I have a '96 Disco with an automatic. I also have several oil jugs that contain a variety of fluids, thanks to my employer. Don't ask how I got them, let's just say that karma does some funny things.

I was adding what I thought was tranny fluid, when I discovered that it was motor oil. I added approximately a quart before I found out, and have already drained the tranny of it's contents, and am off to Wally World to score some "known" Dextron compatible fluid. I haven't started the truck yet, and plant add enough to give it a good flush, drain, add to fill and hope like hell I haven't destroyed it. Thought I better ask here and see if anyone has anything to suggest, besides checking more thoroughly (I did roll some oil to the lid before dumping it in. It looked red to me, and the funnel was red so that didn't tip me off that anything was wrong.)

 

Dont worry about it, just fill it, drive it for a day, drain and refill again and you will be fine.

When I drove cement truck we used Shell Rotella 15w-40 as transmission fluid, and hydraulic fluid, and motor oil...we used it for everything.
Those were Allision automatic transmissions which used Dexron III, you will be fine.

 

Whew, thanks! I just got two gallons of tranny oil and a bottle of TransX. Thinking that this may be a good time to bite the bullet and go for the "drop the pan and change the damn filter" process. I'm not currently driving the Discovery, and I think the filter change involves dropping some of the exhaust and catalytic converters.

 

Changing the filter is a HUGE PIA, cross member, exhaust and rusted bolts and skinned knuckles and lots of swear words.
It is def worth the money to pay to have it done in my opinion.
It is a horrible job in your driveway on ramps.

 

Driveway? You mean a paved surface?

....Must be a rich guy.

 

LOL!!
Yes I'm rich, thats why I drive a old Land Rover with 217,000 miles on it.

 

I'm still trying to figure what my best options are on the tranny. When I got it, it wouldn't shift from second to third. A dose of Lucas got it to go from second to third, but it would shift at a screaming three grand on the tach. Added Seafoam to the mix, and now it shifts at whatever RPM I let off the throttle at. Doing this overfilled the transmission, so that's what made me drain some fluid in the first place. The fluid was brownish red, didn't smell anything like scorched oil, no smells that I could tell.

I've read that dropping the cross member and getting the exhaust out of the way was something akin to having all my teeth removed, only slightly more painful. And the discussions of whether replacing the filter leads to an early death of a transmission seemed to suggest that the best way to tell if was true was to consult a Voodoo Mambo.

So I'm all good with everything.

 

If the fluid was dark it needed to be changed no matter what.
And changing the filter on a transmission does NOT kill it, whoever says that is either a liar or has no idea what they are talking about.
If that were the case why would you ever change the engine oil filter?

Do a couple of drain and fills, drive it for a week between each one and then worry about the filter later.

Overfilling the trans alittle wont hurt anything, overfilling it alot may.

 

Sounds like a good way to go. I'll try it, and see what it gets.

Thanks!

 

We're rich enough to keep fixing them...