T-case fluid blues

Im going through and changing fluids on my XJ and the Transfer case fluid came out black!I searched my Haynes manual and it says Mercon/DexronII fluid is used in them.Has anyone else had tranny fluid come out this dark?It looks as if It should be coming out of my Gandpas old John Deere engine.Stunnes the 'el out of me. :eek:

I have seen it very dark before! has it ever been changed? how many miles? Does it have the smell of old trans fluid?

I would say it has never been changed before.The mileage is 140k+and does not,to me, smell like old or even burnt tranny fluid.maybe my sniffer is shot!It does have the consistency of tranny fluid as it is not as heavy(thick)as regular gear oil.Maybe Im paranoid

I would guess it is just old and in need of replacement! mmm I bet I need to change mine too!

Sometimes fluid thats contaminated with very fine aluminum and/or steel particles can look dark. This likely is not bad so long as the oil does not have a 'metalflake' appearance.

Someone might have changed it and installed engine oil, which has just become dirty......lots of manual transmissions use engine oil and maybe a mechanic just put the wrong stuff in.

Or someone topped it up with gear oil??

Just in case it was engine oil, you might want to change it again in about 1000 miles.