2005 X-type 3.0 reverse lights
 

Hello! I recently took my 2005 X-type 3.0 to get a state inspection. It was rejected because the reverse lights did not turn on. I have been trying for days to figure out the problem, but to no avail. I have failed to find a diagram of where the relays are located. can anyone help? thanks!

Shane, first off, welcome to jaguar forums. I Think you will find a lot of very useful information here. But, we do ask 1 simple thing (we are quirky this way), please stop by the New Member section and introduce yourself. There you will get to learn who the movers and shakers are around here. Besides, we like to get to know one another and be a different sort of car group.

As for your problem, do you have an auto or manual tranny. Does your car still beep when you are getting close to something? If yes, then you simply have 2 blown bulbs. Replace the bulbs. If you don't get any beeps, then if you have a manual tranny, odds are your switch on the tranny is toast and you will need a new switch. If you have an auto tranny, I would check the fuse for the backup lights (I would need to look at my diagrams-currently at work) and see if that is blown. From there we can get deeper into your car. BUt, these few things should take care of 99% of the issues that you are going to see.

What part of VA are you in? I am just over the 301 bridge in Maryland. If you don't mind a little bit of a drive and like to work on your car, but are unsure of what you are doing, let me know. I am always working on cars and doing various repairs.

Thanks thermo! I have a automatic, and they checked the bulbs on the car when they found out the reverse lights didn't come on and the bulbs were fine. I have checked the fuses and none are blown. I'm not quite sure what could be going on. And I probably live a little too far away from you, I live near Virginia beach.

Shane, I know VA Beach all too well (used to live in Norfolk right off of Terminal BLVD).

As for things to check, the reverse lights are powered via relay R9 and Fuse F2. Unfortunately, R9 is a quad relay box inside the fuse box. So, the next step would be to use a multimeter to see if you are even getting power to F2. If you look at the top of fuse F2, you will see to very small metal tips there. You want to use a multimeter set to VDC (DCV) and then have the black lead on the body of the car as the red lead is touched to both of the metal posts there as the vehicle is put in REVERSE. You should get 12 VDC on both terminals. If you do, then your problem is either the wiring between the relay and the back lights or both tail light housings have an issue (connector issue or bad bulbs). If you get 12 VDC on only 1 of the terminals and a very low voltage on the other, then you have a bad fuse. If you don't get 12 VDC on either post, then we are looking at something upstream.

From here, we would need to dive deep into the car and I am not sure if you are capable of doing something like that. We would be having to rip apart the center console to check the contact for the shifter and then also pulling out the instrument cluster to check some points back there. If you are up for it, let me know.

I'll have to try this tomorrow when I get a chance. thanks for the help and I will get back to you if I need anything else!

Thermo, I did get 12 volts on each side of the fuse. I also forgot to mention that when you have the car in park or any gear the lighted letter or number for the corresponding gear on the gear selector lights up accept for r for reverse. This leads me to believe the problem may be in the shift mechanism, I disassembled it down to the electronics and nothing looked out of place. Any thoughts? Thanks again for your help.

Shane, if you are getting 12 VDC on both sides of fuse F2, then your problem lies with the wiring between the fuse block and the tail lights. I would start with pulling the plugs on the taillights and seeing of the pins look to be in good condition (ie, silvery appearance, not a dark, rusty look). You can also measure the voltage at the plug to verify that you are getting power back to the headlights (measure between Pin 6 and Pin 2 on both sides, just note that the wiring is reversed on one side as compared to the other, so you will see the multimeter read +12 on one side and -12 on the other, this is fine). If you are getting 12 VDC back to the tail lights, then you problem lies with the taillight housings themselves, other wise you are looking at a wiring issue. I would also recommend putting a new Fuse F2 in just to make sure that the fuse has not developed a high resistance (happens some times).

Hey Thermo, I tried what you told me to do (checking the reverse light pins 2 and 6) and I got no reading on the meter. I am pretty sure that the wiring on the car is in good condition considering that it has been taken care of. Im starting to think that the problem could be the electronics inside of the shifter. As I said above, when you put the car in drive, there is a D that lights up red (same for park, 2 ,3 etc.) when I put it in reverse the red "R" does not come on. Thanks for the help!

If you don't follow Thermo's guidance, you're going to be going away from the cause of your problem, just as you nearly crack it!! The reversing lights are hard wired from the output of Fuse 2 to the two rear light cluster connectors - the J Gate electronics are not involved once you have 12v at Fuse 2.
Is it correct to assume that the 12v is only present at F2 when reverse is engaged and ignition on? Also that it's F2 in the Glove Box Fuse Panel that you're checking, not the one in the Engine Compartment Fuse Box.

There is 12v at the F2 (inside cab)fuse continuously when the ignition is on, as it also controls the instrument cluster(which is working). I would think the J gate has a switch of some type that turns the reverse lights on when the R is selected. All connections are clean and dry. Not sure where to go from here, any suggestions are appreciated.

Shane, Astro is right. The reverse lights are hard wired to Fuse F2. There is no switch between the fuse and the lights. The J-Gate sends a signal to the GEM module which then outputs a signal to the control side of relay R9 which then closes a switch to power F2 and then feeds power to the reverse lights. So, if you are getting 12 VDC to Fuse F2, the reverse lights should be on. Granted, like Astro also said, you should only have power on F2 when the car is in REVERSE. If you are getting power at Fuse F2 at any other time, then you have a problem with relay R9 or you are on the wrong fuse.

Hey thermo! sorry it took so long for me to get back to you, i was on vacation :) I tried to get a reading on f2 and whenever i read it it gave me 0 VDC. I had one grounded and the other on it, so im not sure what to do.. help!
thanks,
Shane_C

Shane, let me get my computer back to 100%. I just recently installed a new harddrive and I am still installing stuff here and there. I am thinking the next step is going to be installing a small jumper wire with the relay removed to see if we have a power issue, a relay issue, or a control issue. From there, the fix is only a step or two away. Hopefully it is something silly like needing a new relay.

I looked for relay r9, and when i found it, it doesnt have any pins in it, so it is not used in the car.

Shane, if you don't have relay R9, then that would explain why your reverse lights are not working. Unless there is something that they changed with your car. Your owners manual should tell you what relay R9 is for. But, I have a feeling that you are going to find that it is for the reverse lights.

No, no, no, Shane!! Relay R9, in the Passenger Fuse Box (through the back of the glove box), that controls the reversing lights is a non serviceable item. It's built in to the fuse panel and non removable in the normal sense! Seems to me you must be looking in the Power Distribution Fuse box in the engine compartment where there's an unused R9 slot.

OH! yeah, I kind of had a blackout moment there, what would you recommend i try now? i need to get this done soon so i can drive this car again :)

jamey, we are going to go after this a slightly different way. What I want you to do is to get your hands on a piece of 16 gauge solid strand wire. It will need to be about a foot long (maybe longer). Now, strip back a little bit of the wire on each end (about 1/4" or so). I want you to remove both fuses F2 and F46. Using a multimeter, I want you to probe both sides of where fuse F46 was. One side should have power, the other side should have 0 VDC on it. What I want you to do at this point is to place one end of the wire into one side of where fuse F2 was and then put the other end of the wire on the power side of where fuse F46 was. Did your reverse lights come on? If yes, then we know your wiring is good back to the reverse lights. If the lights did not come on, then remove the wire (lifting the end at fuse F46 first) and then install the wire into the other side of fuse F2 and then finally back into the power side of fuse F46. Did the lights come on now? If yes, then this confirms that your wiring to your reverse lights is good. If the lights never came on in either case, your problem lies in the wiring in the rear of the car. Write me back and we can handle things from there.

Assuming that the lights came on with the wire jumper, reinstall the fuses that were removed initially. Now, look at the fuse box under the dash. You will see the fuses at the bottom of the fuse box, you will see 2 large black boxes (relays) in the upper corners and then a bolt/nut in between the relays. If you look just below the bolt/nut, you will see a connector. I want you to remove this connector. If you look at this connector, you will see a locking tab on the bottom of the connector. Keep the connector on the bottom as you turn it around to face you. Now, using a paper clip or a short piece of wiring, stick it into the upper left opening of the plug (this will be Pin 9). Using the multimeter set to resistance, measure the resistance of that wire. It should have a high resistance (more than 1,000 ohms) when the car is not in park and it should drop to something very low (less than 10 ohms) when the car is put in Reverse. If the resistance does not change, then your problem lies with the GEM module. Write me and we will go from there. If the wire does change resistance, then this pretty much confirms that the 4 relay box on the back of the fuse block is bad or your fuse box is toast. I would start with replacing the relay module first and then seeing what you have at that point. Worst case, you have to get a new fuse box.

If you need more help, let me know. We will get to the end of this

I'm gonna chime in here. I have read the postings and thought of a couple things as well as looking at the wiring diagram, may have some suggestions.

1. I think all x-types had rear park aid standard in 05. If yours has it, does it work? F2 sends a power to activate the park aid in addition to lighting the reverse lamps. If the park aid works, then it's wiring from that splice to the reverse lights. If it doesn't work, then, as others have said, it a control problem.

2. You mentioned the R does not light up when in gear. Two things. Does reverse engage when the R is not lit? If you move the shifter in the vicinity of R does it light up? Shifter adjustment is crucial on that transmission. If you find the R lights up somewhere, check the reverse lights with the shifter in that spot.

3. The instrument pack sends a ground to the relay to activate it. This means that a signal is sent over the CAN bus from the TCM to the Ipack which converts it to a signal ground to activate the relay. Things can go wrong on that side of the circuit but I would not go down that road unless ALL ELSE is checked first.

4. The GEM is not involved.

Check the items mentioned and write back what you find. These guys are good around here so make sure you check everything that is suggested. Our information is only as good as what you tell us.

Hey Thermo! I did everything that you told me to do in the previous post, and when I read the reading for the connector with the resistance meter, the resistance did not change when reverse was engaged. You said that the problem would then be in the GEM module, correct? what do I do now? (thanks so much for the help Thermo, I really appreciate what you have done and I hope we can fix this problem soon :) )