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Guages

9

92xjdean

NAXJA Forum User
Location
MO
All,
I have a 1992 Cherokee SE, it's the baseline model. No oil pressure guage, no heat guage and no tach! I bought a 3 guage set last night for the tmp, oil pressure and voltmeter. I opened it up and it's all mechanical! I was expecting the guages to be electronic. Here's my question, would this guage set be worht keeping and installing or should I look for an electronic one? Also, has anyone else hooked something like this up, mechanical, and do they work fine? I just have a problem with an oil line running into my interior! Or has anyone bought an electronic guage set and hooked those up off of the stock sending units? Will the stock sending units work with a new electronic guage or would I have to buy a different one? Or do the new guages come with a new sending unit? So many questions! Help!

Thanks in advance for your comments. I love this website by the way.......
 
I would never install mechanical gauges for flammable fluids inside the cabin, but that's just me!

I'd just go to the junkyard and pick up the full factory instrument cluster from an up-model Cherokee. Those clusters have the tach, voltmeter, oil pressure, and coolant temp gauges you're looking for. Plus, it's pretty much plug-and-play... just grab the oil pressure (near the oil filter) and coolant temp (on the thermostat housing) sending units as well.

In any case, you will need those sending units for electronic gauges, factory or aftermarket. IIRC they differ from the sending units you already have, as they send a variable signal to the gauges rather than an on/off signal.
 
Mechanical Gauges usually are more accurate, have a faster response and usually have a full sweep around the dial, like a clock, so they are easier to read at a moment. BUT, they are more difficult to install, take up more room under the hood and dash and are prone to leaks, especially in bad places like the passenger cabin. As you probably noticed, the connections for Mechanical Gauges are huge tubing that has limits in flexibility and radius of bends, that takes up a lot of space and complicates the install.

Electrical (not Electronic) Gauges usually are far easier to install, they take up less space under the dash and in the engine compartment and the only leak worry is at the source, where you install the sender/sensor. The Accuracy and Capability of Electrical Gauges varies greatly from brand to brand, some being literally almost useless junk and others being so good they are as capable as Mechanical Gauges.

I used Autometer Electrical Gauges, you usually have to order them online, they are not common enough to find in local stores. But they have a huge sweep, are very responsive and accurate, it tought to tell the difference between the mechanical. They make several different lines of gauges that vary in colors and style, so its fairly easy to get a set of gauges that blend right in with the interior and existing instrument panel.

Racers use Mechanical Gauges in Race Cars, where the interior is metal and a crash seat, and the driver wears a flame retardant suite. You do see them in regular vehicles, and theres nothing wrong with them being there, its just makes better sense to use electrical in most street/recreational vehicles, unless you want to spend the extra time, trouble and expense OR really need that extra accuracey and response. Even the most die-hard enthusiast and perferctionist would be perfectly satisfied with Autometer Electric Gauges in a street/rec vehicle.
 
This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much and if we ever meet up, I'll buy the fiurst round!!!!!!!!!!

montanaman said:
Why not just swap out your entire gauge cluster for the proper Jeep cluster with all the gauges? You can buy a gauge cluster on ebay for $40.00+.

Here is a writeup on how to do it. I did mine and I'm very happy with it:

http://www.baeta.org/opie/Gauge.htm

Good luck.
Click to expand...
 
Yeah ... you're very welcome. You'll need to buy the new gauge cluster, and new temp sender (from the back of your cylinder head, on the drivers side), and a new oil pressure sender ... both of them need to be designed for gauges instead of idiot lights.

Do a search on eBay for "Jeep gauge cluster" or "Jeep Instrument cluster." They are pretty cheap ... about $50-75 shipped.

For your XJ, you can get a gauge cluster for a '92-96. They will all work fine. Don't get a 91 or earlier. And don't get a '97 or later.

Get the senders for your '93. Check:

http://www.rockauto.com
http://www.partsamerica.com

Once you get the part numbers, you might save money by searching at

http://planetautoparts.com/

They usually have the best prices, but you have to know your part number ahead of time.
 
Hey, lets keep this quiet.

I've been trying to buy a Fully Equipped Instrument Panel off eBay CHEAPLY for the last couple of weeks now. I don't need any extra price increasing competition. ;-)
 
pdxxjnoob said:
Sweet, thanks. I hadn't found any info on swapping out a '97+, but that tells me all almost all I need to know. Thanks.
Click to expand...
For the 97+, it's even easier than the other years. You don't even need to swap out your sensors. Just buy the gauge cluster, swap it out, and it should all work fine.
 
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