XJ Gauge swap question ...

Hi:

I've got a '91 Cherokee sport with idiot lights.

I just bought a '95 instrument cluster with tach, etc.

I need to buy new sending units for the water temp and oil pressure.

The question is: Do I buy 1991 senders to match the jeep computer, or 1995 senders to match that year of gauges. (The senders are different for those years).

Thanks for any help you can provide.

I think you wanna get 91 senders as you want to much the plug fittings

montanaman said:

Hi:

I've got a '91 Cherokee sport with idiot lights.

I just bought a '95 instrument cluster with tach, etc.

I need to buy new sending units for the water temp and oil pressure.

The question is: Do I buy 1991 senders to match the jeep computer, or 1995 senders to match that year of gauges. (The senders are different for those years).

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Click to expand...

yeah ... '91 senders will hook up the wiring harness with no trouble, but you gotta wonder ... will they send the correct electrical signal to the gauges?

Thanks for your answer, and any other experiences you can share.

hey, I work for the Checker, Shuck's, Kragen auto parts stores. I have a set of catalogs here with pics so I should be able to help you out here.
I'm assuming you have a 4.0
the oil pressure switch is the same threads on both 91 & 95 apps, the only difference is the terminal connection. the 91 has 1 blade and the 95 has 1 round pin terminal. So i suggest getting the one for the 95 year. If you go to one of our stores, the part number you need is OP67871 in Niehoff.
Same story with the temp guage sender, you'll want the one for the 95 due to terminal change, but either will work. The TS82771 is for the 95

montanaman said:

yeah ... '91 senders will hook up the wiring harness with no trouble, but you gotta wonder ... will they send the correct electrical signal to the gauges?

Thanks for your answer, and any other experiences you can share.

Click to expand...

The sensors offer resistance and as long as you get the ones for the full cluster setup you will be fine.

Daveisdabomb said:

hey, I work for the Checker, Shuck's, Kragen auto parts stores. I have a set of catalogs here with pics so I should be able to help you out here.
I'm assuming you have a 4.0
the oil pressure switch is the same threads on both 91 & 95 apps, the only difference is the terminal connection. the 91 has 1 blade and the 95 has 1 round pin terminal. So i suggest getting the one for the 95 year. If you go to one of our stores, the part number you need is OP67871 in Niehoff.
Same story with the temp guage sender, you'll want the one for the 95 due to terminal change, but either will work. The TS82771 is for the 95

Click to expand...

He has 91 Jeep with 95 cluster which means 91 wiring harness so you're suggesting 95 sensors which have different terminal connections rom what his harness has??

Daveisdabomb said:

hey, I work for the Checker, Shuck's, Kragen auto parts stores. I have a set of catalogs here with pics so I should be able to help you out here.
I'm assuming you have a 4.0
the oil pressure switch is the same threads on both 91 & 95 apps, the only difference is the terminal connection. the 91 has 1 blade and the 95 has 1 round pin terminal. So i suggest getting the one for the 95 year. If you go to one of our stores, the part number you need is OP67871 in Niehoff.
Same story with the temp guage sender, you'll want the one for the 95 due to terminal change, but either will work. The TS82771 is for the 95

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply ... I really appreciate the help from this forum.

Ok ... so you think I should get the '95 senders to match the '95 replacement gauges. That would mean that I have to cut and splice the wire connections to install those senders on my 91 cherokee (4.0L motor).

I'm willing to do that if you think it's necessary ... but it sure would be nice to be able to use the 91 senders, so that I don't have to splice the wire connections.

montanaman said:

Thanks for your reply ... I really appreciate the help from this forum.

Ok ... so you think I should get the '95 senders to match the '95 replacement gauges. That would mean that I have to cut and splice the wire connections to install those senders on my 91 cherokee (4.0L motor).

I'm willing to do that if you think it's necessary ... but it sure would be nice to be able to use the 91 senders, so that I don't have to splice the wire connections.

Click to expand...

1. http://www.naxja.org/forum/search.php?
2. http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=62714&highlight=cluster (there are links there to more writeups and not mention splicing connections as the sensors act the same: all you need is the cluster sensor instead of the idiot light sensor!)

Another bit of info to further muddy the waters: I called the dealership, and they said the temp gauges for the '91 and '95 are different part numbers. So ... you have to wonder, are they designed to work with different resistance ranges? I dunno.

I guess I could just buy both sets of senders, but I'd hate to waste $40 bucks for nothing.

I believe they are saying to use the 91 sensors.The sensors "seem" to be the same except for the wire terminal.Why change the wire when you can get the correct sensor.
Wayne
See why I told you in the PM reply to put it on the main board

montanaman said:

Another bit of info to further muddy the waters: I called the dealership, and they said the temp gauges for the '91 and '95 are different part numbers. So ... you have to wonder, are they designed to work with different resistance ranges? I dunno.

Click to expand...

They are different part numbers because they have different CONNECTORS!

Kejtar said:

1. http://www.naxja.org/forum/search.php?
2. http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=62714&highlight=cluster (there are links there to more writeups and not mention splicing connections as the sensors act the same: all you need is the cluster sensor instead of the idiot light sensor!)

Click to expand...

Thanks for those links ... I've read all of the writeups, but here is another link where various guys had trouble getting the temp gauge to work ... seems like they had to get the year of senders to match the year of the gauges:

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=54251

Wayne Sihler said:

See why I told you in the PM reply to put it on the main board

Click to expand...

Yeah ... this place is great ... lots of information here. I appreciate the help.

Kejtar said:

They are different part numbers because they have different CONNECTORS!

Click to expand...

I was talking about the actual gauges ... not the senders. They both plug into the cluster the same, but they have different part numbers.

montanaman said:

I was talking about the actual gauges ... not the senders. They both plug into the cluster the same, but they have different part numbers.

Click to expand...

Didn't the ownership of jeep change at that time? Also maybe the guts of the cluster have changed somehow..... different illumination? another optional light or indicator? different materials? :dunno: The fact that the part numbers on the cluster are different doesn't really say much.

Kejtar said:

Didn't the ownership of jeep change at that time? Also maybe the guts of the cluster have changed somehow..... different illumination? another optional light or indicator? different materials? :dunno: The fact that the part numbers on the cluster are different doesn't really say much.

Click to expand...

yeah ... that's a good point. Thanks for your answers ... I know these aren't easy questions. Here's a quote from another thread that got me worried about all of this in the first place:

SteveT said:

Finally got the temp gauge to work. The part came from Checkers (same as Kragen or Schucks?). It's a Niehoff #TS25451 (this is the part number for the '91 temp sender).

My XJ is a '96, w/ gauges from a '91. I did have to splice in the proper fitting into my harness to match the threaded post on the new sender. I got the fitting from the wrecking yard off a "clustered" XJ.

Steve

This is the type of fitting I had with the idiot light.
http://www.opiebennett.com/images/Jeep/Guage swap/Temp Sender Outline IMG_9297.JPG

The one that works is just a straight up threaded post. The part that threads into the block looks identical to my old sender.

Click to expand...

This guy tried to use a '96 sender on a '91 temperature gauge, and it didn't work. When he put in the '91 sender and spliced the connection, it worked. Now ... I've checked and it turns out the '95 and '96 senders are identical. So I thought this would be pretty relevant to me putting a '95 cluster into my '91 jeep.

montanaman said:

This guy tried to use a '96 sender on a '91 temperature gauge, and it didn't work. When he put in the '91 sender and spliced the connection, it worked. Now ... I've checked and it turns out the '95 and '96 senders are identical. So I thought this would be pretty relevant to me putting a '95 cluster into my '91 jeep.

Click to expand...

If I was you I'd try the appropriate 91 sender and see what happens. If that doesn't work I'd exchange it for another one.

Re: XJ Gauge swap question ... Got it figured out ...

Hi Folks:

Thanks for your responses. Here is what I found out:

The Tachometer, Fuel level gauge and voltmeter are the same from '87 thru 96 XJs.

The speedometer is the same for 84-86 (cable), or 87-90 (different cable, but interchangeable with 84-86 speedometer), or 91-96 (no cable).

The Temp. and Oil Pressure gauges are the same for 87-91, or 92-96.

So ... you can see that '91 is a "transitional" year. That is, it has the temp and oil pressure gauges from 87-91. But ... it has the electronic speedometer with no cable like the 91-96.

All the temperature and Oil pressure senders for 92-96 XJs are the same.

All the temperature and oil pressure senders for 87-91 are also the same, and are not compatible with the 92-96 years. The 87-91 senders are electrically "opposite," in terms of their resistance curve.

If you have an 87-90 XJ, you can replace your gauges with any cluster from an 87-90 jeep and order the senders for your vehicle year with no problem.

If you have a 92-96 XJ, you can replace the cluster with any 92-96 cluster, and order the senders for your vehicle year with no problem. Or ... you can get a cluster from a '91 XJ and order the 87-91 oil pressure and temp senders. If you use the 87-91 senders on a 92-96 XJ, you'll need to splice new contact wire ends onto your wiring harness.

If you have a '91 XJ, you can replace the cluster from another '91 XJ, and order the senders for a '91, Or you can get a replacement cluster from a 92-96, and order the 92-96 senders. If you use the 92-96 senders on a '91 XJ, you'll have to splice new contact wires into your wire harness.

So ... swapping out a cluster for a 91 XJ is the most difficult year, but it's still doable.

Hope this helps someone when they do a search in the future.