Headliner Swap: new style into older XJ.

So I have the headliner out of my '92, and getting ready to swap in a newer one from a '99 (I think) with the sound bar built in. My headliner has 3 holes - full length overhead console, rear cargo light & the temp/compass controls. The new one has some (apparently) minor differences. Someone said that there are some fitment issues with the new into an older XJ. And the cargo lights are different in some way. Also, I have 2 speakers in the hatch & I wouldn't mind having them overhead since they get muffled by cargo. I searched 10 pages using "headliner" but I can't find any information about anyone who has done this particular fitting. Just wondered if anyone has done a similar swap and what challenges I can expect, especially with putting the headliner in & fitting the light & speakers.

I'm right now measuring holes & getting ready to cut into the newer top. So the faster I can get some input, the smoother this will go for me. Thanks guys.

I put one out of a newer XJ into my '92.

I think the only things I had to do were elongate the front dome light hole as well as make the hole for the RF keyless entry pod.

Other than that, no issues for me.

That sounds promising - thanks. Did you have a full length OHC? I will have to cut the new board & I don't want to screw up the fabric. Cutting the hole, any issues?

I just had the RF keyless entry pod, not a full OHC.

I just used a fresh razor blade to cut the fabric. No problems with tearing or anything.

I just laid one headliner over the other to double check holes.

Yeah, my holes are slightly different, but that won't be a problem since they will all be hidden by the OHC.

Comparison:



But I now see a possible problem with the cargo lights. The new one has only 3 wires, the old has 4. I'd really prefer not to mess with electrical stuff, but I do know how to splice wires. Just won't know which to splice to what, since the colors are different. Any electrical gurus have any advice? A quick tutorial? Pics below.

Old lite


New light

The colors are broken down in a few posts by ehall, but basically, you should just have to swap two of them. The old light is still only 3 wires- that 4th wire is just to the switch, which operates differently on the new lights (you push the lens in, instead of having a separate push button switch.

Are you keeping the overhead console, or just using the dome lights in the newer headliner? If that's the case, you might just have to change the wiring going to the rear light (I had to change the wiring ahead of the front light, since I was using both newer style lights.)

edit-another recent thread on swapping the headliners/lighting. Hope this helps.
http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1040221&highlight=speaker+wiring

Old light wiring (the style on the body of your jeep that plugs into your old light)
Yellow - switched ground. This turns the lights on when you open the doors via the switches in the door jambs.
Pink - constant 12 volt power. Powers the light in both forced-on and door-activated positions.
Black - constant ground. Grounds the light in forced-on position.

Since Chrysler was MOSTLY sane, you should be golden as I see a yellow and a pink in the new wiring harness there. That means the purplish blue one is the same as the black one from the old harness, constant ground.

If you're as OCD as I am about stuff like this (I seem to recall that) you'll probably end up cutting the wiring off the old light, plugging it in, writing down which of those wires goes to which color on the body harness, then splicing it to the body harness piece from the new light so that it's all plug and play and doesn't modify your harness at all.

Good luck!

So, do you need new dome lights to do the headliner swap or can you use the old lights?

Wow, old thread.
I used the older original lights when I did the swap.