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Originally Posted by jeffeulogy
i'm new to DIY maintenance and repairs and think i made a huge error. last night i started an oil change on my new (to me) '94 cherokee sport. i loosened the wrong drain plug and lost all my transmission fluid. i finished changing the oil and replaced both plugs. i bought more tranny fluid this morning but tried to add it through the long tube with a stopper on the end on the rear of the engine compartment on the driver's side. i got about 1/4th of a quart in before the fluid stopped flowing down the tube. at this point i realized my mistake and searched out and found the transmission dipstick and added the rest through there.
so now i have transmission fluid in my front differential. i haven't started the engine yet. will i need to evacuate the fluid before i drive it? or will this small amount be ok in there for a day or two until i can open the differential and clean it out?
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First off, welcome to AF.
Second, let's look at the fluids and where you put them. Sounds like the oil change is ok.
Is your Jeep 4wd or 2wd? What engine do you have? From your description it sounds as if you have an automatic transmission. Having these details will go a long way in getting help.
Where was the drain plug that you drained everything from? What color was the fluid? Usually there's not a drain plug on a stock auto transmission, but there is a drain plug on a manual - but no fill tube under the hood.
I've never seen a long fill tube for a front differential on an unmodified vehicle, especially one that's at the firewall. Are any of your tubes labeled? Do you have an owner's manual that shows the location of teverything under the hood?
Figuring you've got the correct fluids in the engine and trans, the question remains where the "wrong" fill tube goes that you put trans fluid into. Differential will probably be fine for a short while, since trans fluid is basically a lubricating fluid (albeit thinner than gear oil). If you did add some trans fluid to the differential, it's a pretty easy job to take off the cover, clean out the insides and refill with the correct fluid.
Hopefully that helps, but again a bit more detail about your vehicle would be great.