hi all. new to this forum and fords in general, have worked primarily on 80s/90s toyotas but have messed with VWs and a few domestics. i got an '87 ford e-150 camper van with a straight 6 engine and manual 3-spd w/ overdrive. the thing runs beautifully and has been nice and easy to work on so far. one of the things on the 'to do' list is replace the reverse light switch. i tried fixing the old one but no dice, and i'm having trouble finding one new. does anyone here have one they'd be willing to sell me? i'm in BC, canada.

thanks in advance,
david

 

bump, still looking.

 

Could you provide a description of where this switch goes and what it looks like? Is this one that goes over the shift rail housing and has a contact ball in it? Does it have a contact arm that get contacted by the shift linkage? A picture or two would be very helpful. Possibly an aftermarket supply store may have it or something close to it.

 

Google search ACDELCO Part # F2205. Is this the one you are looking for?

 

this is what i'm looking for. hanky, i think you pretty much described it there. when you shift into reverse, the linkage presses the button on the switch which closes the circuit and sends power to the reverse lights.



all the places up i've tried up here have a listing for the switch but once they try to get it, they find it's NLA. as far as wreckers go, there are none of this model (only made from '85-'87, i was told) and even if there were, no one wants to remove it and be left with an incomplete trans. so i'm hoping that someone has one as a parts vehicle somewhere and would be willing to pull and sell the switch to me.

thanks guys.

 

ACDelco OE Service F2203 Switch Back Up Light Switch | eBay

says there are 7 but according to my parts book this is for the 4sp w/0d, but then again this isnt the first time i have seen a vehicle say one thing and the part say another.

btw part number Standard Motor Products # LS232

 

that's great, i didn't even think about ebay. there are so many avenues for finding parts but sometimes i get my blinders on and forget obvious ones like this. i'll have to dig a little bit to confirm that this is in fact the right one but it's a big step in the right direction. thanks rick.

yes, the ford dealer gave me the LS232 part # as well. is "standard motor products" just a generic brand name version of ford parts? i've never heard of it before.

 

In my opinion standard motor products is an OE equivalent parts manufacturer.

Many of the aftermarket manufactures make quality parts but they all offer a lower end as well. The largest difference and what to watch for are the metals and solder used. This is where the price difference comes in.

An example would be that Standard Motor also makes the Blue Streak, Standard Motor, Intermotor, BWD, and Tru-Tech parts. Tru-Tech being the lower end, uses thinner housings with cold weld seams (glue) and aluminum wires/contacts and solder for a much lower cost but also lower performance. Whereas the Blue Streak uses higher quality plastics, heat welded seams, epoxy coating, silver solder, and copper wires/connectors. Better quality but higher costs.

I just compared the lower end (I don’t buy) and higher end (I rarely buy) but you get the point. I personally, in the standard brands, stick with the Standard or Intermotor options myself.

I personally do not believe for a second that MotorCraft makes all the parts they have their name on. But they hide who makes them very well. I just try to find manufacturers that equal or exceed the same part quality.

I am sure someone in the parts department will comment and fix any errors I may have made here, but I believe I am close.

Rule of thumb, everything breaks. Doesn’t matter the quality, it is going to fail sooner or later. The questions is less how long will it last and more how you want it to perform until it fails.

Got long winded again… sorry.