how much trouble?

[Julio_1G]

I changed my transmission and transfer case fluid and it came out creamy grey. How much trouble am I in because they came out like that?
I'll be changing my differential later today so I'm expecting the same result. When I bought the car the guy told me it has been sitting for like 7 months.

 

[gusu]

There are different color gear fluids that could come out different colors.

The only thing that I know will normally cause grey discolorization of the fluid is aluminum contamination.

Is there any way you can contact the previous owner and try to figure out what gear fluid he used?

 

[2gmitsueclipse]

If you don't have chunks of material or a metallic shimmer, I would just change it, and check it in a week or two. It may just be moisture contaminated, or well past its useful life.

 

[Julio_1G]

Okay I asked the guy I bought it from and he said he never changed it before and he owned it for a year and a half. Luckily no chunks or little pieces came out out of the transmission or transfer case. It was just milky grey and barely anything came out of the transmission, maybe like half a quart at most.

 

[rival]

should be ok, usually its from water, happens a lot in mud trucks. given you location could be flood damage too, may want to check the floorboards etc for signs of flood damage. cant think of any other way for an eclipse to see water unless they were removed and sat in the rain.

 

[2gmitsueclipse]

Once you fill the trans, check for leaks around any shaft seals and case seams. Also, ensure trans and transfer case have the rubber breather on top (good spot for water contamination). Keep and eye on leaks from the input shaft seal and tail shaft when inspecting the transfer case.

 

[Julio_1G]

Okay will do. After I added I kept the car and looked around for any leaks and there was none. I need to search up some symptoms of a bad transfer case just in case and be on the lookout.
The floor board was one of the first thing I checked because houston had just had a major flood but everything checked out. Though I'm sure the bottom of the car still got pretty wet because it was pretty bad in Houston around the time I was looking at this car.

 

[oneslowwdsm]

Half a quart out of the transmission? That's no bueno. How's the transmission shifting?

 

[Julio_1G]

Before I changed the fluid it was horrible. I'll say it was 85% of the time I couldn't get it into gear and putting it in reverse was impossible. Now that I've changed the fluid to BG syncroshift 2 it only grinds on 2nd and here sometimes in reverse but I can easily shift now.

 

[oneslowwdsm]

Before I changed the fluid it was horrible. I'll say it was 85% of the time I couldn't get it into gear and putting it in reverse was impossible. Now that I've changed the fluid to BG syncroshift 2 it only grinds on 2nd and here sometimes in reverse but I can easily shift now.

Most likely damaged some gears running so low on fluid but hopefully it holds now with new fluid.

 

[Julio_1G]

So the gears are always going to grind because they got damaged? l was hoping to do another drain and fill in a couple of months to see if it would go away

 

[bastarddsm]

I can't believe people still put synchroshift in these transmissions. If helps make a junk trans shift a little better, but it's really hard on the expensive parts like gears and bearings.

 

[Julio_1G]

syncroshift was one that I saw people kept suggesting so I just went with it. I have no preference in brand so I'll do a little more research and see what else is out there.

 

[2gmitsueclipse]

syncroshift was one that I saw people kept suggesting so I just went with it. I have no preference in brand so I'll do a little more research and see what else is out there.

• http://www.teamrip.com/manual_transmission_gear_oil_recommendation_info.html

• http://www.jackstransmissions.com/pages/oil

 

[Julio_1G]

Dang. Thanks for the links, I'll definitely not be getting BG again after reading those.
So I just drained my rear diff and it came out like black water. I don't know when this poor car was ever serviced.

 

[Tigerinstincts]

Probably dnt have to do this but you may wnt to fill your tranny/diffs with some generic brand gear oils (with correct weight obviously) and then drain it in a couple weeks, then fill it with the good stuff recommended by TRE/Jacks. The idea is to get all the old oil and aluminum shavings that may still lurk in there flushed out.

When I first bought my car, I had to do this to the engine 4 times before the oil I drained out came out clear. You shouldn't have to do it tht many times since engine oil is exposed to more contaminates but I thought this might be useful info.

 

[Julio_1G]

Yeah I will definitely do this. Especially with the transmission since I didn't have much to spare when adding to leave the drain plug open while I keep adding. I did manage to change the diff and transfer case until the fluid was all red from redline though.