The reversing lights on my Brava 1.2 16V have taken to staying on after I've used reverse gear. Very annoying - people keep flashing and honking at me. Doesn't happen every time, but it's quite frequent. Sometimes if I reverse into a parking space the reversing lights will come on the next day when I start the car.

My first thought was the switch on the gearbox, but I took it out and tested it with a multimeter and it seems okay: open circuit when the plunger is out, zero ohms when it's in.

Any ideas where to look next?

I was wondering whether whatever bit it is inside the gearbox that operates the switch could be getting stuck. Which made me wonder if there's enough oil in the gearbox.

How do I check the oil level in the gearbox?

Any (polite) suggestions welcome.

Thanks

first disconnect the reverse switch connector, if they go off then the switch or the "bit inside" the box is faulty. remove the switch, reconnect it and operate it by hand while checking the lights. Its likely the switch is just sticking..

Had another fiddle with the switch and, no surprise, it's dodgy - doesn't go properly open circuit sometimes when the plunger is released.

Still interested in the question of the oil level in the gearbox though. How do I check it and what's the right level?