4x4Play

I couldnt find anyone who did this, so last night i completed the mod and thought I would do a quick write up on it.

Ive got an 00 XJ that had the idiot light cluster. I bought a tach/gauge cluster from an 01 off of ebay. Swapped in bright white LED bulbs from superbrightleds.com , and it looked great...but the factory overlay has a blue silkscreen backing. So the white leds made everything blue, with orange needles...and it was still a little dull.

Decided to get rid of that, so below is a step by step how i did it.

1) Disconnect battery, & remove cluster. (Find another thread on how to do this, its pretty easy)

2) Remove the clear & black front covers. (Be gentle and take your time, the plastic tabs are fragile)

3) Once those are off, remove the gauge needles. Dont use screwdrivers or anything metal...it will scrape the overlay and break stuff. I used a cheap plastic pry bar w/a forked end from the hardware store. Its gonna take a little force, but they will pop out.

4) Use something with a fine tip, and gently pry out the black plastic rings that were under each needle. They have two tabs that lock them in. Pry from the side, it will be easier.

5) Gently peel the overlay away from the cluster...it has glue on the back, so do this slowly and it will come off.

6) Turn the overlay over, and you will notice the blue and orange silkscreening behind the letters & numbers. Use a dull knife and scrape this off...it doesnt take much. Dont worry about the black areas. (This cluster was from an '01...so i dont know what older years will look like)

7) Once youve gotten it all off (look closely to make sure), hold it up to the light and make sure you didnt miss anything.

8) Put the overlay back on, and resecure the black snap rings. They can be a real b*tch to get them to sit flush once you snap them in...just move the overlay a little to get this to work.

9) STOP HERE. Do not install the needles yet, or the clear plastic front. Install the cluster in the vehicle now. Turn the key to the On position (engine not running). With the key in the On position, install the Tach, Speedo, and Oil Pressure needles at zero (since these must be zero while the car is not moving or running).

10) Use a voltmeter, and check your battery voltage. Mine was at 12.47, so I installed my needle directly between 12 & 13 volts.

11) With the engine warm, use a laser thermometer ($17 on amazon) to check the temperature of the coolant temperature sensor housing. The closer to 100 degrees the better since this is the first actual value on the gauge. (Mine was at 94 degrees, so i installed my needle just a hair before 100). Close enough.

12) Go fill up your fuel tank to the top. Shut the car off, and turn the key to the On position again. Wait a few seconds, and install your fuel needle as far over towards Full as it will go.

You are now done, and can put your plastic covers back on, and reassemble the dash. If your jeep is '96 or newer, you can get a scan tool to plug into the computer and check your gauge values against the ECU inputs. Then you will know if anything needs to be tweaked.

If your jeep is '96 or older, the only gauges you might have trouble with is the Tachometer since you cant use a scan tool to double check it...youll either have to note where it is before you take your cluster apart & then reinstall with the engine running, or use an aftermarket tach.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Dont do this at all if you plan on using the factory light bulbs...they get pretty warm, and could warp the plastic after you scrape off the coating. Maybe it will, maybe it wont. The LEDs dont generate hardly any heat so this is a non issue. Just something to think about