I have looked and am unable to find a post with the same symtoms as mine. The number 4 fuse in my '97 E420 controls the turn signals and the reverse lamps. When there is a good fuse, I can shift quickly past reverse and into drive and everything is fine. The turn signals work and I get no error messages. If I shift into reverse and leave it there for more than about a second the fuse blows out and I get the bulb failure message. Of course the reverse lamps and turn signals won't work because the fuse is blown. I am gathering that there has to be a short somewhere in the system. I tried taking the bulbs out of the reverse sockets, but the fuse still blows. The wire harnesses are good to both the light sockets and there is no evidence of melting anywhere. I tried pulling away as much carpet as I could and looked at the wiring and can't find any problems in the wiring (there is quite a bit of wire that is not acessable with out major dissasembly). I have heard about people having problems with their neutral safety switch, but it seems like they don't have an issue blowing fuses. If anyone can help I would appreciate it.

 

More than likely there must be a damaged wire, or bad socket. Check the wires wherever they can be damaged. Closely inspect the sockets.

Michael