T-Rexj

Hello fellow jeep family. I have been pondering an led conversion for my 96 cherokee for some time now. Decided to bite the bullet and I ordered red led's for my new project. I had searched quite a bit for write ups on this and there are several. However most being 97 and up in year not as many in the old version of the cherokee. So decided to do my own simple write up. This will be a somewhat step by step picture guide for anyone looking to do a similar project.

To get started I just want to say this may not be the easiest or the best way of removing the dash Guage cluster. However it is how I was able to figure it out. If you have any tips or tricks please share.

T-Rexj

Step 1:



Disconnect the negative termial...usually I do both just for an extra precaution. Not the case here lol. I like to take one of my rear rubber floor mats folded in half to keep the cables from touching the battery.

Step 2:










The first thing I removed was the steering wheel housing?? I guess is what it's called. There are three torx bolts on the underneath side of your steering wheel. You will need a T-20 for the middle bolt and an extended T-15 for the two side bolts.

NOTE:


You will need to unscrew the steering wheel adjustment *** before the plastic cover will come off.

Step 3:





So next you need to remove this hex bolt that holds in this electrical connector, and disconnect it. Once you do that you can remove the four screws holding on the plastic dash trim.






Step 4:
So now you should be able to see your Guage cluster and I believe there are 6 black screws that hold this in. But first you need to remove your cigarette lighter and aux switches(to make gauge removal easier).



Now you should remove the 6 screws and your Guage cluster should be free.



Step 5:
There are two connections on the back of the gauges. Disconnect these and you should be able to remove the Guage cluster.









Step 6:
There are 8 bulbs on the back of the gauges to replace and four in the aux switches/ac & heater area.














Step 7: just replace everything the opposite order of how you took it out and your good to go.

NOTE: Most led's you buy will have a polarity to them which determines the direction the led needs to sit in its housing. Tip... test your lights before you put the Guage cluster back in. Should save you some hassle.

Hope This Helps someone. Please comment give me your thoughts and ideas. Thanks

T-Rexj

And the end result....

cherokee01

Looks good. How many of each bulb did you buy? I have been thinking of doing this to my 01 as well.

T-Rexj

I bought 8 of the 194 size leds and 4 of the 74 led's. This lit my gauges, blinker indicators, fog light indicator, rear defrost and rear wipers indicators. Oh and my heater/ac. It will take one more for the 4wd area on the center console... for some reason I didn't get one for that. However it might take a different type of led replacement for the 97-01 models??

Rambler65

Yes, there's a very long thread in OEM Cherokee Tech that has lots of information:

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/xj-...ts-mod-126507/

I installed LEDs in my 1999 instrument panel and have ordered LEDs for the HVAC, switches, and shifters. From that thread this is what's needed for the 1997-2001 models:

5 - #74 for instrument cluster
4 - Neowedge T4 10mm for HVAC and switches (5 if you have factory fog lights)
2 - #194 for automatic shifter and transfer case

It's not clear to me how to R&R the bulbs for HVAC, switches, and shifter but the info is probably buried in that thread.

I went with blue since I like the look and wanted any red warning lights to stand out if they light up. Now I just need to get as much of the rest to match as possible, though the factory radio is probably not a candidate without major surgery.

T-Rexj

Ya its definitely a good inexpensive modification I lie how it turned out. Thanks for the info on the newer style

denverd1

cool!! I was hoping you went with red! gonna do the same

T-Rexj

Thanks for the reply. Ya when I first started building my rig I probably would have gone with blue. I think it would have been to bright. Glad I went with the red. Hope this write up helps you out.

Rambler65

So far I'm liking the blue, though it's cheap and easy enough to change if I get tired of it. Surprisingly I found that the LEDs dim just fine with no mods, and they are just ebay cheapies. (Though they don't seem too bright even at maximum.)

The red looks great in the photos I've seen but like I said I'd be afraid of not noticing a warning light if it came on. If I change colors I might try white, pics I've seen look real nice.


Blue LEDs for the HVAC and shifters are on the way...

T-Rexj

Ya those white ones looks pretty slick. Only thing I don't like about the ones I got is they don't seem to dim even though I ordered dimmable ones.... gonna try and contact the company to switch them out maybe. And yes the red would confuse with warning lights however I left all those they're original color. I seem to have a hard time seeing the high beam indicator though might try and take that one and put it in the 4wd area.

Hey Rambler post up some pics if you can when you get your hvac lights in... would like to see your blue

T-Rexj

I'm sure this thread might help out more people if I would have posted it in the write-up forums.... anyway to move it over there?

joeyjeepz

Cool! I remeber doing my 93xj,

T-Rexj

Thanks...what color did you go with? Are you liking it so far?

joeyjeepz

Sry that was 10 years ago, i loved it! Dnt remeber what color, but i was happy with it