Club 80-90 Forums

Change it. You'll at least know its been done. Just remember that you MUST free the filler plug before even contemplating draining it or you could end up with no oil in the box and no way to fill it either.

Anyone reading this who does not know if their gearbox oil has been changed or not MUST assume the obvious....that it is probably the original and it needs changing NOW!.....

Martin

Ok so will look to change it soon as - it sounds a relatively simple job- once done how often should it be changed in future - haynes manual makes no reference to changing it regularly only on automatic transmissions ! which seems strange.
Any tips for doing the job - any potential problems that could be encountered??

iowcamper

VW say "for life" which prob meant 10+ years. I'd say every five years would be spoiling it Some seem to change more often than that. Five for me.

imho

if you don't know when it was last changed then change it, then change it every 2-3 years 20k miles max, more frequently if used in extremis, ie temperature extremes, lots of long distance, off roading, towing etc.....oil is cheap a rebuild isn't, monitoring the build up of fines on the drain plug regularly will tell you when it needs a rebuild before it gets terminal/beyond economic repair - new crown and pinion set figure £500 plus the cost of the rebuild, oil £20ish

these boxes can easily do 350k miles with regular oil changes, (apart from a cracked synchrohub - design flaw) but without that they won't often do much over 100k, probably half the boxes I've rebuilt have been previously repaired

when vw built these vans and sold them as no oil change required, merely check levels (ie if not leaking then do nothing) they were designed to do 100k miles/10 years throw it away and buy a T4, now they are 20 plus years old and many have never had an oil change and are now running grinding paste not lube


OK, everyone got that, and GL4, 4 litres 2wd, 4.5 litres syncro box, 1.5 litres syncro font diff (GL5 is ok for that, GL4 is fine too)

which oil and how much again?

thanks aidan

Sorry to drag up an old post but I need some advice - what gearbox oil do I put into an automatic? I have looked on wiki, no luck and on here and again no luck.

I have no idea as know nothing other than I NEED some - so looked in my original manual and it says the following:

Automatic gearbox oil:
* Converter and gearbox - ATF Dexron
* Final drive - hypoid oils marked GL5

So, does that mean i get ATF or GL5?

If its the ATF then Halfords do some but with Dexron III specs, none just Dexron, would this be ok?

Any help would be really appreciated!

The Dextron will be for you Automatic transmission (gearbox unit) and the Hypoid GL5 for the differential (final drive) obviously two seperate things.

Dextron III presumably is an evolution of Dextron (updated version of)
If you haven't changed the auto box oil I would certainly recommend you do so. The fine tollerances in the auto box valve assembly don't take kindly to soiled/dirty oil. It is easy to see when it needs changing as it looses it's nice red appearance.

Martin

I am going to use this:

http://www.zf.com/na/content/media/unit ... _Sheet.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However the gearbox fluid should not be changed too often. All oils attack seals to a greater or lesser extent. Even if you drain the fluid and replace with exctly the same product, the fresh additives in the oil will re-attack the seals.

VAN with a PLAN wrote:I am going to use this:

http://www.zf.com/na/content/media/unit ... _Sheet.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However the gearbox fluid should not be changed too often. All oils attack seals to a greater or lesser extent. Even if you drain the fluid and replace with exctly the same product, the fresh additives in the oil will re-attack the seals.

An extract from Wikipedia:
Note gasket conditioners..

Modern ATF typically contains a wide variety of chemical compounds intended to provide the required properties of a particular ATF specification. Most ATFs contain some combination of rust preventatives, anti-foam additives, detergents, dispersants, anti-wear additives, anti-oxidation compounds, surfactants, cold-flow improvers, high-temperature thickeners, gasket conditioners, and petroleum dye.

Martin

While it’s true that ATF's particularly but also MTF’s are generally high tier products and will have undergone rigorous testing to ensure seal compatibility amongst many other physical performance attributes, it is also true that all oils have a detrimental effect on seals - obviously some more than others.

I work for an additive company who are the market leader in ATF products and I recently asked a friend, who works in product development for Freudenberg, which product he recommended for my van. http://www.simrit.co.uk/web/public/home/uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; These guys invented the radial shaft seal and have been world leaders ever since. My friend there owns a Type 2 Bay and he is not going to change his gearbox oil for fear it may attack his seals. His Bay is relatively low mileage (<60K km) and he is simply going to keep his gear oil topped up.

Chemical and thermal attack on seals is greatest with fresh oil; changing oil too regularly will cause your seals to fail prematurely. We carry out seals testing at work and a 1008 hour dynamic seals test can be made more severe by changing the oil every 240 hours. I don’t want to scare anybody, and preventative maintenance will always be better than no maintenance – just don’t get carried away! Decent gear oil is expensive stuff and does its job well.

30 year old sheared oil or fresh oil and maybe if unlucky a weepy seal that isnt dear or difficult to replace.... I know which I would prefer..



I picked up 25L of Fuchs Syngear from my local autoelectricians for a very sensible price.. It will keep the fleet fresh for a bit longer..


Oh.. the wifes Honda specifies gearbox oil change at 72k, my scooby has had box oil changed every 45k... its got 183k on it now.. the seals havent been eaten away.... no weeps...

wouldn't it be better for him to fit some new seals and fresh oil, from what I see on a daily basis on our gearboxes is that wear on flanges (and input shaft) and seals is due to dirt ingress, or caused by rust due to lack of use and exposure to damp (missing timing cover on diesel bellhousing for example), and /or bad storage of used parts, and worn cv joints and worn spigot bearings have far more to do with weepy oil seals than any change or lack of change of lubricant, and the seals themselves definately age and become less flexible and then damage the seal surface on the flanges/input shaft - the green nitrile ones used in the automotive industry and fitted for a few years on our boxes are especially bad for that - hence VW went back to the standard nitrile or viton for special needs and the Elring oem ones available now are nitrile
seals are a few quid, a new flange best part of a ton (16" syncro ones nearly £250 each) even a speedi sleeve repair over £25, a new input shaft is £150, changing the seals is a no brainer I think, and then he can condition them with some fresh oil and stop worrying for another 30 years

ermie571 wrote: Its [the gearbox] having a little whine at me....so I thought I would start by draining and replacing the oil and see where we go from there.

The whine has only started since changing a CV...
I cannot for the life of me see how it could be the CV.
I am getting a rotational noise, most clearly heard when slowing down.

On behalf of Em (and my curiosity ) anyone got any thoughts on this ?

Em, did the oil change cure the whine ?