Newbie here. I just purchased a 1988 Toyota 4Runner this weekend. I bought it knowing that the back up lights did not work. The previous owner believed it was a neutral start switch that was faulty. I went through his receipts and found that he had purchased a new one in 2000. Would the switch go bad in 5 years? Is there anything else short of the bulbs and fuses that would cause this? Evidently the switch works intermittantly. When I backed out of the drive after purchase the lights worked and now nothing. Thanks for any info you might have. I also have an automatic tranny.

Bump....bump...I have the same "intermittent" problem with my backup lights, same auto tranny 1st gen, ect....ect.....anybody?
Oh yeah, welcome to the forum!

First off have you checked the fuse and bulbs?

there is a connection under the truck, by the transfer case. it connects the wires from the front of the truck, to the wires running to the rear. check that. i'll take a pic here in a minute and post it for ya, it'll be small but it works. i didn't have back up lights for a while and found that the two connecters weren't connected.

this is on the drivers side of the transmission, and the wire runs over the top of the tranny to the pass. side, then out to the back of the truck.

I will have to take a look and see if I can find it. I'm about as sharp as a bowling ball when it comes to these things. I don't have a garage and it is wet and cold in Iowa! but i'll brave it later to find out.

Thanks for your input

Have you used a high pressure sprayer on your truck recently? I had similar problems after washing my truck one particular time. I didn't know it until a Vail, Colorado police office pulled me over for having no rear lights whatsoever. I had to open the rear hatch to get to my paperwork. When I closed the rear hatch, one of the tail lights turned itself on, so I banged on the other one and voila!!! It came on also. It ended up burning out the next day, so I replaced both lamps at the same time. It is a known issue that replacing only one 4Runner taillight will cause it to burn out. It is best to replace them in pairs.

I know this isn't exactly what you asked about, but somehow I had gotten water in there and that had caused the problems. Hopefully your problem is something similar and it will dry out soon.

-S

BTW, the police officer was cool about it, especially after I got them working and he let me off with a warning.

I am in iowa too, quad cities.

Keokuk Iowa here.

I hope it is something besides the switch. That switch is $238 from Toyota and $115 from Auto Zone. Either way its a lot of money to have back up lights!

OT....

Urbandale here. My wife is from Danville which is in your direction. I've been as far south as Ft. Madison but not to Keokuk.

Duke, I'll be in the quad cities in Feb. for Jerry Seinfeld. My wife's been there many times but I haven't been there yet.

I"m not real mechanically inclined so is this a DIY project if I have to replace the switch or should I take it to a mechanic ($70/hr for labor here)

Is he at penguines? ?? I wouldnt be to excited for the QC trip, but then again comming from anywhere else in iowa the QC might be a big deal.

I have the only lifted toyota truck in town, and my friend has the only lifted 4runner. ( first gens as far as I know ) so flag us down if you wana say hi.


back to the question,

I think the switch is a real simple project, you can do it.

Thanks. Just what I needed a vote of confidence!

We had thunderstorms last night so I couldn't take a peek. Where do I access this switch? Will I have to remove anything to get to it? Thanks.