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so far I've followed the wires into the trunk and unpluged them and replaced the whole wires and tail light from a parts car.....still didn't work..so now iam thinking that its the relay on the Transmision but i have no idea where it is or how to go about fixing it...

anyone know how to do this..??

are you manual or auto? that is necessary to know if we are to tell you where the reverse switch is.

5 speed..it clicks in fine..but the lights just dont come on...

Assuming everything else works ok, the fuse should be alright (METER fuse under the dash). It also does the dash lights and a couple of other things.

You'd have to think its the switch on the gearbox. The switch is near the bottom and should have a RED / GRN and a BLK / YEL wire running to it. It unplugs (not right at the switch but a little bit above it) so you should be able to test it with an ohm meter pretty easy.

I second that that is the problem, my wire to that sensor got ripped somehow. (must have run something over) The part is like 40.00 from Mazda or jsut get a junk one. The switch is a open/closed type that is pressed by the primary shaft when you switch into reverse. This opens the circuit and releases power to the reverse lights. I'm not sure if the reverse lights run on a relay, but that might be another thing to check. Most of the car's relays are in the engine bay on the passanger side (1"x2" black boxes with a rubber cover) and under the above the clutch pedal and tword the left side (if sitting in the car), but right against the dash) The reverse switch shouldn't go bad.

Ya the sensor on the tranny usually is where the prob is. It is usually the wires that break off of them. Thing to do is find the sensor that goes to the tranny, follow the wires to the plug, Jumper the plug that goes to the Wiring harness on the engine, by Jumper I mean stick a peice of wire that goes from one side to the other, Turn the Key to "ON" (don't start it), then put the Shifter into Reverse. If the lights come on that sensor is your problem.