Hey guys, i'm confused i have a 99 Dakota 5.2 4x4 and my reverse lights do not work at all, they worked sometimes, then stopped, i put new bulbs in and nothing, tested for power at the bulb socket and there is 12 volts!! but.. as soon as i put the bulb in the voltage drops to 0 volts and the bulb does not light up.. i'm really confused, if anyone has any ideas let me know. Thanks i appreciate it!

 

When you're testing for power what are you using for a ground?

The ground in the socket might be bad OR you may have a high resistance in the feed to the light, possibly a bad switch or dirty connection.

What transmission do you have?

 

the older mopars have a back up sw on the trans. the selector comb, inside the trany, turns on the back up light. and the adjustment is tricky some times. i only guess the newer ones are kind of alike. a factory manual should show you what you need to know.

 

Yeah not sure but if you're a manual, it could be the switch on the transmission. Mine went... still haven't fixed it lol

 

its got the automatic 4 speed, but it seems that the switch works because if i put it in any other gear the 12volts is gone, and if i put it in reverse the powers back, but the second i put the bulb in.. theres no power again.

 

the automatic 4 speed, i used the sockets ground also i've tried grounding the bulb on another surface and still nothing.

 

In '00 there is a connector towards the back of the LH front fender that feeds both the backup lamps. There is also a connector at each lamp themselves. Check at these points, it may have some corrosion present if you're getting voltage.

It's a violet with black tracer wire.

Check the fuse for corrosion too.

 

thanks, ill give it a shot, didnt know about the connector in the front fender.

 

didnt work, still have no reverse lights...

 

Can you jump the switch on the transmission and then see if your lights work.

There may be a high resistance in the switch itself.