Xj dash change to MJ?

Hi I need your knowledge once again, my comanche does not have RPM tachometer on the dash, and I saw that some people change the cherokee dash to the comanche, my quesiton is does it fit without any modification? any body has any pictures performing this change?

Thanks for your help, :smart:

My comanche is a 88 4cyl 2wd

It goes right in, and the tach will work right away. You do, however, need to switch the temp and oil switches to senders, in order for it to work for those guages...

Really easy.

What year is your MJ? 4 or 6 cyl?

Rob L.

It fits, but you have to be aware of differences between years. There are three possible dash clusters. The "early" XJ/MJ cluster was used from 84 thru 86 (and maybe partway into 87, I haven't verified that). It has a mechanical speedometer with the cable attached to the cluster with a metal retairer and screw. The second variation was used from 1987 thru 1990, also has a mechanical speedometer, and the speedo cable is attached to the speedo head with a which nylon retainer. From 1991 through 1996 the XJ (and 91 - 92 MJ) used an electric speedometer.

It goes right in, and the tach will work right away. You do, however, need to switch the temp and oil switches to senders, in order for it to work for those guages...

 

Really easy.

 

What year is your MJ? 4 or 6 cyl?

 

Rob L.

My comanche is a 88 4cyl 2wd, so how do I make the switch to senders?

You go to an auto parts store and you buy a temperature sender and an oil pressure sender for a 1988 Cherokee or Comanche with gauges. The senders are the same for 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder. The tachometer is not the same, but the correct 1988 tach has a potentiometer that allows you to recalibrate a 6-cyl tach to read correctly with a 4-cyl engine.

Might find this link helpful:

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=921205

I just pulled the senders from the XJ i took the guages from

Might find this link helpful:

 

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=921205

That was an awesome writeup on this procedure! I got a full gauge cluster from an '87 XJ 4.0/automatic, and stopped at an auto parts store on the way home and bought the water temp and oil pressure senders. One thing to add to this procedure, is that instead of trying to remove the speedo cable from the back of the gauge (the seller or I couldn't get our hands back there to unsnap the cable fitting), follow the cable to where it joins the rest of the cable, and just disconnect it there. I followed the procedure to adjust the odometer, and removing the teeny tiny c-clip took some doing. But after it was off, I followed the directions as posted, and was able to easily change the numbers to match my current odometer reading, too easy!

Everything else looks fairly easy, provided I take my time and not force anything, so nothing ends up getting broken. One thing I was thinking of doing was replacing the regular filament 194 bulbs with LEDs. Has anyone done this? The reason I'm asking is I tried upgrading the incandescent bulbs on my motorcycle to LEDs, and they didn't work properly when I had them in the 4 turn signals and rear brake light. So I'm wondering if I swapped all twelve 194 bulbs on the back (9 for cluster illumination and 1 each for turn signals and high beam indicator) to LEDs if they'll all work like they're supposed to? If so, I'm thinking of going with red LEDs for the cluster illumination, and white for the turn signals and high beam indicator. With how much of a PITA it'll be to pull the gauge cluster to replace bulbs in the future, I'd like to replace them now before I install the new cluster.

One thing to add to this procedure, is that instead of trying to remove the speedo cable from the back of the gauge (the seller or I couldn't get our hands back there to unsnap the cable fitting), follow the cable to where it joins the rest of the cable, and just disconnect it there.

They don't all have a junction downstream from the speedo head. I believe that's only for vehicles equipped with factory cruise control. It's not that unusual to find it on junkyard XJs, but I'm surprised your MJ had it. Do you have cruise?

They don't all have a junction downstream from the speedo head. I believe that's only for vehicles equipped with factory cruise control. It's not that unusual to find it on junkyard XJs, but I'm surprised your MJ had it. Do you have cruise?

Shoot, just my luck...no, the "junction" was on the donor vehicle, an XJ that had power everything. I haven't looked at the speedo cable on my MJ yet, plan on doing that either on Sun or Mon. I'll follow the threads and make sure I remove the right cluster next to the gauges, where a clock or something is supposed to go, and see if I can reach my hand behind the speedo and unclip the cable. I've gotten this far, so I don't want to risk breaking anything just yet. I'll follow the speedo cable on the MJ, and if it doesn't have a junction like the donor XJ had, I'll take the partial cable off the back of the donor cluster, and figure out a way to unclip then reclip the MJ cable to the new cluster.

Yep, if you don't have cruise the cable is one piece. You've got a couple of options. Fish your arm up from the bottom and undo the cable, or remove all the screws, and working from the left side of the cluster, unhook the electrical connectors and then fish your arm in from the left side and unhook the speedo.(If you have gorilla arms, forget this one)

Last thing is you can unhook the speedo cable from the t-case and fish some slack up through the firewall so the cluster will come farther out and remove it that way. Putting it back on is alot easier than getting it off.

:cheers:

It's real easy with the electronic speedo. :D

It's real easy with the electronic speedo. :D

I knew I should have done the HO swap. :fs1:

I knew I should have done the HO swap. :fs1:

Yeah, but then you would have had the fuel gauge polarity/accuracy problem unless you could find an MJ HO sender. And those are tough to find - only for two years were they made...........

I knew I should have done the HO swap. :fs1:

 

Yeah, but then you would have had the fuel gauge polarity/accuracy problem unless you could find an MJ HO sender. And those are tough to find - only for two years were they made...........

What if I have a HO XJ sender? I have a spare HO XJ in my shop that I am going to strip down for the MJ.

It fits, but you have to be aware of differences between years. There are three possible dash clusters. The "early" XJ/MJ cluster was used from 84 thru 86 (and maybe partway into 87, I haven't verified that). It has a mechanical speedometer with the cable attached to the cluster with a metal retairer and screw. The second variation was used from 1987 thru 1990, also has a mechanical speedometer, and the speedo cable is attached to the speedo head with a which nylon retainer. From 1991 through 1996 the XJ (and 91 - 92 MJ) used an electric speedometer.

Eagle, my 87 4cyl, column shift had the metal retainer for the cable. Swtiched to the cluster from my 88 for the full guage package and was able to get the cable to attach with some minor modifications.

The XJ senders do not fit the MJ tanks - different animal.

Got the gauge cluster swap done, took my time, had my coffee, didn't end up breaking anything or cussing up a storm, lol...

Anyway, one gauge doesn't seem to be working properly, it's the water temp gauge. I installed a new temp sensor, Duralast part # TU108, and the first thing I noticed is it's deeper/longer than the stock one. I also noticed that the switch cap doesn't fit real snug. It goes on, but it feels kinda loose. So I fired up the truck to check the gauges, was fiddling with the idle, watching the rpms move up and down, everything seemed to be fine. But, after a mile or two down the road, the water temp gauge pegged all the way in the red. Oil pressure was reading right around 60 psi, and would drop a little bit when I came to a stop. Fuel gauge appeared to be accurate, compared to what the big fuel gauge was reading on the stock cluster. So I pulled over, popped the hood and took the water temp switch cap off, and it dropped to the mark between 100 and 210, and didn't move. As soon as I put the switch cap back on, it went all the way to the right. So I took it off again, left it off, and drove back home. The water temp gauge stayed right at the middle mark between 100 and 210. I checked it again after I got home, put the switch cap back on, and it moved all the way to the right.

So from what I've read in here, the water temp and oil pressure sending units are supposed to match the gauge cluster from the donor vehicle, not the vehicle it's supposed to go into, right? So I have a 6-cyl XJ cluster going into my 4-cyl MJ, so I got the sending units for a 6-cyl. Just for kicks, I went to Auto Zone's website, just to see if there was a different part number between a water temp sending unit for a 6-cyl and 4-cyl, and they list the same part number for both.

So I'm back to square one. What's wrong with the water temp gauge? Is it the loose switch cap, would that cause the gauge to peg? I'm not low on coolant, and there's no coolant leaks under the vehicle where it's parked, so what's going on?

Sounds lou installed a water temperature switch, not a gauge sending unit. The switch is for the idiot light. You need the sensor (thermister) for the XJs/MJs with gauges.

Niehoff TS82771/AL6206 or equivalent

Sounds lou installed a water temperature switch, not a gauge sending unit. The switch is for the idiot light. You need the sensor (thermister) for the XJs/MJs with gauges.

 

Niehoff TS82771/AL6206 or equivalent

I know I need a sender for a gauge, and according to this thread, the part that I got was the one that was listed (Wells TU108):

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=921205

Not sure how much different they are visually, other than the gauge sender being longer than the idiot light sender? There's a BIG difference between the oil pressure idiot light and oil pressure gauge sending units, but I guess that's because it's a pressure gauge, and not a temperature gauge?

The gauge cluster came out of an '87 XJ 6-cyl, and my MJ is an '88 4-cyl, so the clusters themselves should be easily compatible. The oil pressure sending unit looks to be operating correctly, but I have no clue what's going on with the water temperature gauge. I crimped the wire connector so it fits nice and snug now, but the gauge still pegs to the right when it's warm. However, it starts at the mark between 100 and 210 at startup, but then creeps all the way to the right when it gets warm. I'm thinking of going back to Auto Zone with the old water temp idiot light sending unit, and asking them for a water temperature sending unit for a gauge, and see if they give me the same part I already got. If so, I'll try Advance Auto, Napa, then maybe a dealer, just to see if they all want to give me the same part I already have...

Went down to the local Advance Auto, and had them look up a water temperature sending unit for a gauge for an '87 XJ 6-cyl, to match the gauge cluster, and got their part number WT761. They didn't have one in stock, but should have one tomorrow. Should be a simple swap to replace the Duralast/Wells TU108 I have in there now, which doesn't appear to be working correctly, with this one. Good thing I was looking over the guy's shoulder while he was looking in the catalog, because he was going to order me another sending unit for an idiot light, but when I looked at the bottom of the opposite page, there was the section for sending units with gauges, and the part numbers were different, lol! So, I should definitely be getting a water temperature sending unit for a gauge sometime tomorrow. If price is any indication, this WT761, at about $18, is double the price of the Duralast/Wells TU108 sending unit, so hopefully that's another clue this will be the correct sending unit for the water temperature gauge.

Since my oil pressure gauge appears to be working correctly, I was wondering what's the "normal" range of oil psi for the 4 cyl engine? According to the gauge, I'm running around 60 psi when in motion, and slightly less at idle. Is this the normal psi, or am I going to have to check and make sure I have the right oil pressure sending unit? The oil pressure gauge is working, but I need to know if it's reading correctly...

The WT761 sensor should be okay.

Your oil pressure seems fine. The Jeep gauges are notoriously inaccurate and the only way to make sure if that's the actual pressure is to compare it with a known good standard, like a calibrated mechanical gauge.

It fits, but you have to be aware of differences between years. There are three possible dash clusters. The "early" XJ/MJ cluster was used from 84 thru 86 (and maybe partway into 87, I haven't verified that). It has a mechanical speedometer with the cable attached to the cluster with a metal retairer and screw. The second variation was used from 1987 thru 1990, also has a mechanical speedometer, and the speedo cable is attached to the speedo head with a which nylon retainer. From 1991 through 1996 the XJ (and 91 - 92 MJ) used an electric speedometer.

 

Eagle, my 87 4cyl, column shift had the metal retainer for the cable. Swtiched to the cluster from my 88 for the full guage package and was able to get the cable to attach with some minor modifications.

That confirms my suspicions. Do you remember what you had to do to get the cable to attach to the newer style speedo head?

Sorry, I don't remember what I had to do. Must not have been to much trouble or I would remember.

Went to Advance Auto this morning to pick up my new water temp sending unit, and I took a pic of all three sending units, for comparison. Looking at the senders from left to right, this is what you're looking at:

Stock sending unit for idiot light / Duralast TU108, per thread, but for an idiot light / WT761, sending unit for a gauge

So I removed the Duralast unit and installed the WT761 unit, and the water temp gauge now seems to work. Only concern is once it gets warmed up, the needle sits just to the left of the red area, right by the white mark. It's way above 210, not sure what degrees that white mark just to the left of the red area is, but since the idiot light never went on, I'm not going to worry about it for now.

But it looks like I have fully operational gauges now!