Gearbox Oil Change

[L.Wade83]

I am attempting to change the gearbox oil in my 1.9 watercooled 83. I got the oil and 17mm hex socket which is fine for the drain but the fill plug is different. It looks like a anti tamper torx is needed, can anyone advice what bit I need. Cheers

[itchyfeet]

as standard is the same as drain
get a photo up because it must be non standard

[Synkraut]

IIRC you should not fill up the transmission oil to the overflow (filler) opening. The correct filling level is a little below that. From what I learnt VW found out that filling the gearbox up till overflow level was too much so they recommended little less but didn't want to remanufacture the gearboxes. The pro's on here will be able to give you advice on this

[windy]

Just changed my oil this evening. The drain & fill plug should be female hex. I used a cut down piece of a 17mm allen key inserted into a 17mm socket.
Used 4L of QX fully synthetic 75w90 GL4 compatible oil & a tube of Molyslip for good luck
Going for a spin now to see if the shift from 1st to 2nd is improved, after previously using Comma mineral oil.

[garyd]

Going for a spin now to see if the shift from 1st to 2nd is improved, after previously using Comma mineral oil.

In my very recent experience it certainly should be.

[windy]

I've not tried it from totally cold yet, but driving it last night after changing the oil I noticed a big improvement in the quality of the gear change. Felt like there was much less "drag" than before.

[Ramsden15]

Hi, I'm the OP, I used my girlfriends login to originally post.

The fill plug is a later Audi/VW plug so I have sourced the specific tool for that.

IIRC you should not fill up the transmission oil to the overflow (filler) opening. The correct filling level is a little below that. From what I learnt VW found out that filling the gearbox up till overflow level was too much so they recommended little less but didn't want to remanufacture the gearboxes. The pro's on here will be able to give you advice on this

How do you fill to just below the fill hole? I've not heard this before, any tips?

[California Dreamin]

Not critical mate....just below the hole is correct but just dribbling out is fine...only way to ensure the level was filled slightly below would be to have the N/S of the van slightly raised when filling but like I say the difference is minimal and there is no detriment either way..

Martin