My front puddle lights do not work but the rear lights do work . I have archived the issue and have found no solutions . Are the front puddle lights on a different circuit . Also my door lock solenoids work on driver side doors but not the passenger side doors . Could these problems be related ?
Jim
84 xj6 base with VDP interior
Are you saying that someone has added a VDP interior to an 84, or merely noting that the VDP option is mainly on the interior?
Anyway, one question is whether your rear doors operate the lights at the top of the B-pillars. If they do, then the switches are working. I think that the front doors, in addition to turning on that light, also turn on the map light? So I think the front and rear circuits differ in that regard. I added VDP puddle lights to my S1, and did so by wiring the rear ones to the switches (located at the rear of the B-pillars) that close when the rear doors open. If thatās the way yours are wired, I would look there, particularly if the roof lights also fail to operate when the rear doors open.
I will check tomorrow and let you know . I bought an 87 vdp for the interior and parts. My interior in the 84 was to bad and the cost to have it reupholstered was more than I wanted to pay . Gutted the 84 and replaced headliner and fit the VDP interior into the 84 . The wiring that went to the small round lights in the 84 I connected to the VDP puddle lights . The round lights were not working before I did the conversion.
The interior and door lamp circuits are more complicated than they need to be 
Itās been some time since Iāve had to sort this stuff out so the gory details are bit foggy to me.
However, there are two fused circuits and the driverās door is semi-isolated from the others via a diode.
Check fuse #3 in the main fuse panel and #17 in the secondary panel. Hopefully itās just a matter of blown fuses or dirty fuse contacts. If not some mulling may be required. Plus, it never hurts to remove the door switches for cleaning, just on general principles.
Cheers
DD
went and checked . front doors turn on pillar lights and rear puddle lights but not front puddles, open driver side rear doors pillar lights do not work and puddle lights do not work ,passenger rear door turns on pillar and rear puddles . sound like switches?
Switches on the rear
Lightbulbs or connections on the front.
**
The wiring in the base 84 xj6 is unlikely to be directly compatible/sufficient for the 87 vdp requirements, Jimā¦
Basically; the door switches are connected in series to provide ground with any door opened - providing ground for any light that is supposed to come on when doors are opened. This is likely the case for both versionsā¦
The puddle lamps, interior light and possibly B-pillar lamps require power to each one - and the wires to the dead ones might be missing. All are powered through a fuse from the brown, permanent, circuit - which may differ between modelsā¦
Does the interior/B-pillar lights come on with the interior light switch - indicating power present? Remove a front door switch, disconnect wires and check for power on the wires. They are ground wires from respective lamps, and when disconnected, should show power - if there is any at the respective lamps.
Likewise; check for power at the B-pillar lamps - and if so; do they light if groundedā¦
The idea is to sort out whether no-function is related to lack of power - or lack of ground. Nominally; any ground wire connected to any door switch should light the lamps with any door openā¦
Frank
xj6 85 Sov Europe (UK/NZ)
**
According the the diagrams thereās no difference. The same circuitry is used for the puddle lamps as the base-model lamps in the door face.
Cheers
DD
Jim,
IMOā¦
This is one of the cases where you might very well fix the problem in less time it takes to describe the problem on these pages
Remove the door switches (30 seconds per switch) and give them a good blast of aerosol electrical contact cleaner. Use the red straw nozzle to direct the spray right into the innards of the the switch (60 seconds per switch).
Check the two fuses and make sure the end caps are cleanā¦and the fuse clips, too. Thereās another 10-15 minutes.
No promises but thereās a more than decent chance that your lights will work properly again.
Cheers
DD
Doug,
I have fixed many a reluctant door switch by disconnecting the battery, removing the switch (2 screws and two bullet connectors), testing the switch with my multimeter to confirm that it has failed, disassembling the switch to clean the tarnish from the contact surfaces and remove the old hardened grease, applying fresh dielectric grease, reassembling the switch, testing it to make sure it works properly, reinstalling the switch, and reconnecting the battery.
I have encountered a few switches that didnāt work reliably even after all that. But that is where having some parts cars come in handy. 
I can see that your way could work but I hate fixing the same thing more than once. I believe that disassembly is the best way to remove the hardened grease and clean up the contact surfaces.
Paul
Never hurts to be thorough 
My point, though, was a few minutes spent on a couple quick checks/repairs might solve the mystery very easily.
Cheers
DD
**
Fair enough, Doug - leaving possible misconnections.
Salient points; any door switch operates all relevant lamps. Ie, with one door open all lamps should be lit, irrespective of which switch the lamp is wired to - provided a lamp has powerā¦?
Frank
xj6 85 Sov Europe (UK/NZ)
**
Thanks for all the input. Will work on it and will fill you in. Thanks. Jim Doyle
Right!
Erā¦umā¦I think so.
Old memories are suddenly being triggered.
I am hesitant to mention this because Iām foggy on the details and it might complicate the matter needlessly. Gregory or Paul would remember. However, I think there IS an anomaly to the operation of the lights. I think that opening the driverās door operates the door lights differently than opening any of the other doors. Or perhaps other other way round. Itās something that a person would not normally notice. I believe this is due to the diode in the circuit.
There was a TSB describing adding the diode. The purpose was to correct the situation where the door lamps remained on if the #3 fuse was blown. At some point this diode was added into production.
Iām sure there is discussion of this if we go back 12-15 years in the archives.
Cheers
DD
**
The diode should not alter the general/original operation for the lights, Dougā¦?
The wiring diagrams for my 85 shows all switches working in series - any open door should ground all switch connections. And my puddle lights all come āonā with any open door - which does not really prove anything. But considering Jimās problem, the answer is not immaterial - there may be differences relating to model and marketsā¦?
Question; I āthinkā that the two wires on the door switches are connected together - and show ground on both with the door openā¦?
Frank
xj6 85 Sov Europe (UK/NZ)
**
As a
I figured it out.
If you open the driverās door, all the door lights come on (including, of course, the driverās door)
If you open any other door, all the other door lights come on except the driverās door.
(In a darkened environment you can see the glow of the lamps through the door gaps)
Just a weird little tidbit
Cheers
DD
Thatās correct.
Itās as if they are two different circuits.
I did take advantage off this when I installed an interior lights delay relay, so there is a delay only from the drivers door switch.
There are two circuits, in a sense, as the doors lights for the front two doors have a different ā+ā voltage supply than all the other interior and door lamps. Then thereās that diode, which, if you look at the diagrams, is situated between the ground paths of the two front door switches.
Many many years ago I think we had this all sorted out.
In reality itās a curiosity item more than anything else. Making all the interior and door lights operate usually comes back to the basics already discussed: check fuses, clean connections, good grounds, clean switches, good bulbs.
Cheers
DD
Iāll add a āwild cardā.
Clearly, the driver door switch gets the most use. They wear oddly. A straight in push may not complete the ground leg and light up the lamps. But, slightly push to one side and depress and ālights onā. My effort to fix failedā¦
Durn I lost the wires in the panelā¦ so, the install of Paulās good switch is deferredā¦ Old bones donāt work down under that well.
Carll
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