V-drive oil question...

My buddy bought an '01 Malibu Sunsetter at the beginning of the summer. We have been having some problems with the v-drive oil pressure sensor going out. Today we were getting the boat ready for the weekend and pulled the sensor so we could replace it. We checked the fluid and it looks and smells like transmission fluid, not SAE30, which it calls for. Is it possible that someone could have changed the v-drive oil and replaced it with transmission fluid and how bad is that if so???

i dont think its that big of a deal. i seem to remember some of the guys on planetnautique that may have run tranny fluid but i can quiet remember. if it were i, id drain the old fluid and replace with sae 30. id also flush about a quart of oil thru the unit to try to get as much of the tranny fluid out before filling it up.

I wonder if the tranny fluid is what keeps popping our sensor?

If it was ATF in the pressure would be low and that would trigger a warning. Racers in production class cars sometimes do this swap to get less drag from the transmission. The tranny will not last as long if it needs oil and has ATF tou should be fine after the change back.