Tonight was time for another fix up on the Metro. It took me a while whilst driving the Metro to figure out, but I've had no backup lights for months now.
From a little digging online I found that the backup light switch, which is in the transmission, eventually goes bad and needs to be replaced. It is the thing with the wires right in the middle of the picture. Super easy to get to, thanks simple car.
When I pulled it out, I found that the tip has been worn down. Now, this really isn't even worn down all that much, we're talking about 1/32 of an inch or so. This kinda bugs me since the whole tip has at least 3/16 of travel in it. Why not place it lower in the transmission Suzuki (the real mfg of this car)???
So, me not wanting to really spend any money on the Metro if I don't have to decides that instead of spending $17 shipped from amazon or rockauto, I'm going to fix it!
Thankfully, the tip is steel, so this wasn't a big deal. I whip out the welder and do some quick work. Yes, clamping on the tip was interesting and fun, but I made it work.
After I put my blog on the tip I ground it back down to the original profile, or quite close. I throw it back in the car and yay, backup lights work again... then they stop after a few throws into reverse... blah.
So, I take it out again and I test the switch. It does in fact work. If I push the plunger with my finger it works just fine. Back to the welder it goes again, this time I put a bigger blob on extending the entire tip about 1/32 to 1/16 of an inch. Again, I grind down the outer diameter so it actuates smoothly.
Back in the car, it works beautifully and I can actually SEE when backing up. More importantly guy/lady on their cell phone in a parking lot can see me when backing up.
