guys.... I have a short in the reverse lights of my 79 Ford F150... My truck was a factory column shift truck that was previously set up as a floor shifter with a hurst on a 3.03.... whoever the previous owner was used the old column collar to shift the reverse lights on.... Due to really bad wiring to begin with I installed a Painless Harness on the truck, and is has fixed all the other issues so far.....

So I didn't have to worry about driving down the road with the reverse lights on by forgetting to slide the column collar out of reverse.... I installed a Hurst reverse light switch setup on the shifter and ran leads down from the Painless lines inside the engine compartment..... As soon as this was complete I started blowing the turn reverse fuse.... not all the time.... usually when it was wet.... sometimes it would work for days/weeks without blowing... other times it would dead short as soon as it was used.

If I disconnect the power from the Painless harness to the reverse light wiring, I have no trouble with a short.... So I know it is in the reverse light wiring..... I know it could be in the wires I ran from the engine compartment to the transmission.... but on visual inspection it looks A-ok.... or the Hurst switch, or the bulb sockets.....

Can anybody help me troubleshoot the switch, sockets and wiring.... I am pretty good with electric.... but this is just beyond me and I would rather fix whats wrong rather than replace everything.....

 

Just hook your reverse circuit back up in sections. Hook the power feed up feeding the switch, but leave the lead leaving the switch feeding the lights disconnected. Run it awhile and see if the fuse blows. If it doesn't, then hook the line leaving the switch feeding the rear lights back up, but disconnect the lights themselves and see if it blows. Try to break the system down in sections to narrow down the problem.

 

Thanks for the help.... I know what you are telling me is logical and easy, but honestly, I never could have put that one together myself....

I will let you know what I find... thanks Franklin2