Gearbox Oil Change - Help please

Hi,

I feel I should give my car a gearbox oil change, as I have no idea when this was last done. Can anyone tell me if this is easy to do? How? Also what oil do people recommend I use?

Cheers :y:
Ben

I used 75W90 semi synthetic oil  on my 5 speed box on my mk 1 jetta think it was about 2 litres, its easiest on a ramp and think its a 17 mm allen key sump plug ( its easy to find this plug), found it best to refill it via the speedo cable hole, only one bolt holds this in think its a 10mm might want to get a new seal for the speedo hole as well, mine cracked when i took it out to refill, dont for get to put the 17mm plug  back in lol hope that helps, would also be good idea to drive the car a bit so oil is warm, ie easier to flow out.

Don't put the gearbox oil in the bellhousing, its a common mistake!

DON'T PUT THE GEARBOX OIL IN THE BELL HOUSING, it's a common mistake!

MTL Redline 75w/80 is the advised oil  for the 020 box. Will help with the cold 2nd gear crunch in some cases (not all though).

HTH

Are you saying that it's a common mistake to put oil in the bell house?

Thanks for all the advice  8)

i know it was mentioned twice, but it's one of those things that's worth hearing too many times and not doing it, rather than not hearing it at all.
i've done it myself!

Ok ta. I won't do it. By the way, what the hell is the bell housing anyway?!!  ops:

What the actual clutch sits in side of, so oil in there ie on the clutch aint a good idea !!!

Thanks. So where exactly do I pour the oil and how do I check the level is correct?  ops:

Cheers for any help!

http://www.clubgti.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=26910

should explain nice and clearly

also, as a tip, i jack the nearside up and take the wheel off. easy access and you can get 2 litres in the top up hole, without topping up in the speedo cable hole.

Benici said

Thanks. So where exactly do I pour the oil and how do I check the level is correct?  ops:

Cheers for any help!

Pour it in the speedo hole (after rmoving the speedo gear obviously!) - jsut add 2 litres if you have fully drained the box. Should do the trick.

Ok cool. Thanks everybody. :y:

So, after a lot of messing around jacking up the car, taking wheel off, forgetting I haven't got a 17mm allen key, getting a 17mm allen key, and trying to get the stupidly tight plugs out…..I finally managed to change my gearbox oil! Woohoo!

Worringly only 0.7 litres of oil drained from the gearbox! I'm amazed it didn't seize!   8O   That might explain why my car kept jumping out of 5th on the motorway.  Put 2 litres in now.  8)

i think they burn oil in a similar way to the engine anyhow. not as much but we all check our engine oil and top up if neccessary. how often do we cheack gearbox oil? i pulled about .5-.6 out of mine.

Well, for a couple of days, all was well with the golf….

Yesterday went for a drive down to windsor great park and the clutch seems to be slipping now. Great.  

Is this a sign that gearbox oil is leaking into the clutch-housing somehow?  I read somewhere on this site that the clutch pushrod seal can wear and oil can leak into the clutch?  Is this pretty terminal?

Benici said

Well, for a couple of days, all was well with the golf….

Yesterday went for a drive down to windsor great park and the clutch seems to be slipping now. Great.  

Is this a sign that gearbox oil is leaking into the clutch-housing somehow?  I read somewhere on this site that the clutch pushrod seal can wear and oil can leak into the clutch?  Is this pretty terminal?

This happened to me after I drained and filled my box - got just under 1 litre out but put 2 back in. Guess the proper amount of oil in there gets at the old seals where before it didn't. Could be pushrod seal / bearing or input shaft seal or it could just be that your clutch is knackered.

Either way it's box out, replace seals, if clutch is pretty new and has a lot of life left in it, soak it in petrol for 10 mins, take it out and set fire to it. Sand off the black soot and your clutch friction plate will be good as new. Alternatively soak in coke and give it a damn good scrubbing. Use some course sandpaper on the flywheel and the pressure plate too.

While you are at it you should replace the crankshaft oil seal. Pretty easy job once you have the box off (getting it back on is a bit of a pain too)

Have a look here for some pics - I have just done the above…

http://www.vwgolfmk1.o…0&postorder=asc&start=160

HTH

[edit] Check clutch cable adjustment - simple things first! :wink: [/edit]

8O Sounds pretty daunting! Thanks for the tips.  If it turns out I need to replace the clutch do you know roughly how much the parts will cost?  Do I get them from VW?

Cheers
Ben

Most people say the sachs or LUK ones from gsf are fine… I got mine off ebay - uprated one apparently. Make sure you get the correct size (probably be 210mm for you if you have a 1.8)

HTH