Overhead Console Install in a 99 XJ

While I have figured out how to wire the thing (from a 98 donor), I have a couple of questions:

Do you have to pull the whole headliner or can you just lower the front portion of it? If so, how much trim do I need to remove?

For those of you that added an overhead console to your XJ, how much of the headliner did you have to cut to get it to fit? Are there "guidelines" on the back of the headliner showing where to cut?

Just cut enough to make it fit. Hope you got the bracket for the rear. I beleve they moun differntly that the dome light only one. As far as getting the wire down just remove the A-piller trim and fish the harness threw to the center, then down the piller. I think the wires go down the passenger side. Also did you remember to get the temp senser for the grill?

Just lower the front. All I had to do was take off the visors and I was done.
Here is the write up of my console install.
http://www.paceenterprises.us/Console.html
Good luck

Thanks for the info. I did install the temp sensor and have already hooked it up to test it out. It worked fine laying on the passenger seat as I drove around.

When you say "cut enough to make it fit" does that mean one or two holes? There is a tongue thingy on the back end of it, does this just slip fit above the headliner? I do have the factory mounting bracket.

I just cut the headliner to the width of that tab and slid it in. No problems yet.

FU-UR said:

Thanks for the info. I did install the temp sensor and have already hooked it up to test it out. It worked fine laying on the passenger seat as I drove around.

When you say "cut enough to make it fit" does that mean one or two holes? There is a tongue thingy on the back end of it, does this just slip fit above the headliner? I do have the factory mounting bracket.

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Just did this myself last summer. As someone already said... I hope you got the rear bracket. I actually got one out of a Grand cherokee as the one in the 98 donor was tack welded onto the roof! I had to drill my own holes for the GC bracket though since no holes for the bracket existed in my 99.

Anyway, yes, the back "tongue" part just slides up under the headliner. I put the 2 front screws in then held up the console and marked with chalk where I needed to cut. I cut a square out of the back where the bracket attached & the "tongue" piece slid up in. I also had to cut a small chunk out of the front to drop the OC connector through. The biggest PITA in my case was taking the ENTIRE dash apart including the passenger side airbag all in an effort to remove the dash endcap to get the wires routed. Any other specific questions just ask

Thanks again, guys. I did get the bracket so I will just have to take a shot like you guys did. However, you did NOT need to take apart your dash to get to the wires. I just removed the glovebox and the connector was right there to the right. I can see where the current harness routes in to that space. Hopefully i can just pull the visors and right a-pillar trim and glovebox to do it.

FU-UR said:

Thanks again, guys. I did get the bracket so I will just have to take a shot like you guys did. However, you did NOT need to take apart your dash to get to the wires. I just removed the glovebox and the connector was right there to the right. I can see where the current harness routes in to that space. Hopefully i can just pull the visors and right a-pillar trim and glovebox to do it.

Click to expand...

I took it all apart so that I could route the thick run of wires where the original was located (behind the a pillar trim on the passenger side). I could not fit the end of the connector through the small hole that was there and could not get that piece of trim fully off without breaking it, so I had to take the dash apart to remove the end cap. Sure, I could have just cut the wires and saved myself a couple hours but it was a learning experience anyway

My wiring approach involved destroying the connectors from the 98 harness while keeping the wires with pin sleeves intact. I wrapped each pin sleeve with a 1" strip of electrical tape and slipped each over the appropriate pin on the underdash connector. It worked great so I won't have to worry about fitting the connector through the small opening in the dash.

FU-UR said:

My wiring approach involved destroying the connectors from the 98 harness while keeping the wires with pin sleeves intact. I wrapped each pin sleeve with a 1" strip of electrical tape and slipped each over the appropriate pin on the underdash connector. It worked great so I won't have to worry about fitting the connector through the small opening in the dash.

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If I had to do it over I would DEFINITELY just cut the wires and splice them rather than tearing the entire front of the interior apart

I was on pins and needles the whole time while working with the passenger side airbag module.........just kept waiting for the thing to go off!

scoobyxj said:

Just cut enough to make it fit. Hope you got the bracket for the rear. I beleve they moun differntly that the dome light only one. As far as getting the wire down just remove the A-piller trim and fish the harness threw to the center, then down the piller. I think the wires go down the passenger side. Also did you remember to get the temp senser for the grill?

Click to expand...

When I did mine, I had to remove the visors. Be careful when putting the visors back - you don't want to pinch and short out the wires that you just installed!