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?

[flipb]

Didn't reconnect the transmission ground strap? Infamous dr914@autoatlanta.com mistake.

[iwuzazombie]

Didn't reconnect the transmission ground strap? Infamous dr914@autoatlanta.com mistake.

It was running fine after I got it back. Fuse #4 was blowing after that which I finally traced to the reverse light switch, which was literally smoking. Up until minutes before I found that which took me a while and blew thru a bunch of fuses the car was starting fine. Once I found that, I pulled those really bad wires out and at that long the car no longer would start. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[IronHillRestorations]

Didn't reconnect the transmission ground strap? Infamous dr914@autoatlanta.com mistake.

It was running fine after I got it back. Fuse #4 was blowing after that which I finally traced to the reverse light switch, which was literally smoking. Up until minutes before I found that which took me a while and blew thru a bunch of fuses the car was starting fine. Once I found that, I pulled those really bad wires out and at that long the car no longer would start. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

I’m going to bet that if you look up a the underside of the trunk floor, you will find the ground strap isn’t bolted to the ground buss. If so take a picture, call the shop and tell them they’ve created a problem. The starter grounds through the transmission via the ground strap. No ground and the starter will use whatever path it finds. Typically it’s the clutch cable.

The reverse switch should never get hot like that.

[iwuzazombie]

Didn't reconnect the transmission ground strap? Infamous dr914@autoatlanta.com mistake.

It was running fine after I got it back. Fuse #4 was blowing after that which I finally traced to the reverse light switch, which was literally smoking. Up until minutes before I found that which took me a while and blew thru a bunch of fuses the car was starting fine. Once I found that, I pulled those really bad wires out and at that long the car no longer would start. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

I’m going to bet that if you look up a the underside of the trunk floor, you will find the ground strap isn’t bolted to the ground buss. If so take a picture, call the shop and tell them they’ve created a problem. The starter grounds through the transmission via the ground strap. No ground and the starter will use whatever path it finds. Typically it’s the clutch cable.

The reverse switch should never get hot like that.

That was one of the grounds I checked actually when troubleshooting the blown fuse. I removed it, cleaned it up and put it back on. It was connected from after the
Shop.