I am stumped regarding the proper functioning of the interior lights on my 2005 XJ VP...no help from owner’s manual. How are they supposed to work? I believe all the subject bulbs are good. When I open the door, the lights in the front foot wells light up, nothing else. I am literally fumbling to get my key in the ignition without manually turning on the map lights! Any one entering the rear seat, does so in total darkness as the lights at the rear bottom of the front seats remain off. I can manually turn on the reading lights from the ceiling console or atop the rear doors. What should be the interior lighting scenario when I open the doors...and how do I set that up? I have not found anything on this, so is it just me or, perhaps, my car?

Here is an excerpt from the service manual:"The automatic operation of the interior lights is controlled by the front electronics module (FEM). Pressing the interior light switch in the overhead console switches the interior lighting control from automatic to the ON position. When the switch is in the ON position if any of the doors are open, none of the individual interior lamps can be turned off.

In the AUTOMATIC position, when the interior lights have faded out , each lamp can be switched on or off by pressing the associated switch. Also in this position, if a door is open when the vehicle is driven the interior lighting will fade off and then fade back on again when the vehicle slows down."

When you enter the car and close the door, what is the behavior when you press the center light button?

Thanks for that information, JRT! Will check on response after pressing center switch in overhead console.

After, trying the overhead console center switch in the two positions, the interior lights remain a mystery. When I get into the car and close the door, the front footwells and the odometer light up. Without starting the car, I can turn on the rear reading lights If I push the center button. At that point, the front footwells, go out. It is an either or situation. Starting the car, the reading lights come on. Exiting the car, the reading lights go off, but come back on, even when the car is locked. They do not appear to fade out automatically. The only way that I can be certain that the reading lights will not remain on and drain the battery is to turn them off manually, letting the rear passenger control them. If I try to control the reading lights from the overhead console, they will switch on after exiting the vehicle and presumably remain on until the battery is drained. What am I doing wrong? Is this one of those situations where you heave to hold the button for so many seconds before a change occurs? Or is this crazy scenario what others experience?

As for the rear footwell lights, none of the above appears to impact them. I guess the bulbs may need replacement. Removing them, I observed a fuse-like bulb. Can it bre replaced orb do I need a new unit?

Has the headliner been worked on? The rear reading/entry lights are sided. Left and right of the car. If reversed they will ground out and not work properly.

Yes, the headliner was replaced several months ago. If they were reversed p, would they work at all? Not sure how they could be reversed. Simple question: what lights should illuminate when you open the front doors, the back doors?

There are two lamps in the rear passenger lamp fittings.

They both switched in the earth (ground) 'return' line and have a common +12v supply on the live side. That supply comes on when the car is unlocked and switches off around 30 minutes after the car is locked (or at least activity ceases inside the car).

The rearward lamp in the lamp fitting is the courtesy lamp which has its return connected to to the Rear Electronic Module where the switching to earth takes place.

The forward lamp in the lamp fitting is the map lamp (reading lamp) which is switched directly to earth through the press switch which is operated by pressing the lamp lens upwards.

If the map lamps, ie the manually operated lamps, are to the rear of the fitting then the fittings have each been fitted on the wrong side of the car. The effect is that the map/reading lamps are now connected to the REM and will operate when the switch is pressed only if the other courtesy lights are on. ​​​However the courtesy lamps' return lines are not connected to the REM but directly to earth without an intervening switch. That means the courtesy lamps will come on with the supply (when the car is unlocked) and remain on all the time until about 30 mins after the car is locked. Pressing the master lamp switch in the roof console will have no effect.

Thank you, Patrick, for that detailed explanation although I am not sure that I completely follow what you are saying, e.g., “if the map lights....are to the rear of the fittings...” The map lights operate when the car is “on”, the rear reading lights can be operated from the overhead console. With each switch turned “on”, the rear reading lights seem to come on only after the doors are closed and remain on after the ignition is turned off and after exiting the vehicle. Honestly, I have not waited around to see if they go off after 30 minutes. That is a long time after leaving the car! I would be concerned with draining the battery. I can not remember, if the rear reading lights came on when the door was opened prior to my headliner replacement. I vaguely remember thinking that the rear lights did not stay on very long when unloading from the back seat.

Does any of this suggest fittings being replaced on wrong side? Would removal and replacement be involved with headliner replacement.? Heat is involved with correcting this ?

Thanks!

As Partick said, first check that they are on the correct side. There are posts about this same issue on the forum that have been corrected by ensuring that they are on the correct side. This has almost always been associated with headliner work. There sould be 7 lights that come on when the door is opened. 3 overhead, 4 in the footwells.

When faced with redoing the headliner hard decision to do it your self, or hire it out.
Then who to hire, do they know exactly how things are set up, or is some kid learning how???
I leave both shades open, the material on one is separating, never drive with windows open.
Cars moving most of its time outside the garage, the air works well.
Doing so, i forestall its demise, as much as i can.

It has finally dawned on me what you, both Patrick and Mark, are saying about lamps being to the rear of the fitting...duh! If this is true, how can this be corrected? Mark, I found no other posts that specifically address this issue.

Now that I understand about the map and courtesy lights in the rear fittings, on both sides the manual switch is in the front of the fitting. That being the case, does that negate wrong side installation? Could any of this be a fuse issue including the non-operating rear footwell lights?

I also might add that the overhead console was replaced, but all buttons seem to operate.

Any further clues?

Sorry but I just don't follow what you mean.

Look at the rear light fittings. If the reading lamp lens (the one that operates the switch) is the rearmost lens of the two lenses then the light fittings have been refitted to the wrong side of the car. The remedy is to remove both the rear fittings and refit each one to the other side.

As to the footwell lamps the first thing I'd do is try new bulbs in them.