No reverse lights?!?! Any Ideas?!?

ok, i have a 89 F-150 with the HD 5 Speed 4.9L . When I put the tranny in 5th, AND Reverse, the back up lights light up. I have them disconnected now, being that driving with reverse lights are a ticketable offence. I bought this truck this way, and the only thing i was told was he was doing something and a tooth was "off one" but it was all brass and he didnt want to mess with it. Does anyone have any idea why the reverse lights light up in 5th?!? Thanks!

Eric

89 F-150 197,800 K Miles

Did you try a new back-up light switch?

nope, figured it works because it works in reverse, is there some sort of linkage in it or something? just figured it was a basic on off thing.. i dunno

It is just an on/off switch. If it works on the the rev/5th shift rail. Which will have some detents in it to engage certain positions on the switch. The easiest thing would be to pull off the switch and check for continuity in different positions. Switches can do some weird things. The only other thing would be something not set proper in trans. But there should be shifting problems. I'm not real familar this paticular transmission. Just all manual and automatics. Good luck