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What custom electronics would you like to see for XJs?

Which gizmo do you think is the best idea?

  • Waterproof TPS

    Votes: 28 16.9%

  • 97+ AW4 TCU, no CEL edition

    Votes: 19 11.4%

  • full-custom 97+ AW4 TCU with shifter+display

    Votes: 45 27.1%

  • AW4 temp gauge

    Votes: 60 36.1%

  • HD headlight harness

    Votes: 50 30.1%

  • 97+ gas tank retrofit kit

    Votes: 11 6.6%

  • Your Idea Here!

    Votes: 13 7.8%
  • Total voters
    166
kastein

kastein

NAXJA Member
NAXJA Member
Location
Rainy side of Washington
I've had this idea for a while - some of you may recall my thread about an AW4 tranny temp gauge mod kit, and my posts in various AW4 "manumatic" shifter threads. As an electrical engineer (both professionally and as one of my hobbies) I tend to see a lot more custom electronics I'd like to build for my XJ than I think some people here do, just as you guys see more opportunities for wrenching/custom welding fab stuff to add to your XJs. I have thought of about half a dozen different things I am at some point going to build for myself, and may offer as mod kits as a vendor here. Just want to figure out what you guys think I should tackle first... Or if there are any other things I haven't thought of (the originator of course would get a cut of the profits, or free R&D on their kit, if I think an idea is worth doing.)

Some ideas:

  1. a 100% waterproof TPS using a magnetic/hall effect/GMR type sensor instead of the failure-prone OEM variable resistor (likely price range: $75-100)
  2. a custom 97+ TCU that allows you to use the pre-97 manumatic/baja shifter design without throwing a CEL (likely price range: $30-50)
  3. a custom 97+ TCU with an electronic "manual" shifter override, a switch input for the torque converter, a gear display, and whatever other goodies you guys can think of (likely price range: $100-150, around the price of the Montana Fab kit)
  4. a plug-in headlight+fog light wiring harness with all ceramic H4 connectors, relays, heavy gauge wire etc (likely price range: $50-75)
  5. a module/cable to be allow the gas gauge to work when using a 97+ tank/pump/sender assembly in a pre-97 XJ - I don't know about you guys, but I don't like rust, and my pre-97 tank was allllll about the rust. (likely price range: $30-50, depending on how much the connectors required cost)
  6. the AW4 temp gauge idea I posted previously (likely price range: $50, not including temp senders and plumbing)
  7. Anything I'm missing here?
 
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i definately want a 97+ manual aw4 shifter with no issues (brett m's had issues for me) or cel

i had it in my 96 and it set off a cel (obd2) and would ghost shift.

what i miss most is the tc lockup.

just an fyi, my 96 was a bastard child from chrysler and used a 96 tranny and 97+ wiring and confused the crap out of me when trying to get trannys to work in there
 
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Have no idea if it is at all feasible, but GPS that sends signals to the speedometer so your speed is always correct no matter your gearing or tire size.

Simple wire harness to use with Taurus 2 speed fan, with relays and switch. (I know it's simple to do, but I have had a fan sitting in my garage for a couple months and never got around to it. If I could just order a kit and the price was right, I would.)
 
ocean_jet said:
Have no idea if it is at all feasible, but GPS that sends signals to the speedometer so your speed is always correct no matter your gearing or tire size.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure I could rig that up, though it would likely cost (pulling a number from you-know-where based on complexity and assumed cost) at least $75. Great idea, BTW. Will have to look into it, and if I decide to try it out, cut you some royalties/a deal on one/whatever.

ocean_jet said:
Simple wire harness to use with Taurus 2 speed fan, with relays and switch. (I know it's simple to do, but I have had a fan sitting in my garage for a couple months and never got around to it. If I could just order a kit and the price was right, I would.)
Click to expand...
I'll have to look at that. I also just remembered another one - considering a harness kit to make 97+ mirrors (possibly including the heated option) work on a pre-97 without any wire splicing. I'm not sure if the wiring harness for the 97+ mirrors will fit down the slot in the pre-97 door shell, though.

EDIT: PS, the designs and code required for *all* of these will be released open source. I don't believe in keeping secrets on products like this, it doesn't seem fair to me. And I figure anyone who can work with the engineering docs can probably design it themselves and will appreciate the info, so why not?
 
kastein said:
a custom 97+ TCU with an electronic "manual" shifter override, a switch input for the torque converter, a gear display, and whatever other goodies you guys can think of (likely price range: $100-150, around the price of the Montana Fab kit)
Click to expand...

DO IT!!! ill bet you up if i dont get one. ive been meaning to hire your services so i can run one of those fancy 4 spd arcade shifters. ive been dreaming of one for years.
 
foxwar71 said:
DO IT!!! ill bet you up if i dont get one. ive been meaning to hire your services so i can run one of those fancy 4 spd arcade shifters. ive been dreaming of one for years.
Click to expand...
OK, I'll probably be drawing up initial schematics later tonight if I remember to, no guarantees on them working the first time around though. PS, I'll cut you a hell of a deal if you guinea pig the first one! I don't have a 97+ handy to test prototypes on.
 
kastein said:
I'm pretty sure I could rig that up, though it would likely cost (pulling a number from you-know-where based on complexity and assumed cost) at least $75. Great idea, BTW. Will have to look into it, and if I decide to try it out, cut you some royalties/a deal on one/whatever.


I'll have to look at that. I also just remembered another one - considering a harness kit to make 97+ mirrors (possibly including the heated option) work on a pre-97 without any wire splicing. I'm not sure if the wiring harness for the 97+ mirrors will fit down the slot in the pre-97 door shell, though.

EDIT: PS, the designs and code required for *all* of these will be released open source. I don't believe in keeping secrets on products like this, it doesn't seem fair to me. And I figure anyone who can work with the engineering docs can probably design it themselves and will appreciate the info, so why not?
Click to expand...

It should fit, I did the swap and I didn't have any problems. You have some cool ideas here though. Any plans for a pre-96 "manual" shifter for the AW4?
 
kastein said:
I'm pretty sure I could rig that up, though it would likely cost (pulling a number from you-know-where based on complexity and assumed cost) at least $75. Great idea, BTW. Will have to look into it, and if I decide to try it out, cut you some royalties/a deal on one/whatever.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a deal!

I guess one issue is there could be times when you have no GPS coverage, but I would think that would be rare.



kastein said:
OK, I'll probably be drawing up initial schematics later tonight if I remember to, no guarantees on them working the first time around though. PS, I'll cut you a hell of a deal if you guinea pig the first one! I don't have a 97+ handy to test prototypes on.
Click to expand...


I would love to guinea pig it... but I'm probably a bit too far.
 
js_customs said:
It should fit, I did the swap and I didn't have any problems. You have some cool ideas here though. Any plans for a pre-96 "manual" shifter for the AW4?
Click to expand...
Cool, thanks for the info - I gave it 30 seconds when I slapped my 97+ mirrors on sooner than I expected to (old mirror broke) so I wasn't sure if I had missed something.

No real plans for a pre-97 AW4 manumatic as I figured everyone could wire that up themselves (since the TCU is not as smart on pre-97 it's just switches and wires, instead of tricking the computer and/or adding functionality) - I could do one though, it'd essentially be a subset of the hardware required for the 97+ manumatic.
 
ocean_jet said:
Sounds like a deal!

I guess one issue is there could be times when you have no GPS coverage, but I would think that would be rare.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I really only have that happen in large cities or underground. Generally it's available when you would want a speedo reading - I'll have to figure out a way to make it default to the original VSS when it can't get a GPS lock. Reminds me, something like this would only work on 91+ due to the physical speedo cable used on pre-91 models.

ocean_jet said:
I would love to guinea pig it... but I'm probably a bit too far.
Click to expand...
Yeah, Ross (foxwar71) is less than 45 minutes drive from me iirc, you're sadly on the other side of the country.

EDIT: I'm honestly surprised by the votes, I figured the AW4 temp gauge would be a bit less popular and some of the other stuff would be more popular! Glad I asked, I guess.
 
If (looking like when) I build the 97+ shifter setup, it'll just have an input for a normally open or normally closed switch, so you guys can pick whatever neat switch you want (big red e-stop button? fighter jet shielded toggle? button on the steering wheel? anything goes, wire it in!)

I'm thinking personally I will probably look into getting the pedal assembly out of a manual XJ and place the switch on the clutch pedal, myself, but that would probably confuse the crap out of anyone who can drive standard.
 
How about a shift point controller? Being able to increase the rpm the AW4 shifts in automatic mode would be a neat option. Seems if you could lie to the TCM with a false signal it thinks if from the VSS you could maybe accomplish this?
I like the digital gear display too, I've been working on that too using a stamp microcontroller, also including 2hi, 4lo and 4hi in the LED display.
Using a DLO5 plc with a micro screen seems like it could open up a lot of neat features too.
 
souske said:
How about some O2 simulators? (for off road use only of course!) wink wink nudge nudge
Click to expand...
Montana Fab already makes those, and they do a good job with their product for a decent price in those cases, so I see no need to intrude on their market. What you suggest is illegal and I personally would never do it... my XJ works fine with a cat so :dunno:

R.DesJardin said:
How about a shift point controller? Being able to increase the rpm the AW4 shifts in automatic mode would be a neat option. Seems if you could lie to the TCM with a false signal it thinks if from the VSS you could maybe accomplish this?
I like the digital gear display too, I've been working on that too using a stamp microcontroller, also including 2hi, 4lo and 4hi in the LED display.
Using a DLO5 plc with a micro screen seems like it could open up a lot of neat features too.
Click to expand...
I've been considering it, the "bells and whistles" edition of the 97+ TCU may at some point gain the ability to have shift points set via serial port from a desktop app. I haven't reverse engineered the code on the microcontroller in the stock TCU yet though, so I don't know how much extra .text space I have to play with. It's likely that I can save a decent amount by trimming out the code that reports solenoid malfunctions to the ECU, which is something that's going to be done at some point anyways.
 
kastein said:
OK, I'll probably be drawing up initial schematics later tonight if I remember to, no guarantees on them working the first time around though. PS, I'll cut you a hell of a deal if you guinea pig the first one! I don't have a 97+ handy to test prototypes on.
Click to expand...

HELL YES!!! im soo down for this
 
Wow, I wish I had the electronics knowledge to know how to reverse engineer code on a microcontroller... Since that is way out of my league, I put my vote in for the 97+ TCU. Basic, advanced, shifter, gear display, shift point controls, any combination of features or none at all, doesn't really matter. So long as it doesn't throw a CEL...
 
i would love to see a 97+ tcu controller. being able to set my shift point would help out greatly for just about every kind of driving or offroading. the head light harness would be nice aswell
 
A couple of things not listed:

An information display for fluid levels and temperatures, like the Waggy display unit, which I believe we discussed before. You'd need to have connectors and a harness for the sensors, which would need to report fluid levels (on/off) and temperature reading. The microcontroller would then either display a series of indicators with variable colors for good/warning/bad, or could provide a scrollable detailed interface such as LCD temperature for current item.

An information display for engine data, such as air-fuel ratio, open/closed loop, coolant temp, TPS position, etc. The market for this would be limited to 91-95 since earlier years did not have a computer interface, and later years can use OBDII scanners.

I'll also second the mention for a PWM fan controller similar to the SPAL. Yeah there are a bunch of controllers already out there but I'd like one that was fully programmable, instead of trying to figure out how to make my jeep fit the controller
 
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