Quick question, is the coolant/overheating light supposed to light up upon start up? The oil light comes on so I would assume the coolant one should as well. I changed out the bulb to be safe although it didn’t look burnt out. Just makes me paranoid, thanks in advance.
i can’t wait to get rid of the idiot gauges

 

Yes. When I did my gauge swap the old temp sender -literally- fell apart in my hands. I wouldn't be surprised if yours does as well.

 

uh oh not the answer i wanted haha

 

It's a pretty simple fix. You'll be replacing the 'switch' with a 'sender' when you do the gauge swap. Look at the back of the engine near the firewall and you'll see the little wire plugged into the "switch" on the head. Pull off the wiring harness.. probably half the switch will come off with it, use a small wrench or wobbly socket to get the old switch out, put a new one in (clear the broken plastic out of the connector) and plug it in. Should take you 5-10 minutes.

 

Just to be sure, this?


Would this be the correct replacement?

 

Yes on both counts.

 

Yep.

 

I've got the new sender, should I use any thread sealant for the install?

 

Any tricks to getting the old sender out? My wrench keeps slipping off

 

You should be able to get a deep socket over the whole thing with the wire disconnected. I think the OEM is 14mm IIRC. Don't worry about buggering up the plastic connection part of the old sender, mine LITERALLY fell apart (like crumbled) when I disconnected it.

 

Okay I got the old one out with a 1/2 deep socket and the new one in but the gauge light still doesn’t turn on? It hasn’t been that long since I checked that bulb

 

bump

 

Does your generator light work? The oil pressure, generator and temp light all take a feed from the same source so if the temp light is the only one not working, there could be more to it. Regardless of the temperature sender being plugged in, it should illuminate when you turn the ignition on along with the other 2.

 

I have the idiot gauges, so all I have is the oil pressure warning light and coolant warning light, and the oil light works during start up.

 

On the FSM page I was looking at it listed all 3 but I see on your original pic that there isn't the alt light.

By rights though, as your oil light works, unless the cluster is at fault, the bulb should be receiving power to illuminate for the self test (ignition on, pre start-up). I don't know how the dash does this self test nor really how to test it.

For the PDF you can visit :http://cruiser54.com/?page_id=365
Use the 1995 XJ manual as a 1996 seems to not exist. One of the files is for the Instrument panel Gauges, I renamed all of them so I'm not sure on the original sheet number.