F1Addict

'89 XJ 4.0L auto 4x4: My reverse lights are intermittent, they don't usually come one when I shift into reverse but will occasionally come on as I back into the driveway, usually when the back tires hit the bump at the edge of the gutter.

I pulled and cleaned the NSS tonight and applied dielectric to the connector but it didn't resolve my problem. I've checked the bulbs and they were fine but I replaced them with new, anyway. I've put a meter on the socket and there's no voltage present. It's not the fuse since that's shared with lots of other stuff that does work. I've tried jiggling the NSS plug and the harness plugs in the rear interior fenders while it was in reverse with no luck.

I'm stuck... any ideas?

wiggles

Sounds to me like you have a short or a broken wire. When you hit a bump it allows current to flow

F1Addict

That's what I was afraid of. The previous owner had a trailer light harness installed and whoever did it just stripped random areas in the middle of a wire, twisted the trailer light wire on it and put some sticky-tape over it. I've removed the hooptie trailer harness and patched the wires with crimp lugs and heat shrink... I did that before I even knew what an NSS was.

I wonder, do the reverse lights have a relay?

wiggles

Wow that sucks, to the best of my knowledge there is no relay for them. I would just do a general visual check of all the wires you can