Had a new headliner put in my 2006 XJ8 ($500 with all pillars and sunroof) and now the rear courtesy lights stay on for a very long time. Hours it seems. I thought they just were not going off at all but went out a couple hours after parking to remove the bulbs and they were off. As soon as I opened the door they came on again. Is there a way to adjust the timing on these?

Thanks for any help,

Frank

 

You do know that if you push on the lens, the light will come on and stay on for a long time. Push the lens again and it will go off...but mine act very weird on 04 xj8 so don't take advice from me!

 

Yeah, Thomas may be right. If the reading light is left on it will eventually time out when the interior control modules go into sleep mode. Opening the doors wake them up. It would give the impression that the car has the dome light circuit programmed to be active for way too long.

 

I reckon so too. If you look carefully the rear light fitting has two parts. The courtesy light is in the rear part; the front part is the reading light (called the 'map light' in the manuals) and it's switched on and off by pressing the front edge (which is slightly raised) of the lamp.

 

The map light is working properly. it is the courtesy light next to it that has become the issue. it was working fine before the battery disconnect and the liner change.

 

If I remember correctly, the upper console has 'pins' which connect into a 'receiver' on the car side. I am wondering if these are connecting properly; perhaps a pin was bent while the upper console was put back into place after the headliner work.

You may want to pull the overhead console down and inspect the connectors for the map and courtesy light.

Thanks-
mag

 

Hey Frank!

Unscrew the rear handles, unplug the harness and swap them. Seems like they have them backwards when putting them back in your vehicle.

That should solve your issue

 

I think Evan may have it.

The courtesy light and the map light have a common 12v suppy and are switched in the earth line; the map light has a switch (in the fitting) and the earth line then goes directly to an earth point, whereas the courtesy lamps's earth line goes to the rear electronic module where it is switched to earth. The two earth lines maybe swapped over.

Acid test:
i) switch on the map light, then with all doors closed ...
ii) switch off the courtesy lights using the central button in the front map/courtesy light fitting.

If the rear map lamp goes out then it's earthed (wrongly) to the REM, and the courtesy is connected directly to earth which is why it stays on.

Hope that makes sense.

Edit: Yes, looking again at the wiring diagram it seems as if the common supply is on the middle pin (pin 2) of the connector and the earth returns for the lamps are on pins 1 and 3, so if the connector can be fitted the wrong way round ...

I'd bet money that Evan's put his finger on it.

 

My mistake on this; I totally missed that this question originally was about the REAR lighting.

I see that now...

Apologies.
-mag

 

Totally agree as i had the same problem when i did my own lining and swapping them fixed it.

 

When I had mine out there were molded in L & R markings so you should be able to easily confirm if they are incorrectly installed.

 

Thanks. I'm not in town yet but will try this when I get back. Appreciate the help. I'll follow up with the result.

 

Hello: I just got this car and rear courtesy lights do not come on ever at all. If the front lens is pushed, the front bulb lights (sometimes) but rearward bulb never gets power. I switched them; both bulbs are good. I have spent couple hours trying to find wiring for this circuit on 04 xj8 in vain. Would the person who described the earth path through the control modules please reply with specific attachment to that diagram? Thank you. --Tom in AZ

 

It's Fig 9.1 which is on p.113 in the 2008 Electrical Guide, and p.101 of the 2004.

 

Hi: After looking at the electrical guide (thank you) I found a blown 5 amp fuse in the rear terminal box for the courtesy and rear footwell lights. The diagram calls for a 10 and that is what I put in there. My ammeter showed initial draw of over 5 amps just for a bit but that was enough to blow the smaller fuse. All is good with the 10A fuse. Wondering why a 5 was in there when diagram calls fro 10? Anyone else had this trouble? --Tom in Tucson

 

OK, first of all sorry it took so long to get back to this but the holidays are a hard time to get spare minutes. What I did was pull a rear courtesy light down and the two wire plugs were different size so they couldn't have been swapped. Evan had it right as they had the left light set on the right and visa versa. Thanks Evan. Patrick was right with a good clue as the map light is the front light and if they are switched it'll be the back light. Thanks everyone for the help.

 

Sweet Frank! Glad you got it figured out buddy

Happy Holidays

 

Excellent.

Hope bad weather is staying away from you.

Dave in Gloucestershire