SRX Backup/Reverse lights not working

[davedog]

This isn't really a question, as I've already figured out the solution, just wanted to share my findings since I couldn't find any info online here or elsewhere on this issue....may help someone down the road.

As I was backing out of the garage yesterday, my father-in-law noticed that my backup lights (the white lights on either side of the license plate that come on when you put the car in reverse) were not coming on. This ticked my off because this had already happened once under warranty and they 'fixed' it. And of course now I'm no longer under warranty. Fearing an expensive trip to the dealer, I started wishing I had asked more questions about the 'fix' when I picked the car up....all they said was something about a broken wire. It's hard to understand how a wire can break on a 4 year old car but whatever....

So when I got home I researched online. The only info I could find is that the backup lights are controlled by a light-green wire the goes up through the drivers side D-pillar and into the hatch. In talking to my father-in-law he made the comment that I do open/close my hatch more than most people, so maybe the problem lies where the wires go from the car to the hatch. So I opened the hatch, and pulled back the rubber protector on the drivers side of the hatch that contained the wires. Through electrical tape that bundled the wires I spotted a light green wire. So I pulled the rubber protector out of the hole on the car, and found two plugs for the wire harness to the hatch. I unplugged these disconnects so I could slip off the rubber wire protector and better inspect the wire harness. Sure enough, there was the light green wire - broken entirely in half! I could also see where they had preformed the repair before using the heat-shrink stuff. The break occurred right at the end of the heat shrink repaired area. My guess is that heat shrink stuff is too stiff, and didn't allow the wire to flex properly, and caused to much stress on the wire. So I cut out the dealership's repair entirely, put in a new length of wire, and used good-old electrical tape to make the repair. Then I re bundled the harness with fresh electrical tape, and put it all back together. Works great now.

So if you have any electrical issues regarding the hatch, I'd check that harness first as it seems to be a weak point. You'd think They'd use better quality wire...

Hope this helps someone.

-dave

[Texas Jim]

Thanks for the writeup and the solution.

This will most likely help someone else in the future.