1990 XJ Instrument Cluster Upgrade Help

[danols15]

Hello

I am currently upgrading my Instrument Cluster from the one with the gas guage that you can land a small aircraft on, to the one that has a tach, trip counter, and guages. I understand that the 1990 XJ has a speedo cable, and to remove the Stock IC, I need to loosen that one so that there is enough slack in the cable. Does anyone know how I could go about doing this?

Thanks

[AlohaBra]

Reach behind the Instrument Pack and unclip by squeezing or in some cases unscrewing the the hold down for the speedo cable.

[Stick89]

Not sure bout a 90' but the 89' has a 2 piece cable...there is about a 10" piece that "clips to the back of the speedo....the other end attaches to the other cable down by the brake pedal by the fire wall...if you disco the one at the firewall the other stays on tha speedo till you get the cluster out of the dash....then to put it back do the reverse....put the short one back on ....put cluster back in....connect cables at the firewall

[danols15]

Hello again, Thank you for your replies.

I went to my local Jeep Dealer today and I asked about doing something like this, and He suggested that I never try to do something like that. He said that there would be MUCH more work than replacing the senders for the oil pressure and temperature. Has anyone ever done this before?? If so please aid me in making a decision on if I want to do this to my XJ.

Thanks

[sector95]

Get a copy of the factory service manual because you will need it for the wiring diagrams....it'll also show you the correct way to remove the dash cluster.

Anything is possible.....it's just a matter of how much you're willing to go at it. Your exhange may be a simple plug and play or it may require some rewiring of the main instrument cluster plug; you need to find out before you begin the process. I did this type of conversion on an '85 S10 and it required I rearrange some of the connector pins on the dash plug and add a jumper wire. I had a copy of a factory service manual with very good wiring schematics so I was able to compare the standard instrument cluster with the gauge/tach cluster. The dealer is right if you need to change some wiring; you'll have ample opportunity to royally screw it up. You will need to swap out your current oil pressure and coolant tempurature switches (the sending units); they will not work with a gauge setup. Make sure the replacements are for a vehicle with gauges. If you're lucky it's an easy swap.

Might I suggest an aftermarket gauge cluster?...to include a tach?


Good luck

Mike
00XJ

[danols15]

Hello,

I wanted to update you on my upgrade! Everything works 100%! all I did was replace the senders to the IC from oil pressure and from temp. My Idiot Lights are gone.