Back up light switch, where do the wires come from?

[mofugly13]

First some info:

I just bought an 88 Cherokee from my cousin who flipped it to me. It's a 4.0 with an AX15 transmission, and is mostly bone stock.

I will be taking this Jeep to my hunting cabin and leaving it there, so in the meantime, I'm going through everything and making sure its good to go, as the closest auto parts store to the cabin is a 1 1/2 hour drive.

Yesterday I noticed that the backup light switch on the transmission has two frayed wires hanging from it, connected to nothing. So I began searching for where they are supposed to go. According to the wiring diagram from the Pacific Coast manual, I'm looking for a connector with a pair of wires, black/yellow, and yellow/black. (correct me if I'm wrong, but after tracing a lot of wiring according to the diagram, any wire labeled with (color)/T means the wire has a black trace on it)

While there are quite a few connectors under the hood with nothing connected to them, I found this four conductor connector dangling down next to the transmission.

The wires going to it are Pink/black, brown/lt. blue, brown/white, black/yellow.

The colors (except black/yellow) don't seem to jive with what I'm looking for, nor do the number of wires.

I have a feeling that I'm looking in the wrong location for the wires to connect the backup light switch to. I pulled up the floor mat around the shifter to see if the wires were under there somewhere, but the only thing running in that area are the 4wd vacuum lines. I couldn't see anything from underneath either.
While looking around the transmission hump, I noticed that the access cover seems to have been hacked by some P/O, and I started suspecting that maybe the AX15 was swapped in in place of an AT at some point, ( I DO have a connector behind the dash for the power/comfort switch) however, the number of wires and colors don't quite jive with the connector I found either. And the connector looks nothing like the connectors for the AT that I found while searching.
I know that wiring diagrams that span a few years may show different colors than what is actually in the vehicle, so there's that...

Can anyone offer any assistance?

 

[ParadiseXJ]

The back up light switch is on the side of the tranny...the wires run along the side of the tranny and plug in to that connector. Look for the wires and the flat plug connector.

 

[mofugly13]

I know where the back up light switch is on he side of the tranny. It has 2 wires sticking out f it about 3" long, broken and frayed at the end. I want to know where they're supposed to go.

You say they plug into this connector, ok. It seems like I am missing a chunk of wiring harness that goes from the 4-wire connector to the back up light switch connector, which is missing from my back up light switch. Going by the wiring diagram,I need to connect to the black/yellow and brown/white wires on the connector.

So that leaves the other two wires in the connector. They are brown/lt. blue and pink/black. The only place I can find a brown/lt. blue wire on the wiring diagram is at the upshift switch (only on 2.5l engines), which is just jumpered on a 4.0 engine, and also has a pink/t wire coming off the other side, according to the diagram. I think I am answering my own question here...

Thanks ParadiseXJ

 

[djgrayxj]

Note from DJ
The backup lights power wire at the taillights is Brown with White tracer if you haven’t figured that out yet.

I just had my taillights out Friday on my ’88 changing burned out bulbs so I recorded the wiring colors.

And the Fuse is #13= 7.5 Amp, [VIOLET] Transmission Control Unit & Back Up Lamps I think.

 

[Robert1211]

I was also dealing with the same problem after gaining information from various forums and the net, I tried to solve this very complicated myth myself, but I still couldn't find any sort of success at the end, I had to call in my friend who is an expert in this sort of stuff and he fixed it in just little period of time, He also told me the steps involved but I don't remember the exact steps now, it's really complicated this doing yourself, I think you should contact an expert.

Robert From--- http://www.westcables.com/

 

[mofugly13]

Thanks for confirming that brown/white, DJ. I guess I need to find the harness that goes from my flat connector to the backup light switch. Or just hack in some wires...
But I'm a bit anal when it comes to these things and will probably try to find the correct harness before I do anything. Right now my fuse block is taken apart and I'm waiting on the proper crimp tool to replace all the terminals in it, so I've got some time.

 

[djgrayxj]

Note from DJ
This might be one of the connectors that you need if you decide to make your own cable.

NAPA has a nice selection of the GM Weather Pack connectors.

Back-Up Switch Connector
Part Number: ECH EC210
Product Line: Echlin Ignition Parts
http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/C...k-Up-Switch-Connector/_/R-ECHEC210_0335244735

If you need more like this post back.

 

[mofugly13]

Thanks DJ. Id like to see what the factory cable looks like from the 4 terminal connector to the two terminal connector at the switch, and then what happens with the other two wires, which I think are just shunted together for xjs with the L6 engine. The electrician in me wants this to look as clean as possible.