Replacing all drivetrain fluids on 4Motion

[Raguvian]

My 4Motion wagon is coming up to 10k miles soon and as preventative maintenance I just wanted to change out all of the fluids to be safe. It might be overkill but better safe than sorry I guess.

So far, I am doing some research and had a few questions and was hoping to get recommendations on what fluids to use.

1. For the transmission, do I need to get the OEM VW stuff? It is close to $30/liter and the car needs 3 bottles.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/audi-vw-manual-trans-fluid-6-speed-g052171a2
Would I end up voiding my warranty by putting in something different? Redline MTL is significantly cheaper (although it's 75W80):

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/manual-transmission-gear-oil-redline-83522-50204#description
Febi is even cheaper:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/audi-vw-manual-trans-fluid-g052171a2
2. What should I use for the front bevel box and rear differential? VW fluid again is stupid expensive and I would need 1L for each:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/au...0J8DVWiAvwOP2XZL8Wr-EMNXPmXQGPGRoCRKoQAvD_BwE
Would any regular 75W90 GL5 fluid work?

3. I am going to use the VW fluid for the Haldex swap. I noticed in the Haldex service kit on FCPEuro, they include replacement drain/fill plugs. Do I need those for the transmission, bevel box and differential as well?

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/vw-haldex-differential-service-kit-kit-g060175a2kt5
Thanks for the help!

 

[The Fed]

Unless you're keeping your wagon literally forever you're wasting a lot of money. Don't you have the 6-year warranty? If so, just follow the VW service recommendations, 30K for the Haldex, and whatever VW says for the rest.

 

[DiscusInferno]

Unless you're keeping your wagon literally forever you're wasting a lot of money. Don't you have the 6-year warranty? If so, just follow the VW service recommendations, 30K for the Haldex, and whatever VW says for the rest.

VW says the rest is "lifetime" fluid, but, do you really think gear oil is "lifetime"? While VW service recommendations for the Haldex is a drain and refill, they don't pull the pump and clean the strainer. Would you still trust VW's guidelines 100%?

For the gearbox, VW uses a thin 75W GL-4 gear oil, for improved fuel economy, https://www.fuchs.com/us/en/special/product/product/134237-titan-sintofluid-fe-sae-75w/
But if you use a thicker 75w90 GL-4 gear oil, you might lose some fuel economy. I have used Redline MT-90 before. But new to Redline is https://www.redlineoil.com/mt-lv-70w75w which would work as an OE equivalent.

The front and rear bevel boxes, a GL-5 75w90 is fine (which VW uses https://www.fuchs.com/us/en/special/product/product/11148-titan-sintopoid-sae-75w-90/), but Amsoil Severe Gear 75w90 works fine also.

The Subaru community likes the Redline 75w90 also. https://www.redlineoil.com/75w90-gl-5-gear-oil

 

[Sumfuncomet]

You should wait as other poster said, you are wasting time and money. I used factory fluid in Haldex and Motul in my 6MT Alltrack trans.

 

[The Fed]

VW says the rest is "lifetime" fluid, but, do you really think gear oil is "lifetime"? While VW service recommendations for the Haldex is a drain and refill, they don't pull the pump and clean the strainer. Would you still trust VW's guidelines 100%?

For the gearbox, VW uses a thin 75W GL-4 gear oil, for improved fuel economy, https://www.fuchs.com/us/en/special/product/product/134237-titan-sintofluid-fe-sae-75w/
But if you use a thicker 75w90 GL-4 gear oil, you might lose some fuel economy. I have used Redline MT-90 before. But new to Redline is https://www.redlineoil.com/mt-lv-70w75w which would work as an OE equivalent.

The front and rear bevel boxes, a GL-5 75w90 is fine (which VW uses https://www.fuchs.com/us/en/special/product/product/11148-titan-sintopoid-sae-75w-90/), but Amsoil Severe Gear 75w90 works fine also.

The Subaru community likes the Redline 75w90 also. https://www.redlineoil.com/75w90-gl-5-gear-oil

I bought the Fidelity 7-year warranty with zero deductible for a good price ($1548), so to me it doesn't matter. Even changing all of the fluids myself would cost more than that over a 7-year period, and I would not have the added benefits of coverage on everything else. I owned 2 GTI before my R. The cooling fans, door latches, A/C , and automatic transmissions all gave me problems by the time the cars were 7-years old. Cost me a lot more than the extended warranty would have cost. The newer the car, the more electronics they're installing, with more risk of failing. With VW's newest warranty, I probably would just replace the car every 6-years. So much will change I would want a new one anyway.

One other note, where are the drain and fill plugs for the rear differential on AWD cars? VW doesn't list them as a maintenance item?

 

[Raguvian]

Unless you're keeping your wagon literally forever you're wasting a lot of money. Don't you have the 6-year warranty? If so, just follow the VW service recommendations, 30K for the Haldex, and whatever VW says for the rest.

I really do want to keep this car forever considering I can’t get another AWD MT wagon in the future.

Also as a peace of mind thing I like to change out the fluids after the first 10k miles to flush everything out, and then go to factory recommended intervals after that. I’ve seen pictures of the Haldex pump filter after 10k miles and it looks pretty bad.

 

[FooDogg]

I agree: IF keeping car forever its worth the effort to do the haldex, front bezel/rear diff and MT early, check for metal etc, and document for peace of mind. The Gen5 haldex has no filter but rinse and inspect screen closely...

Why MT? I remember when Ford sealed their Explorer auto trans and claimed it was a lifetime no service item: how they got nickname "Exploder".

Be aware these are different gear fluids and vw dealer parts diagram is misleading, can cause an inexperienced parts guy to issue wrong fluid to tech or private party buyer- sux to put haldex in rear diff...

also see-
Which crush nuts to be replaced (5).

Not gonna give more detail so dont ask-
do your OWN homework to be 100% sure if you are going to this much trouble on early fluid changes. (There is a detailed thread at vortex or go to dealer, get trusted mech to x-check info fm parts.) Ecs sells some of the nuts, cheap.

Changing fluids not that hard on lift or jacks with harbor freight hand pump and clear hose. Be super careful and download shop manual and tsb's on erWin for $35/one day subscription. Be prepared to spend time downloading pdfs...
No one makes shop manuals in hard cover, like Bentley, and Chilton merged with Hahnes but their online version looks like a cheap cut and paste from erWin so dont bother...

good luck!

 

[George Ab]

VW says the rest is "lifetime" fluid, but, do you really think gear oil is "lifetime"? While VW service recommendations for the Haldex is a drain and refill, they don't pull the pump and clean the strainer. Would you still trust VW's guidelines 100%?

A number of manufactures for transmission fluid such as BMW also state lifetime. I have always interpreted lifetime as being 100K miles. If you do not have a wet clutch contaminating the oil like in the DSG, I would not change until 100K.

 

[FooDogg]

I agree: IF keeping car forever its worth the effort to do the haldex, front bezel/rear diff and MT early, check for metal etc, and document for peace of mind. The Gen5 haldex has no filter but rinse and inspect screen closely...

Why MT? I remember when Ford sealed their Explorer auto trans and claimed it was a lifetime no service item: how they got nickname "Exploder".

Be aware these are different gear fluids and vw dealer parts diagram is misleading, can cause an inexperienced parts guy to issue wrong fluid to tech or private party buyer- sux to put haldex in rear diff...

also see-
Which crush nuts to be replaced (5).

Not gonna give more detail so dont ask-
do your OWN homework to be 100% sure if you are going to this much trouble on early fluid changes. (There is a detailed thread at vortex or go to dealer, get trusted mech to x-check info fm parts.) Ecs sells some of the nuts, cheap.

Changing fluids not that hard on lift or jacks with harbor freight hand pump and clear hose. Be super careful and download shop manual and tsb's on erWin for $35/one day subscription. Be prepared to spend time downloading pdfs...
No one makes shop manuals in hard cover, like Bentley, and Chilton merged with Hahnes but their online version looks like a cheap cut and paste from erWin so dont bother...

good luck!

See DAP diy youtube on changing haldex and vortex threads on why MT and early, "jack watts" and "jjvincent" and others

 

[Faceman]

Does anyone have the updated P/N for VW Bevel Box and Rear End oil?

 

[ZuMBLe]

My 4Motion wagon is coming up to 10k miles soon and as preventative maintenance I just wanted to change out all of the fluids to be safe. It might be overkill but better safe than sorry I guess.

So far, I am doing some research and had a few questions and was hoping to get recommendations on what fluids to use.

1. For the transmission, do I need to get the OEM VW stuff? It is close to $30/liter and the car needs 3 bottles.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/audi-vw-manual-trans-fluid-6-speed-g052171a2
Would I end up voiding my warranty by putting in something different? Redline MTL is significantly cheaper (although it's 75W80):

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/manual-transmission-gear-oil-redline-83522-50204#description
Febi is even cheaper:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/audi-vw-manual-trans-fluid-g052171a2
2. What should I use for the front bevel box and rear differential? VW fluid again is stupid expensive and I would need 1L for each:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/au...0J8DVWiAvwOP2XZL8Wr-EMNXPmXQGPGRoCRKoQAvD_BwE
Would any regular 75W90 GL5 fluid work?

3. I am going to use the VW fluid for the Haldex swap. I noticed in the Haldex service kit on FCPEuro, they include replacement drain/fill plugs. Do I need those for the transmission, bevel box and differential as well?

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/vw-haldex-differential-service-kit-kit-g060175a2kt5
Thanks for the help!

My 2017 All track didn't have a fill plug for the transmission fluid. You can still replace the fluid, but you need to fill via a hole further up, and you won't be able to use the fill till it spills out procedure.

 

[Raguvian]

My 2017 All track didn't have a fill plug for the transmission fluid. You can still replace the fluid, but you need to fill via a hole further up, and you won't be able to use the fill till it spills out procedure.

Yep, I went through the 19mm shift selector bolt. Everything worked out fine, and I've put another 12k on the car since then.

 

[tigeo]

You want to change all that at 10K miles? That's extreme but whatever floats your boat.

My car has ~88K on it currently, '18 4Mo DSG GSW. I drive my car hard and track it as well....keep that in mind. Since you have the stick, I won't discuss the DSG service. Haldex I've done 2x and will do again at 100K so ~30K. I use the Febi-Bilstein fluid. I've changed my rear diff and bevel box once, I used Redline MT-90. If I had the manual, I'd do it at some point within the first 100K miles along with the r. diff and bevel box. Haldex ~30-40K is fine. No, your warranty isn't impacted using non-OEM fluids...as long as the meet VW's specifications.

Opps...OP is old. Got fooled.