I am looking at buying a 1998 cherokee sport. It has 157xxx miles on it. It seems to be running well but I noticed that the transmission fluid was a quart low. Should I be concerned about this? Anyone know of problems to anticipate?

 

How did it shift? And what color was the fluid? And did you notice any leaks coming from the transmission anywhere?

 

Welcome to the Forum!

Owning a pre-owned vehicle can result in unwanted surprises. If I were you, get a whole complete tuneup. If it runs fine just top off the fluid for now until you can get a complete tune up. A little below the full line on the dip stick is ok as long as it's topped off as soon as you can.

 

1996sportXJ It shifted fine. The fluid was too low to see but it smelled okay. There were no signs of recent leaks.

 

do another test drive and have them fill the trans fluid up first. Proper way to check is in nutral while running on flat ground.

 

You should ask for any maintenance records to see if there was anything ever done to the transmission. If it shifts okay and there doesn't seem to be anything leaking (you should get down underneath the car and REALLY inspect every inch of it), then I would say buy it and just top it off!

 

Thanks for all the advice! I will do that.

 

With the transmission at operating temp. When it's cold it's going to read slightly low. (not a full quart low though)


Agreed with the others- if it shifts fine and shows no sign of leaks, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Other than as a red flag that the current owner didn't maintain it correctly....