay.

This shows the gray wire from the passenger side fuse box to the connector has a fault, either broken wire or the wire has fallen out of the fuse box connection? I couldn't be certain that the reversing switch connector end of the wire was faulty so I cut the 2 wires and then continuity tested both wire ends to their respective spade connector ends. Both were fine. I soldered 2 lengths of wire to both of the cut wires on the connector to make reaching the connector easier in the future. Tomorrow I will solder the connector back to the original gray and blue wires to remake the original wiring (but with the 2 extra lengths of wire).

The only other untested part is the reversing switch itself but that would then be 2 faults. Until I get the wire diagnosed I am not touching the reversing switch. Hopefully when I fix the wire and plug the reversing switch connector back in the lights will light up and job done.

So my question today is how do I get to the back of the fuse box to check if the wire has fallen out? I notice 2 silver bolts on the front of the fuse box. Hopefully it should be a case on undoing those to release the fuse box and hoping that there is enough slack behind it to turn it round and visually inspect the right connection socket/gray wire. If the wire is in properly then it is a broken wire and I need to run a separate wire to the reversing switch plug connector and hopefully the lights will spring into life. 

Nearly there...

Thanks

Darren

[DarrenNewsgroup]

Ok new update.

I confirmed the grey wire from the fuse box to the reversing switch connector is faulty. I need a new wire to run from the fuse box to the grey wire at the reversing switch connector.

I had tried to get to the back of the fuse box but realised as well as the 2 visible bolts there are at least 2 other bolts at the top left that were being obscured by the passenger left side air vent ducting.

As a test I managed to jam a small wire into the F3 fuse hole and then push the fuse into its hole and so holding the wire still. I then connected this wire to the grey wire end of the reversing switch connector (hadn't soldered it to the original wire). So now I had the original blue return white and a new temporary 12V grey wire. I shorted the 2 pins on the other side of the connector (which normally go into the reversing switch) and turned on the car. Thankfully the reversing light lit up. I disconnected the 2 pin shorting wire and carefully plugged the connector into the reversing switch. Turned on the car and no reversing light until I put the car in reverse and then it lit up. This proves it was the grey wire and the reversing switch was fine.

I am now going to get a fuse piggyback connector from eBay so I don't jam a too thin wire into the fuse socket but have an extra short length wire with another fuse that I can then route to the reversing switch connector and solder to the grey wire connector pin. Hopefully the job will then be completed.

Does anyone have a best route from the fuse box to the engine bay? Some say through the firewall and others via the grommet on the passenger door just above the top door hinge.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for all the help.

[Bluff O]

Hi Darren, I found after checking my reverse globe and fuse were ok that it must be wiring or the reverse switch on the gearbox. I removed the connector plug from the gearbox and sprayed it with some WD40 lube oil and plugged it back in and the reverse light worked.

[DarrenNewsgroup]

1 hour ago, Bluff O said:

Hi Darren, I found after checking my reverse globe and fuse were ok that it must be wiring or the reverse switch on the gearbox. I removed the connector plug from the gearbox and sprayed it with some WD40 lube oil and plugged it back in and the reverse light worked.

Thanks for that suggestion. While it doesn't explain my situation (broken wire so no 12V on the wire) it may help someone else when researching no reversing light if they stumble across this thread.

Darren

[DarrenNewsgroup]

I've fixed it! Thanks for everyone's help.

 

Is there a way to edit the title to add RESOLVED?

 

It was the 12V feed wire from the R3 fuse to the reversing light switch in the gearbox. I had to run a new wire from the glove box R3 fuse to the reversing switch connector. The main problem was breaking through the firewall. I found very little on Google and YouTube so I have uploaded some pictures of where I made the hole (circled in blue). Some people had said not to use a screwdriver but that's what I used (a nice long 450mm one with a similar thickness to my wire). I made the first hole from the engine bay (removed battery from the car first). You can see the hole is a little bit away from the main bundle of wires (protected in the large rubber tubing). As I was making the hole I could feel through the rubber grommet that I was pushing into air (safer than pushing into and cutting wires). When the hole was made I carefully pushed forward (through the air) until I came across the other grommet. I got a friend to look inside the glove box to make sure I was pushing against the inner rubber grommet and I was so I pushed the screwdriver and made the second hole. I removed the screwdriver, taped my new wire to the screwdriver and pushed both through both holes (from engine bay to the glove box). Once my friend got the cable he untaped the screwdriver and I pulled it back out. Now we had the wire through the firewall. I bought a piggyback fuse off eBay with a 10A fuse for the crimped cable that it came with (I'll replace it with the correct 7.5A later). I crimped the new wire to this piggyback fuse. I took out the R3 fuse and put it in the piggyback fuse holder (not sure if this is really necessary as that fuse feeds the original dead wire). I then put the piggyback fuse into R3. Now I have power to the wire. In the engine bay I then wrapped the wire around the main loom coming from the firewall and fed it around the battery box. The wire went to the right of the box them along the front before wrapping it around the wiring loom that has the 2 wires going to the reversing switch connector. I went that way around as there seemed to be less potentially moving parts to snag the wire on. Once I had it wrapped around the loom that goes to the reversing switch I soldered the end of the wire onto the grey connector (12V) of the reversing switch and plugged the connector into the reversing switch plug. Reinstalled the battery, turned ignition key to position 2, put car into reverse gear and the reversing light worked! I then put some rubber glue on the hole in the engine bay firewall to seal the hole.

Here are the links to the items I bought.

 

Hopefully this might prove useful to someone else.

 

Piggyback fuse https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254683313167

Halfords 8 Amp Cable Red HEF721 121202 https://www.halfords.com/tools/fuses-electricals-and-fixings/electricals/halfords-8-amp-cable-red-hef721-121202.html

 

Darren