Someone told me about a ZJ for sale. They said it's either a 97 or 98 but wasn't sure as it wasn't his. Supposedly only has 100,000 miles, fully loaded, etc. Transmission is shot which makes me think it's gonna be a V8. Is there any known issues specific to these years that I should look for?

 

You should check everything first before you buy it...
Make sure that parts are in good conditions and there is no serious issues that will cause you headache afterwards...

 

Well yea. I'm going to give it a routine one over. I'm asking if there are any issues specific to these years that might not appear unless you specifically know to look for it.

 

Only common problems i know off on the 97-98 are minor things. Like the rear window not openeing, or the tailgate not staying up anymore.. The doors dont lock unless you lock them by hand.. The window motor's go bad and the window wont go up or down anymore.. Gas gauge sticks and wont read the gas level anymore.. Or very well.

Cat converter and exhaust will probly be rusted out and need to be replaced. Other thing things like that i havent heared of many major problems with those years.

 

Turns out this ZJ was a piece of crap.

I have found another but have a few concerns. 1998 ZJ, 4.0, 4x4. The guy said the transmission has slipped on him twice so he took it to the mechanic and the mechanic said it probably just needs serviced, fluids, filter, etc..

He uses it as his daily driver. Do you think this is a sign of the transmission going bad or could it really just need to be serviced. It has 240,000 miles. I'm assuming it's the original transmission.

 

Well my moms grand cherokee is a 98 4.0, and when the Jeep was at about 110k miles the transmission wouldnt shift anymore. Im talking you start off from a stop and it would go way up to like 3500 RPM and still not shift. Turned out it was because she never changed the transmission fluid on the car. After it was changed the car shifted again, it now has 160k miles and still shifts fine.

Altho another shifting problem we didnt notice to much until I started driving it recently was that the transmission output sensor was bad for like 10 years and she never got it fixed and it was actually causing the Jeep to shift abnormally. Replaced the sensor and it smooth as butter now.

I would say from experience that slipping and not shifting are 2 diff things. Slipping caused by dirty transmission fluid doesnt sound true, to me it more sounds like the gears are probably going bad. Only way to know for sure is to have the fluid changed and give it a heavy test drive.

I will tell you tho, if i were buying a used Jeep and in fact im going to here soon.. I wouldnt buy a Jeep where someone says the transmission was slipping. If it truely is slipping tho a simple test drive and you would know for sure.. Take it for a drive in the Streets, and highway and run up and down on good speeds. Put the gas peddal to the floor to force the engine and transmission to work and you'll know if its good or not hehe.