Refresh & Service Advice for a 1986 Sprint

[stuka]

a few things are needed to get the car through the roadworthy. Im having issues getting the reverse lights working and the rear hatch release cable doesnt work. anybody had these issues before?

[colcol]

I will put money on it that the reverse light switch isn't working, i wired up some reversing sensors on the 33, and they work off the reversing lights, the quickest way to fix it is to jack car up, get under it, look for switch on back of the gearbox, with 2 wires coming out of it, check to see if one wire has power going into it, [with ignition on], if not check fusebox or wiring, once you have power to gearbox backup switch, join the 2 wires together, and see if you have backup lights, if no, the problem is between wire and reverse lights, if you have backup lights, reconnect wires to reverse switch and put into reverse, backup lights should work, if not, push reverse lever as far as it will go into reverse, and see if the lights come on, if not, get yourself a NEW reverse switch, ring round for availability and prices, i ended up getting one from the U.K. for $14 + $10 delivery, the problem with the switches as they age, instead of working when the pin is pressed a little bit, they only work when the pin is pressed a long way, cheap enough, just replace it, rear cable not working?, find the end of the cable in the boot, connected to the lock, spray the cable, with WD-40, until the WD-40 starts to ooze out of the handle on the Left hand side, then start to move the release handle back and forth, till it frees up, if it won't free up, then you may have a broken cable, if cable is broken, then replace it, memo to self - every oil change, spray hatch release cable AND bonnet release cable with WD-40, Colin.

[stuka]

thanks Colin I'll give it a go over the weekend.

[stuka]

Colin I had a look under the car, is the reverse switch at the end of the gearbox? If so, looks like I might need to remove the exhaust to get at it which will be a pain in the ass...

[colcol]

No, i replaced mine without removing the exhaust, i have a 33, is your Sprint a Alfasud based Sprint or a 33 based Sprint?, if it is a 86 model then its 33 based, not an easy job to do, just make sure the switch is not working before you replace it, if for some reason you have to drop the exhaust, its not too hard, just undo the 8 nuts that hold the 4 pipe engine pipe and drop that, the biggest problem i had, is that the switch when removed, will cause the oil to leak out, jack the rear of the car up, rather than the front, to make the oil go to the front of the gearbox, to stop it flowing out the back and do it when its cold, less burns from the exhaust and the gearbox oil won't flow freely when its cold, Colin.