Neutral Switch on a Manual? (reverse lights in here also)

[DanP]

Hello folks,

 

So my reverse lights aren't working - I checked the resistance on the switch when the stick was in reverse and got about 3.0 ohms (too high right? - must be broken?). I tested the neutral switch and got no continuity no matter where the gear shift was. Both the reverse switch and the neutral switch are covered in oil from a seal leak.

 

So is my neutral switch broken too?? Does my electrical system need to know whether my car is in neutral with a manual transmission. I'd have to brush up on PCV system and idle controls to have a good sense for whether the computer would use that switch for neutral engine control.

 

Any help would be appreciated - about the neutral switch or the 3.0 ohms through the reverse switch. I found some good info on the reverse switch by searching the board. I like the idea of jumping the leads and seeing if the reverse lights come on.

 

Thanks for any info,

Dan

[Hondasucks]

It really should be close to 0 with the switch closed, but 3 ohms is good enough to make the lights work. That other switch might be your 4WD switch... Check for power at the switch with the car on and in reverse, should be power on both sides. If you only have power on one side, it's the switch..

[Guest lothar34]

Does it have cruise control? The ECU might use the neutral switch to make sure you don't push the transmission out of gear with the cruise control on.

 

I know the cruise control cuts off if you push the brake or clutch, but I don't know what it would do if you accidentally pushed the stick back to neutral. Anybody out there wanna try and get back to us on it?

[Hondasucks]

I know the 85 wagon I had, if you shifted without the clutch the shift light wouldn't go out. (And if you put the clutch in and then back out it would go out for a lil bit until it sensed that you hadn't changed gears.. weirded me out it could tell if I HADN'T changed gears, but couldn't tell if I had without the clutch...)