Gear box oil

[lamb125]

The Haynes manual quotes a gearbox oil capacity of 3.5 litres for a std manual box - is that correct? Also, where is the drain plug for the gearbox (I'm not referring the to one on the side for checking and topping up). Also has anyone used any of that oil that alledegly stops old boxes whirring and whining?

[Ian Hulley]

The Haynes manual quotes a gearbox oil capacity of 3.5 litres for a std manual box - is that correct?

You don't say what engine you have so let's assume it's a waterboxer. Mr Talbot recommends 4 litres of GL4 80/90 gear oil

where is the drain plug for the gearbox

This is on the lower rear face of the gearbox itself before it meets the bellhousing.

has anyone used any of that oil that alledegly stops old boxes whirring and whining?

The only permanent fix for a noisy gearbox is a trip to Aidan's workshop, anything else is merely turning up the radio.

Ian.

[lamb125]

Thanks Ian, yes it's a 1.9 waterboxer, quite a high oil capacity then? I had a brief on-line discussion with Mr T a while back. Gears whine in low gears, but almost silent (well sort of) in 4th. Cheers Greg

[lamb125]

By the way my van has the very same roof as yours (who makes that one, do you know?), mines lacking windows however - another job on the to do list...

[Ian Hulley]

By the way my van has the very same roof as yours (who makes that one, do you know?),

Our's was fitted by Yorkshire Conversions many years ago but they are now fitted by Timber Technicians near Nottingham ... http://www.timbertechnicians.co.uk/13301.html

Smashin folks Dave & Margaret.

Ian

[lamb125]

I got in touch with Dave and Margaret today and they are going to look through their records to see if they did indeed fit the roof to my van. I look fwd to their reply. Thanks again for the link.

Back to the oil for a mo, 4 litres eh? Does that mean filling up the g/box past the top up hole? No doubt this means jacking up the van at an appropriate angle to get all 4 litres in?

Cheers Greg

[Ian Hulley]

4 litres eh? Does that mean filling up the g/box past the top up hole?

Nope from memory it's to the hole rather than 15mm below as per the Haynes, if in doubt check with the man.

Ian

[lamb125]

Ah ok, thanks, to the brim then.

[lamb125]

The deed has been done, but what a pain in the (_!_) ! Getting the drain plug undone was a feat in itself, with access restricted by the exhaust I could just about get an open-ended spanner onto the socket with enough socket in the hex of the plug. After some cursing it came loose. Old oil was cleaner than I expected, kind of honey coloured. Now, this is what Haynes don't tell you...to get oil through the filler hole is tricky given that the oil bottle only has a tube about 3 or 4 inches long. The gear linkage gets in the way big style. To overcome this I used a 2 foot long piece of garden hose which fitted perfectly into the filler hole. At the other end the oil bottle tube was a nice push fit so this made it easier to feed the oil in..kind of intravenous style if that makes sense.

If anyone is struggling to source reasonably priced GL4 then look no further than Wilkos...£2.77 per litre.

[Red Westie]

I know Aidan (the gearbox guru around here) would agree with my comments:
VW didn't have a schedual for gearbox oil changing on it's Transporter range, they were 'Filled for life'

But then VW never planned for these old gals to be still on the road 30 years on...

If anyone is reading this and does NOT know if their oil has every been changed then CHANGE IT NOW! SIMPLE AS!

Then include it there after every 3 - 4 years 30,000 miles, something like that.

Martin

[lamb125]

Ah interesting! Well I'm glad I changed it anyway, it's good way of getting to know your way around these old gals

[eatcustard]

I have mine changed about 4 weeks ago,makes a difference in the gear change,as its now smother.

[orangebooboobearcrew]

Hi,

Sorry, been looking on the wiki and done searches,etc but couldn't find what gear oil you would need for a 2.0l petrol air cooled?

Anyone got any ideas and equally anywhere that's got deals on at the mo....

Finally, is it the same 4 litres on the Aircooled engine or diff?

Cheers,

Chris

[Ian Hulley]

or diff?

Cheers,

Chris

The differential is integral and shares the same oil.

Ian

[orangebooboobearcrew]

Cheers Ian.

So just to check, what is the actual best oil to use? WIKI suggests Millers MT90 or MTL, Haynes says SAE 80 and is it defo 4 litres - confused.com!!!

Chris