Wrong lube in transmission

[PanamaExpat]

I was meaning to ask this for a while now. A couple weeks back after I dropped the transmission from my truck to determine which rebuild kit it needed I noticed when I drained the lube it was full of 90W Hypoid. It was slightly pink as if someone changed the Mercon out and replaced it with the wrong stuff. So I am wondering if this was why my transmission was acting up in the first place? It was doing things like jumping out of gear. Not shifting properly and sometimes hanging in gear. I think that was due to the shifter retainer though as it was shot when I dropped the unit.

Visual inspection nothing appears to be damaged inside and all seems to be working fine turning by hand and running it through the gears.

Has anyone else run into this problem?

 

[littlezell]

I did that a few years ago when I had my 93 f150... it started making noise so I went to a thicker oil... luckily I didnt have any problems out of it but your are not suppose to do that because of the gears and bearings.... no sense in putting it back in your truck without rebuilding it...you have it out now..hate to pull it again,,,

 

[5speedin2.3]

The ATF fluid in my trans was so dirty it looked like gear oil as you described, but it was ATF.

I'm running pennzoil synchromesh now, it was shifting great till my shifter bushing started to fall apart.

 

[Andy D]

Gear oil stinks PExP , prolly knows the difference. I 'd drain the trans while it is out . Maybe run a few qts of diesel through it. Then replace with your favorite Mercon. If it gets rattlely , turn up the radio. Years ago, a guy I worked with had a brand new Chevy pickup. He put a lot of miles on the truck so, he drained and filled the trans with gear oil. Fast forward 20 k miles and the trans started to act up. It was a new style 5 speed and it specced ATF , not gear oil. Smaller bearings needed thinner lube. He ended up rebuilding the transmission.

When I drained my trans, I rolled it around to get as much as I could. It looked like old Claret, but smelled OK. I also gooped the rubber plugs and made sure the vent was good. I checked the level after 2k miles and it is fine. Trans shifts OK, my clutch job took. It is my first manual in 25 yrs. And it feels good.

 

[Ranger44]

It's surprising what gear lube will do inside the Mazda trans. I flushed mine out with a little added seafoam, and changed the ATF out a few times before it acted right.

 

[Battelax]

I was meaning to ask this for a while now. A couple weeks back after I dropped the transmission from my truck to determine which rebuild kit it needed I noticed when I drained the lube it was full of 90W Hypoid. It was slightly pink as if someone changed the Mercon out and replaced it with the wrong stuff. So I am wondering if this was why my transmission was acting up in the first place? It was doing things like jumping out of gear. Not shifting properly and sometimes hanging in gear. I think that was due to the shifter retainer though as it was shot when I dropped the unit.

Visual inspection nothing appears to be damaged inside and all seems to be working fine turning by hand and running it through the gears.

Has anyone else run into this problem?

When I bought my 97 the guy mentioned the trans was hard to shift when cold that was about it, it didn't pop out of gear or anything like that. Once I got it home to change all the fluids I found out there was gear oil in it. I drained it out and put ATF in it. It was instantly better. After that, I changed the fluid about 4 more times and it has been fine for the past 30k. (knock on wood)