More Overhead Console and Interior Mods

Well I re-upholstered the overhead console in this thread HERE and then decided i'd try to get the onboard Compass and Temp sensor unit working. I found some wiring schematics and pin outs online for the pre 97 overhead console units which made this project possible. I could not locate a factory plug for the unit at the local U-pull yard so I found some connectors in my hobby stuff that would work.

Here's the unit being bench tested in the kitchen with a 12v power supply:


Wiring into the factory plug area. This was a PITA:




And my patent pending "Ear Light":



Here is my new T Case shifter knob I did. Its a leather knob from a 4 Runner:



My buddy Jon decided he wanted new seats in his ZJ so I put his old seats in my rig:



After i got the overhead console done, I moved the factory dome light to above the cargo area:


Thats it for today... more down the road i'm sure

:guitar:

Nice!!
I wonder if a Grand Cherokee Overhead trip computer/Console can be made to work in an XJ without too much hassle ?
The reason I ask is there are tons of them floating around for sale & the XJ OHC seems to be pretty hard to find.

It appears the woodland camo is only on the center console and sun visors. The rest of the headliner appears to be stock.

What, No sound bar in the back?

No factory sound bar... this is an SE model, ex gov't rig. Thanks for the comments guys. I actually wired in a switch at the back hatch area so i can turn on the rear light manually too. Works pretty slick....

:cheers:

what wires do what on that im trying to wire in mine and i cant figure it out

PM me your email address and i'll send you all the wiring stuff i have...

garr said:

Nice!!
I wonder if a Grand Cherokee Overhead trip computer/Console can be made to work in an XJ without too much hassle ?
The reason I ask is there are tons of them floating around for sale & the XJ OHC seems to be pretty hard to find.

Click to expand...

I believe a few of the older years the answer is yes, but I know any of the ones for the WK and probably the WJ will not work due to them receiving most of the data they display over the PCI bus (WK) or CCD bus (WJ.) The CCD bus issue, I think some really dedicated people have solved by taking the BCM out of a Grand Cherokee and hacking it onto the CCD bus of an XJ, then tapping all the signals it needs and feeding them into the BCM, but that's way more trouble than it is worth. I believe the ZJ OHCs might work but that info comes straight from you know where moon so good luck!

As for OHC wiring info - it's pretty easy really. I used this page as my source for the pin-out http://www.jonsteiger.com/www/barracuda/OVERHEADCONSOLE/ - one wire color code is wrong, but the rest are all right so it's quite easy to figure out which the miscolored one is. FYI, unless you have either power locks or power windows at least, your cross body wiring harness is not going to have the cabling to support an OHC. If you have power locks or power windows, you just run the wires down the A-pillar on the passenger side and there should be empty connectors under the kick panel there with all the wires you'll need to splice. If you don't have power locks or power windows (base model) you will need to run some wires across to the driver side and splice in over there - when I did this, we couldn't find a good spot to splice into the white wire with a black stripe so we plugged that wire into the accessory power position in the fusebox. We also couldn't find a good spot to tap the dimmer output and the park/headlight line on the headlight switch (and didn't feel like running another two wires, at 11pm) so we just connected those to ground and +12 respectively to force the display to full brightness at all times.

Good luck! If you need any help with this feel free to post up or pm me as well.

EDIT: further note - the temp sensors for the grand cherokees and the cherokees I believe are all the same resistance curve, and they are much more common on the Grands. Pop the grille off and swipe the temp sensor from one of the supports in there, plus a couple feet of the wiring harness, and you should be good to go. We ended up strapping the temp sensor to the same mount as the stock horn to avoid pulling the grille for the install. All it really needs is a dry-ish place upwind of the engine/radiator so that it measures actual air temp, not windchill or engine compartment temp... unless that's what you're after!

racer32 said:

No factory sound bar... this is an SE model, ex gov't rig. Thanks for the comments guys. I actually wired in a switch at the back hatch area so i can turn on the rear light manually too. Works pretty slick....

:cheers:

Click to expand...

- how did you wire that light with the switch? I have ZERO clue and want to turn my interior lights on/off while the doors are open, I also have an se btw I was beginning to think that I was the only one haha all I see around here are sports and limiteds as well as those are all they have at our local jeep yard with the exception of a country or two

If it has the usual 3 wires for a dome light in an XJ (pink, yellow, black) just wire a toggle switch across the yellow and black wires.

Pink = constant 12 volt power (on even with ignition off, supplies one side of dome light)
Black = ground
Yellow = grounded when door switches are on or the headlight/dimmer switch is turned fully counterclockwise (connects to other side of dome light)

So basically you're just adding another "door switch" that happens to be a toggle switch.

The ambient air temperature sensor is common across all Chrysler Products for any given generation. I am using the sensor out of a 98 Mini-Van in my Heep. Works just dandy. As I replaced the connector at the same time I installed the OHC, I snagged it from the Donor as well. The color Codes matched my 98 XJ...

Makes sense as the OHC electronics are the same across the product line.