gearbox oil coming out of the speedo cable?

Julian –

Thanks for contacting me, I appreciate it!
The trans will never drain fully, so it will never accept a full 2 liters of oil in a change. Only if it is bone dry will it take it all, and they have to be split open to drain fully… even when I have one on the rotisserie and I spin it over and over, it'll never drain fully. Only when I crack the trans apart does it dump the rest out, so adding the 2 liters has added too much.

There is an Oil Change page on my site at www.BrokeVW.com and it covers the oil change procedure, but basically you fill it to a certain point, and that's it…. so any excess oil in the trans will be added to the total so it isn't over-filled. Spec is 2.0L of fluid, but you end up using something between 1.5 and 1.75 liters during a change.

There are 2 possible vent locations on the trans. Both are right near where the clutch cable sits on the trans. One style uses a vent tube just behind the clutch cable, it is usually topped with a loose-fitting black plastic cap to protect the tube.

The other vent type is the older type, and it is integral to the threads for the 27mm selector cover, which is just behind and under the cable where it sits on the trans. There is a groove cut into the threads of the 27mm selector cover, and that is the vent.

Here is a pic of the vent tube location, it is circled in white in this pic http://www.brokevw.com/126_2685.JPG

Here is pic showing the groove cut into the threads at the 12:00 spot for the 27mm selector cover http://www.brokevw.com/5thswap/pic%20125.jpg (the pic came from this page http://www.brokevw.com/5thswap.html )

The oil is being spun up into the speedo cable, forced through the sheath, and up to the cluster in the car…. so follow the fill procedure, loosen the side 17mm filler plug and let the excess drain out, then check the date your trans was built, and add 0.5L of fluid through the speedo hole if it is an older trans, or leave it alone once it drians to level with the side filler hole if it is a newer build trans. The date is Sept 1987 for the change in procedure.

I'd drain the excess oil and see if it helps… you might still get a few drips from the oil in the cable already, but lowering the oil should help sort it right out. While doing the oil, have a look at the vent to see if it is clogged, but I think it might just have too much oil and it is puking it up into the speedo cable.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Brian