Reverse light switch smoking when ignition turned on Options

[iwuzazombie]

Hello! My reverse light switch is smoking when ignition is turned on and the #4 fuse blows. Bad switch or what else may cause that? Thanks!

Edit: looks like these wire connectors are bad. Can they be replaced?

Update:
1. everything seemed fine in the car, starting, a few minor electrical weirdness like both blinkers blinking after a second of using them (could be just wrong bulbs i hadn't checked yet) and dash/center console lights not working
2. fuse #4 started blowing and i could smell the electrical smoke
3. went through alot of fuses trying to troubleshoot the problem, checked all the grounds including the tail lights and license plate lights as on forums alot of mentions about those potentially being culprit
4. finally found the reverse switch was smoking, took out the wires which look terrible (as seen in the picture) and then fuse #4 stopped blowing
5. now car turns over but won't start
6. gonna pull the switch today and inspect it and try to replace those male bullet connectors (what a bad design btw!!!)

Could bad connection at that reverse switch cause the car to not start?

[davep]

No, I doubt the ignition switch would be in play. The wires in the engine harness connect through the relay board into the main harness. One wire comes from the brake pedal switch and is connected to the fuse via a wire coming to the brake switch. This wire goes to the relay board, through the engine harness, and back to the relay board and from there to the reverse lights. Aside from wiring shorts, there isn't much to go wrong. The switch failure should only make the lights inoperative (if an open failure) or always on (if a short failure). But check to see if you have a short from either pin socket on the switch to ground. That wiring to the socket looks really bad.