87MJJeep Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 My friend spotted a '87 Sport Truck 4cyl in a salvage yard yesterday. He said the instrument panel had gauges. My '87 6 cyl has idiot lights. Would this cluster be a direct swap? My passive quest for bucket seats continue. This one has the same burgundy bench seat that I already have! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 It should swap right in. Somewhere in 87 they made a minor modification to the speedo clip, but you should be able to get that to work. You'll probably have to adjust the potentiometer on the tach since the trucks had different number of cylinders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted July 27, 2009 Author Share Posted July 27, 2009 Thanks for the quick reply. I need the tailgate, so I'll see about getting the cluster, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffK Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 If you use a 4 cylinder cluster on a 6 cylinder everything will work except the tach (if it has one), which will not register properly. According to these guys here the tachs are calibrated for either the 4 or 6 cylinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 I got a few parts yesterday in addition to the instrument panel. (tailgate, L/R front bumper pads, and OEM-ish foglights!) I noticed some oddities, or what I thought were. One, the instrument cluster has white and red markings. If I didn't know any better, I'd assume this was out of a '88+ model. I guess I am so used to the OLD plain panel I have now where everything is white or black. Did Comanches ever come with rear defog? This truck had a 2-switch panel (left of steering wheel) that had the foglight switch and a rear defog switch. The first thing I did was take a look at the rear sliding window expecting a solid piece of glass with the heat elements! The other oddity? On the other side of the steering wheel, it had the 2-switch panel where one is the Transmission Power/Comfort setting. Wasn't that an automatic only feature? This truck had a factory manual! Or did manuals come with that switch and the shift indicator light would come on at higher RPM? I wonder if the interior cluster/switches had been modified. Edit: I just remembered, there is a paper decal on the back of the cluster that says "Chrysler PN: 56 002 824." Did Chrysler provide these in the AMC days? Or is it more likely this donor truck had a newer than '87 cluster? I took the tach out of the cluster. I assume the potentiometer is the thing with a plastic face with a Philips screwdriver keyway. It looks like at the 6 o'clock postion, a piece of metal comes up from the circuit board and sticks to the plastic part that turns. It looks like white paint sticks the metal to the plastic. I turned the plastic and that metal tab broke (kinda sheared). I don't know if I just "adjusted" it, or if it's now broken... I have an electrical whiz at work that can look at it for me. It doesn't make sense for it to be adjustable if that piece of metal had the plastic locked in place. The metal tab does solder to the circuit board trace on the underside as if it is part of the circuit. My last question on this junkyard find is if there is a way to roll back the odometer. This one has 129K more miles than my truck! Also, is there a correct way to get the speedo cable off the back of the odometer? I broke the tab of the donor truck trying to get it out. Thank you for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 All gauge clusters I have seen without tach have had white markings ticked ever 1mph and blue km/h on the speedometer. All gauge clusters with tach I have seen have had white markings on the speedometer ticked every 2.5mph with km/h in red. This includes both Renix (-1990) and CHyrsler/HO (1991-). That doesn't mean other don't exist, I have just not seen them out of 20+ I have looked at in junk yards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 All gauge clusters I have seen without tach have had white markings ticked ever 1mph and blue km/h on the speedometer. All gauge clusters with tach I have seen have had white markings on the speedometer ticked every 2.5mph with km/h in red. This includes both Renix (-1990) and CHyrsler/HO (1991-). That doesn't mean other don't exist, I have just not seen them out of 20+ I have looked at in junk yards. Thanks! You described it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 After seeing the tach, board, and POT in good light at work, I could tell that the wire "tab" is not a tab. I thought it went to and stopped at the dial on the pot. It bends back. The white stuff was sealing the pot dial to the corner where that metal bends. Hopefully in a night or two, I'll get it install and calibrated. I'll see if I can swap the current odometer/speedo into the new cluster. If I can do that and get it working, I'll see about taking apart the donor ODO to reset it to my truck's mileage. It would be nice to have the tripometer the donor offers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Your current speedometer without the tripometer will directly replace the one with the tripometer in the cluster. Are you just changing to keep your odometer setting? From what I understand, resetting the Renix odometers is fairly easy, then you can keep the trip. http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=921205 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 Your current speedometer without the tripometer will directly replace the one with the tripometer in the cluster. Are you just changing to keep your odometer setting? From what I understand, resetting the Renix odometers is fairly easy, then you can keep the trip. http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=921205 WHOAH! THANK YOU! That link was a wealth of knowledge!!! I now know I need to change out the oil and temp sensors, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddzz1 Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Defog was not an option for an MJ. The PO probally grabbed the switches out of a cherokee when he hooked up the fog lights. The power/comfort switch with a standard. That I don't understand :hmm: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 Defog was not an option for an MJ. The PO probally grabbed the switches out of a cherokee when he hooked up the fog lights. The power/comfort switch with a standard. That I don't understand :hmm: Nice choice of smiley. ;) I think the other switch in the mount with the Trans switch was a "Cargo light." Maybe it was grabbed for that the same as the other one was grabbed for foglights only... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james750 Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Resetting the odometer on the earlier tachs is surprisingly easy. Three screws and a c clip with the cluster out basically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Defog was not an option for an MJ. The PO probally grabbed the switches out of a cherokee when he hooked up the fog lights. The power/comfort switch with a standard. That I don't understand :hmm: The previous owner may have grabbed the right-hand switch panel out of a Cherokee. I haven't seen an MJ yet that had any switches to the right side of the wheel. I used an XJ panel to get a couple more switches in my '88. I don't remember what they were for in the XJ, because whatever they were for I don't have. I rigged one for a broighter interior light, and the other is (at this point) a spare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigalpha Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 I was swapping an 89 into my 88 and just swapped over the odometer itself so I didn't have to reset anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glundblad Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Regarding resetting the odometer, I tried that by following the instructions on this link: http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=921205 It may be that I am not mechanically inclined but I ruined the odmeter. Once you remove the small C clip, you are suppose to be able to slide the wheels and turn them. On both of the ones I swaped to, plus my factory guage, there is a notch built into the bracket to keep those wheels from sliding over to allow them to be adjusted. After some luck, I was able to get them to turn freely but then they didnt move as I drove down the road. So I got the privilege of doing it a second time. :dunno: Since the faces on the gauges are a different color, I thought it would be worth a try to remove the face from the new speedo and the original. Then put my original guage in the cluster with the new face on it. The face is held in by a couple of screws. But I tried removing the needle from the broken speedo and the needle wouldn't come out. So now my comanche that has 85k miles on it now has 160k miles on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigalpha Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Regarding resetting the odometer, I tried that by following the instructions on this link: http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=921205 It may be that I am not mechanically inclined but I ruined the odmeter. Once you remove the small C clip, you are suppose to be able to slide the wheels and turn them. On both of the ones I swaped to, plus my factory guage, there is a notch built into the bracket to keep those wheels from sliding over to allow them to be adjusted. After some luck, I was able to get them to turn freely but then they didnt move as I drove down the road. So I got the privilege of doing it a second time. :dunno: Since the faces on the gauges are a different color, I thought it would be worth a try to remove the face from the new speedo and the original. Then put my original guage in the cluster with the new face on it. The face is held in by a couple of screws. But I tried removing the needle from the broken speedo and the needle wouldn't come out. So now my comanche that has 85k miles on it now has 160k miles on it. Are the speedo connections different between your stock speedo and the one you are swapping in? IF not, just replace the whole speedo module Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
streetjeep2.5 Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 When I replaced my idiot lite cluster w/gauge cluster on my 87 I took the odometer out of the gauge cluster and changed it to read what my old cluster said. Totally legal. Also, before attaching everything, I attached an external tac to make sure my potentiometer adjustment was spot on, then resealed it into place with a dab of paint. Before you finish up, consider painting the gauge bezel the color of the interior. Neat little touch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87 comanche Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Just swaped a 90 xj cluster into my 87 tonight. Looks the way it was ment to be :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1987Comanche Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Can someone post a pic of the pot for adjusting the tach? I was thinking of swapping my '87 cluster to one with a tach but, when I pulled one out at the JY I didn't see any obvious means of adjustment. My '87 is the 4cyl and every full cluster I've seen is for the straight 6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted August 1, 2009 Author Share Posted August 1, 2009 Can someone post a pic of the pot for adjusting the tach? I was thinking of swapping my '87 cluster to one with a tach but, when I pulled one out at the JY I didn't see any obvious means of adjustment. My '87 is the 4cyl and every full cluster I've seen is for the straight 6. http://widetrackdrive.com/temp/mj/tach-pot.jpg It's the plastic thing with J103C on it. You can see the dab of paint(?) that had it "locked" to the OEM position. I gently turned it with a screwdriver and that paint popped. I will try to install it today. I'll post another shot of the final adjustment. I ran into a problem. My column-shift MJ has the gear indicator in the left-hand large pod previously occupied by the fuel gauge. I will have to carefully cut a hole in the face plate of the donor tach. Grrrr. :( http://widetrackdrive.com/temp/mj/indicator-hole.jpg EDIT: I just test fired it, and everything works, and the tach was dead-on at the default painted-mark setting. My OEM '87 cluster had a sticker that said, "AMC P/N..." The donor from an '87 had "Chrysler P/N..." so I suspect it had been an upgrade to this 4cyl MJ donor truck. Now to cut the hole in the tack face plate and cut a hole in the blue housing for the shifter indicator cable to fall through, and I'll be set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted August 3, 2009 Author Share Posted August 3, 2009 After I pulled my carpet and padding and reinstalled the bench seat, I took it for a spin. I had driven only 3 miles with the new cluster, so I got out on the highway to see what the highway revs are. I am not sure what rear axle it has, but it ran at 2,000 rpm at 60 mph. That seems comparable to most A4 overdrives I've driven. Anyone that is contemplating a gauge cluster swap, do it! I wish I'd gotten off my butt and done it sooner with an XJ donor. Thanks again for the help in this thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1987Comanche Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 I finished this cluster swap last night and, unfortunately, found out that my tach/dwell meter died sometime in the past few months. I ended up rotating the pot for the tach as far clockwise as it would go and I'm reading about 700RPM hot idle (4 cyl). That seems about right since I remember reading somewhere that hot idle is 650RPM with no A/C. I have to check speedo calibration today and may have to adjust the needle but it all works and the odo has been reset to the correct mileage. Do I need to lock the pot in place with some fresh paint or will it stay in location on it's own? Also if anyone is looking for a good U Pull It LKQ opened one in Greenville, SC 2 weeks ago. I scored a rust free tan door (perfect match) and a set of Laredo door panels along with my cluster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted August 24, 2009 Author Share Posted August 24, 2009 I finished this cluster swap last night and, unfortunately, found out that my tach/dwell meter died sometime in the past few months. I ended up rotating the pot for the tach as far clockwise as it would go and I'm reading about 700RPM hot idle (4 cyl). That seems about right since I remember reading somewhere that hot idle is 650RPM with no A/C. I have to check speedo calibration today and may have to adjust the needle but it all works and the odo has been reset to the correct mileage. Do I need to lock the pot in place with some fresh paint or will it stay in location on it's own? Also if anyone is looking for a good U Pull It LKQ opened one in Greenville, SC 2 weeks ago. I scored a rust free tan door (perfect match) and a set of Laredo door panels along with my cluster. The pot on my donor tach did not turn very freely, but to be safe I put a little paint on it. Had I not had paint readily available, I'd skipped it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navigator Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 86MJJEEP, where are you located? I have burgundy buckets and would like a bench. My buckets are pretty worn though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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