87 4.0L 4WD

I'm tired of this bouncing needle. I'm gonna try lubing this new cable again, but if that doesn't work, I was thinking of trying to convert it to electric using parts from a later XJ. i.e. and electric speedo cluster and the sender.

As an upgrade, I can install a speedo interface so that I can calibrate on the fly if I change out wheel/tire sizes (on a 2nd set).

Has anyone converted their cable speedo to electric?

 

It's the routing of the cable that causes the wavering needle.

 

You're right to ditch the cable. The factory Jeep VSS for the 207 is gonna be a headache because of the gear alignment and the hole size.
Easier route: get a aftermarket GPS speed sender. Scosche makes one. Just wire it in, no messing with gears or trying to find a sensor that fits that old case.

 

I have done this a few times over now but only while also doing a full harness update. 86/87 MJ and XJs going to 95/96 harness. Really if you have a complete donor jeep and the time to blow both of them apart in your yard this is a comparable simple unbolt it all and then bolt/connect it all back in.

To do this factory harness style swap and NOT update the entire harness while your at it would be more work than id like to do myself. Perhaps your motivation is different than mine though.

On one of my 87 mjs I have an LS swap done and aftermarket guages. I had initially wanted to make the factory cluster work with the swap but again - its far more work than I care to attempt. I too have defaulted to a gps speedo (not yet installed though).

From what ive read the only downfall is when the signal gets obstructed (dense tree coverage, overpasses, tunnels etc) the speedo zero's but then comes back when it has clear signal again.

 

I realize this is a very old thread. Since others have recently replied, I offer my experience.

've not done it (yet). When my needle bounced I took it apart and saw all the old grease along the shafts that drive the odometer. Cleaned carefully, and added some light lithium grease. Fixed it for a while. Began bouncing again, mostly while warming up. Then, needle just stopped at zero. Cluster back out again. Used short speedo cable (I have CC) to spin over. Speedo seems frozen. Found a replacement in a local salvage yard. Odometer is higher but works OK. And yes, I did pull the entire cable out, flushed the housing, checked for kinks, regreased the inner core, removed and cleaned the speed sender. even swapped out the CC sender. Would work for a while and start up again. Took a while to find a Renix full cluster. You can use one from the basic cluster, but there is no resettable trip odo on it.

The blue pinion shafts are the ones that had the old, hardened grease.


Next time it goes, I may do this. Kit is pricy and you still have to get the sending unit and cluster.

https://boxyjeep.com/products/87-90-...rsion-full-kit