89comanchesleeper Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 hay guys. i have a 89 mj with the idiot light and no gauges. what year should i look for to get the cluster with all the gauges? and my 2.5 don't have a tach. will i be able to hook the tach up when i install it? thanks for the help!! :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 87-90 is the most direct swap. Tach should work automatically, but it might be off a bit if the gauge cluster came from a 4.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 I believe the Renix clusters have an adjustment on the tach so you can set it up for 2.5 or 4.0, and check against one of those laser tachs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89comanchesleeper Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 ok thanks man. also is the wires for the tach already behind the gauges now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Yup, all the wiring is already in there. After changing the cluster, all you need to do is swap out the temp switch for the sender on the back of the head, and the oil pressure switch for the sender by the distributor. I believe the 2.5 has it right in front of the dist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89comanchesleeper Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 ok man thanks for the info. I'm lookin on ebay now for one but it don't look like theres any up there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Put up a WTB thread in the Wanted section of the classifieds. I guarantee you there's someone on here with an extra Renix full cluster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89comanchesleeper Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 will do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socal1200r Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 I have an '88 MJ with the 2.5, and swapped in the full gauge cluster from an '87 XJ with a 4.0. Check out this thread, starting on page 2, for my comments on how my gauge swap went. There's a LOT of good info in that thread, including a link to a VERY detailed gauge swap from NAXJA (North American XJ Association). viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20433&start=15 Very glad I did it, nice to see real gauges instead of idiot lights. You might want to think about replacing some of the gauge bulbs with LEDs, since you'll have it readily accessible. But make sure all the bulbs work before you button things up! Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimoshel Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 I have a '87 full cluster. Came with a 4.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 I have a '87 full cluster. Came with a 4.0 For sale, or you just braggin'? :rotf: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimoshel Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Both? HEHE. I didn't see his ad in wanted and came back to delete this one. Just wasn't fast enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89comanchesleeper Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 well i got a cluster today. but it came out of a i6 idk if the tach will work rt or not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socal1200r Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 well i got a cluster today. but it came out of a i6 idk if the tach will work rt or not As long as the years are compatible, all you have to do is unplug the wires from the stock gauge cluster, plug them into the new full gauge cluster (should be in the same exact places), and the tach will work fine. Doesn't matter if the donor vehicle has a different engine from yours. As I said earlier, I have an '88 MJ 4-cyl, got a full cluster from an '87 XJ 6-cyl, plugged in the wires, and the tach, speedo, fuel, and volt gauges worked fine. You have to replace the senders for the water temp and oil pressure with senders for gauges (stock senders are for idiot lights). Once you replace those senders, all the gauges will work like they're supposed to. Easy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalwkr Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 I hope I'm not beating a dead horse here. I am looking to swap my 89 MJ idiot lights for the gauge set. Did Jeep offer a gauge set on a colum shift? I have found many gauge panels but none have had the shift indicator in them. If I have to I'll mount a static one like I saw in other post but I was curious if Jeep had that option. Thanks, Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 No, they did not. Unfortunately all the clusters with a column shift were idiot light clusters. This, however, will give you everything you need to convert a full cluster to a column shift one. viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14904 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalwkr Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Dang that was fast! Thanks. Gonna do the swap this weekend. Got to get them sending units.. Thanks again! Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livinginh Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 A Cherokee/Comanche with column shift? Did know they made one, never seen one. Would that be a basic stripped down model or a special order? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Cherokees didn't come with the column shift, but most Renix MJs with an automatic had them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 well i got a cluster today. but it came out of a i6 idk if the tach will work rt or not As long as the years are compatible, all you have to do is unplug the wires from the stock gauge cluster, plug them into the new full gauge cluster (should be in the same exact places), and the tach will work fine. Doesn't matter if the donor vehicle has a different engine from yours. As I said earlier, I have an '88 MJ 4-cyl, got a full cluster from an '87 XJ 6-cyl, plugged in the wires, and the tach, speedo, fuel, and volt gauges worked fine. You have to replace the senders for the water temp and oil pressure with senders for gauges (stock senders are for idiot lights). Once you replace those senders, all the gauges will work like they're supposed to. Easy... If the tach came from a vehicle with a different number of cylinders than the truck into which you install it, you have to recalibrate the tach or it'll be off -- by a lot. Think about it -- the tach counts ignition pulses. In a 6-cylinder engine, there are 3 pulses per revolution. For a 4-cylinder, there are two pulses per revolution. Put a 6-cyl tach in a 4-cyl vehicle and the engine has to go around one and a half times (3 pulses) for the tach to register one revolution. Which means your engine is turning 50 percent faster than what the tach reads. (2000 RPM on the tach ==> 3000 RPM at the engine, 4000 RPM at the tach ==> 6000 RPM at the engine.) Recalibrate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socal1200r Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 So what's the easiest way to recalibrate a 6-cyl donor tach to read correctly in a 4-cyl? I'm not looking forward to pulling the cluster just to calibrate the tach, so if it's difficult, I'll just leave it. Wish I would've known that beforehand, 'cuz I'm sure it would've been easier to do before I put the 6-cyl donor cluster in. Guess these plug and play gauge clusters aren't smart enough to recalibrate themselves! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webbjeepxj Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Socal ...... I read your previous post and saw that you replaced the gauges and got an engine temp of 240ish??? I had the same problem, I replaced the stock 195 thermo with a 180 and get 2 mpgs better, vehicle runs better, and the needle sits at around 210. .... I had the local pepboys use a laser temp thingy to check the temp and sure enough it was actually 240 ..... that seems very high, Also this was a 1996 XJ. Just for the record replacing both sensors on front and back of the block for the engine temp. is best. You will get a more accurate reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socal1200r Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Socal ...... I read your previous post and saw that you replaced the gauges and got an engine temp of 240ish??? I had the same problem, I replaced the stock 195 thermo with a 180 and get 2 mpgs better, vehicle runs better, and the needle sits at around 210. .... I had the local pepboys use a laser temp thingy to check the temp and sure enough it was actually 240 ..... that seems very high, Also this was a 1996 XJ. Just for the record replacing both sensors on front and back of the block for the engine temp. is best. You will get a more accurate reading. Thanks for the advice! Changing out a t-stat should be simple enough, and if I can get the gauge reading down to where it's supposed to be, and get better mpg as well, sounds like a no-brainer! Before I swapped the cluster, the water temp idiot light wasn't going on, so I'm not too concerned with it reading in the 240-ish range yet. But if installing a 180 t-stat will make the temp drop on the gauge, I'm all for it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reson46 Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Socal ...... I read your previous post and saw that you replaced the gauges and got an engine temp of 240ish??? I had the same problem, I replaced the stock 195 thermo with a 180 and get 2 mpgs better, vehicle runs better, and the needle sits at around 210. .... I had the local pepboys use a laser temp thingy to check the temp and sure enough it was actually 240 ..... that seems very high, Also this was a 1996 XJ. Just for the record replacing both sensors on front and back of the block for the engine temp. is best. You will get a more accurate reading. Thanks for the advice! Changing out a t-stat should be simple enough, and if I can get the gauge reading down to where it's supposed to be, and get better mpg as well, sounds like a no-brainer! Before I swapped the cluster, the water temp idiot light wasn't going on, so I'm not too concerned with it reading in the 240-ish range yet. But if installing a 180 t-stat will make the temp drop on the gauge, I'm all for it... Replacing the thermostat is a good idea, but do it with the correct 195* thermostat, not 180*. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpnjim Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Cherokees didn't come with the column shift, but most Renix MJs with an automatic had them. I'll have to dig out the brochure, but I think you could get a column shift in a Police Package XJ. :dunno: edit, dug up a pic. Looks funny with the T-case shifter on the floor,but no tranny shifter. :nuts: Image Not Found From this thread: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/my-n ... cs-196215/ Notice, it DOES have gauges AND the cop speedo. :banana: (but no tach). Leave it to Jeep to start offering column shift + gauges AFTER they cancel the MJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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