hey guys,

well i took the plunge once again!
picked up a 97 xj last night! woohoo!

anyways, the first thing i noticed from my old 92 i used to have is this instrument cluster only has a speedometer and a gas gauge, and then some oversized temp, door ajar lights etc along the sides.

is there any other clusters i can plug n play into this to swap this one out? i like seeing my oil pressure gauge and temperature and voltage !

i was HOPING that i could get one with the gauges and plop it in and the tach wire would be behind there waiting for me .... what you think ?

thanks

heres a pic of what my dash looks like .

 

http://www.baeta.org/opie/Gauge.htm

http://www.jeepin.com/features/gaugeswap/

I know it says 90 to 96 but if you read in there it says that you can do it with 97+ also

 

^^ Listen to this guy...he speaks the truth.

If I remember correctly, the jeepin article states that the 97+ models have a different speedo than the 96 and lower. I'd read over that part carefully before I got parts to swap. Also, when you swap, you will want to pull the oil pressure sending unit and temperature sending unit from the donor vehicle as new, they can be expensive.

s

 

it doesnt seem too bad... but what im wondering is wouldnt it be easier if i just swapped it with 97-2001 that has the manual gauges on them? i would think it would be easier to do that, right? i want one like this http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/img_po...&isStock=false

its from a 2001 .

 

That is essentially what I suggested in the post above your last one. Just use the links as guides as a how-to for the swapYou should be able to find one relatively cheap ($35-50). I'm not sure with the digital speedo on the 97+ models, but the 96 and below have the odometer in the cluster so you'll either need to get your replacement adjusted or one with similar mileage and document.

s

 

mine doesnt have a digital speedo , so it should be a direct swap with a 97+ one. i would still need to do the oil sending unit and temperature sending unit though? your saying ide need more parts than just the cluster if i used a analog speedo/tach 97-99 cluster? i was just hoping the wires for the oil pressure and tempterature would be laying back there waiting for me!

why the HELL did jeep make this stupid cluster?!??!

 

All the wires should be fine...it is just the two sending units that change (temp and oil pressure). Just get those two sending units and the cluster and you're good to go. They're easy to install too. It really isn't that difficult, just an extra step.

s

 

ok, well thats good. so i need to get those 2 cable wires from a junkyard then? the ones that go from the back of the gauge to the engine compartment in that one poster's howto pics? thanks!

 

found something interesting....
heres a quote from the howto post:

"The oil pressure sender and the temperature senders also need to be changed for gauge senders on 84-96 vehicles. When you go to buy new
senders, it will say next to it on the parts list LIGHTS or GUAGE, obviously you need the gauge senders for this one. There are two
temperature senders on the 4.0L I-6 HO engine - one in the front and one in the back. The back one is the one that you need to swap.
the front one is for the engine computer, so it doesn't affect the gauges. On 97-01 vehicles, I've been told that the factory senders will
work.

so this means i might not have to replace the senders! woohoo

even if i do, thats ok, i just dont want to tear the dash apart twice.

also, does the mileage matter on my new cluster? i would think since its digital its stores in the XJs computer, not the gauge cluster. thanks .

 

Good deal with not needing new senders. I hope others with a 97+ chime in soon to tell you about the speedo. I'd htink the computer would store the odo reading so you could swap easily. That is how my motorcycle works.

s

 

wonder what ill need to do about the tach ? i dont have one in my car (again, see first pic in post) .
will i need to run a wire to the cluster?

 

Shouldn't. When I made the switch, the existing wiring was dialed in for it. I know this is true for earlier models too. I'd assume you're safe as well.

s

 

a cluster on ebay is about to end, and i want to bid, but dont know about this mileage thing. some people on this site say the mileage on the cluster doesnt matter, its the car thatll override the display... but all these guys selling the gauges say 'mileage unknown' or mileage is around 110k , etc. i want to bid on this auction but dont want it if its like 190k , and dont really wanna go to the dealer to have him rip me off and change it .

 

Have you found your gauge cluster yet? I just left the jy and there was a 99 with a full gauge set. If you need it I can go back and pick it up Monday afternoon. Their parts price list shows them selling for $21 plus environmental charge and tax. The total would be around $25. And for any one else looking for gauges instead of idiot lights, there are three more XJs with gauges on the lot. There is a difference in the speedo hookup for up to 92, and 93 up.

 

If you swap out the entire gauge cluster, I think the mileage of the vehicle that previously had the gauge cluster stays. So you may have 105,000 miles on your Jeep, but cluster would say whatever the mileage was whenever the previous vehicle was wrecked or scrapped.

If you search EBAY, you'll see gauge clusters, and the seller should say how many miles are on the cluster.